In This Issue
I
n this issue, we explore the Fourth Assessment of Indian Forests
ment of the Interior would issue a joint statement in support of the enormous tribal contribution to natural resource stewardship in the United States. This: “We jointly acknowledge our support for tribal use of the authorities Congress has granted including – among others – Good Neighbor Authority, the Tribal Forest Protection Act and the Reserved Treaty Rights Lands funding program administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.” What better way to symbolically return lands to tribes that once owned them? What most Americans do not under- stand is that tribes live with the conse- quences of their actions and inactions ways that no other landowner does. Those who work for federal, state, and pri- vate landowners go home at night. Tribes are at home 24/7, day after day, year after year, generation after generation. This is why they place great value on connecting tribal elders with tribal youth. If knowledge isn’t passed down, it is lost forever. To understand the disastrous impli- cations of knowledge forever lost look no further than the enormous disconnect between the American public and its national forest legacy. This disconnect impacts all forest ownerships in America but it falls hardest on tribes from whom the amorphous public – and members of Congress – could learn a great deal if they listened more closely. Decadal IFMAT reports are federally mandated and funded by Congress. They are essentially progress reports detailing BIA and tribal relationships and programs, most of them underfunded for decades despite the fact they are integral parts of the federal government’s legally binding government-to-government relationship with every congressionally recognized tribe in the nation. These legally binding relationships are spelled out in great detail in several federal laws including the 1990 National Indian Forest Resources Management Act. The BIA holds Indian lands in trust rela- tionships rooted in treaties, executive orders, and other agreements signed more than 150 years ago. These relationships are changing and more change is coming. Larger tribes that own more for- estland have led the way via self-gover- nance, a transition made possible under one or more federal laws: The 1954 Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act [ISDEAA], the 1994 Tribal
American Foresters [SAF] annual conven- tion in Sacramento, California. The IFMAT IV Core Team will be centerstage along with several of its Technical Specialists, ITC Board members, and members of individual tribes’ staff. Given the fact that SAF has been working hard to reinvent itself, we expect its members will be very impressed with the knowledge and com- mitment tribes bring to the table.
and Forest Management in the United States prepared for the Intertribal Timber Council by a group of nationally recog- nized forest scientists, economists, and educators who come together every ten years as members of the Indian Forest Management Assessment Team: IFMAT Tribes own and manage more than 19.3 million acres of forest, much of it in the western United States. The Intertribal Timber Council [ITC], based in Portland, Oregon, that strives to bring awareness to the resource management interests of more than 300 Indian Tribes in the United States. Forty-one of these tribes are stewards of more than 10,000 acres. The remaining tribes own fewer acres. It has been Evergreen’s privilege to work with ITC members on these reports since 1993, the year IFMAT I was pub- lished. IFMAT II followed in 2003, IFMAT III in 2013 and now IFMAT IV is rolling out. This report has undergone a more professional review and analysis than the earlier reports. It is more thoughtfully written and more innovative in its ap- proach. It also reveals an impatience and urgency that is driving an ever-increas- ing number of tribes to assume partial or complete control of their own lands, actions that Congress has blessed in new laws and regulatory reforms. There have been many changes since IFMAT l was completed - 30 years ago. Tribes are now insisting on their rightful autonomy. They know they are the strongest advocates for their lands, communities, and future generations. The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs [BIA] does what it can to help, but the agency is a very small fish in the halls of Congress, even though it operates under the aegis of the massive Department of the Interior. If there is an unwritten take home message in IFMAT IV - it is that the Inter- tribal Timber Council and its member tribes have implemented an extensive campaign that will identify the need for fundamental changes in the relationships between tribes and the BIA and federal government. The message: To recognize the feder- al government’s trust responsibility, and increased engagement between tribes and other federal agencies. The campaign began in August and will be highlighted at the Society of
Lake Superior shoreline, Grand Portage Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
There is no way to know exactly what changes are coming, but we see the agency having the opportunity to be- come more like NASA, the Department of Defense or the Corps of Engineers. It will focus on the obvious – adequate fund- ing for tribes – and contract with other providers, including tribes and non-tribal consultants, for the services it needs to fulfill its congressionally mandated Trust responsibilities. It is not an exaggeration to say that tribes and their forests are unique entities bonded spiritually and culturally by An- cient Knowledge passed from generation to generation by tribal elders and driven far forward by remote sensing technolo- gies including Light Detection and Rang- ing [LIDAR] that allow tribes to inventory their resources at a level that includes trees, wildlife habitat, stream corridors, and soils as well as the impacts of wildfires. Although tribal natural resource management is gaining the respect of its federal partners, it would help solidify the tribal role at the nexus of co-manage- ment and joint resource stewardship if the USDA Forest Service and the Depart-
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