Forestry facility in need of renovation on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. PHOTO CREDIT: WHITE EARTH FORESTRY
Facilities in need of repairs at the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona. PHOTO CREDIT: SERRA HOAGLAND
this inventory list, forestry related facilities such as warehouses, garages and greenhouses were summarized as to their condition (Figure A.14). Since incomplete data was available for all tribal facilities, a survey was undertaken of the tribes that were visited during the assessment. There is a significant reduction in condition between tribal forestry facilities and BIA forestry facilities. Many tribal forestry facilities are in poor condition. Examples include blocked doors, unlockable doors, holes in ceilings, unpotable water, shortage of storage buildings for equipment, leaving some machinery outside in the elements and at risk for damage and theft, and many buildings have inferior computer networking, including cabling and wi-fi, causing issues in utilizing the latest technology available for forest management activities.
Figure A.14. Facility condition for BIA administered forestry facilities and tribal forestry facilities.
Funding for tribal facilities is insufficient to meet the significant needs for adequate facilities across all programs, not just for forestry and fire programs. The Bureau has a non- Education/Public Safety facilities program for Regional facilities management and operations with a FY2019 budget of $18 million dollars. An additional $4 million is available for Facilities/Quarters
Improvement and Repair (2020 BIA Comparison Table). These additional funds are designed to correct infrastructure and building deficiencies. When reviewing the budget formulation process used by the BIA, IFMAT could not identify a direct way for tribes to request funding for updating their facilities.
“Our facilities are in an extremely dire state.” —IFMAT IV focus group participant
74 Assessment of Indian Forests and Forest Management in the United States
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