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Forestry on the Yakama Reservation
The Balancing of Natural Resources Management
By Philip Rigdon
An Overview of the Yakama Forest Resource
Yakama Reservation
Washington State
Established by the Treaty of June 9th, 1855.
Topography of Yakama Reservation
LanduseAGRICULTURERANGEFORESTForest and Woodland
647,172 acres 47 %
Forest
Range
Agriculture
Vegetation Cover Types
4 TimberTypes
95 %Acres
Oak-Pine Woodlands Ponderosa Pine Savannah
Mixed Conifer True Fir - Hemlock
Balancing Resource Values
• income
• employment
• cultural resource protection
• traditional hunting & food gathering
• wildlife
• aesthetics
• riparian / meadow protection
• recreation
This plan remains active due to forest health priorities and final approval for the 2005- 2014 Forest Management Plan.
Forest Management Plan
• Passed by the tribal and general council
• Framework for BIA and Tribal DNR forest management
• Eleven landuse management areas
• Each landuse management area has goals and objectives
Yakama Forest Management
• Within the forest management plan timber sales are scheduled
• Each timber sale goes through the interdisciplinary team process
• Due to BIA funding, forestry activities adhere to and comply with federal laws (ESA & NEPA)
THE PRESALE PROCESS
PROJECT EA’s FOLLOW: Tribal Laws Federal Laws & Statutes Forest Mgmt. Plan (FMP) Forest-Wide EA Tribal Council Objectives IDT Recommendations
PROJECT APPROVAL: Tribal Council Resolution Superintendent FONSI
THE ORGANIZATION YAKAMA NATION / YAKAMA AGENCY
INVENTORY PRESALES
ROADSENGINEERING
GIS/GPS
A S S IS T A NT F O R. M G R.F O RE S T M G M T .
GLENW OODRANGER STAT ION
W HIT E SW ANRANGER STAT ION
SILVICULT URE FOREST PAT ROL
SCALE RECORDS M ONEY RECORDS
A S S IS T A NT F O R. M G R.T IM BE R S A L E S
F IRE M A NA G E M E NT A D M INIS T RA T IO N
FO R EST MAN AG ER
BIA SUPERINTENDENT
FORESTDEVELOPM ENT
FISHERIES
W ILDLIFE W ATERRESOURCES
ENVIRONM ENTAL CULTURAL
TRANSPORATAION ADM INISTRATION
D EPU T Y D IR EC T O RN AT U R AL R ESO U R C ES
TRIBAL D IRECTOR
TRIBAL CO UNCIL
Yakama Forest Management
• 143 million board feet annual allowable harvest
• Money derived from stumpage is distributed to the Yakama Nation, 45% tribal government, 45% per capita payments to enrolled member, and 10% perpetual fund
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation
• 9,000 Enrolled Members
• Provides a majority of income and employment to the Yakama nation and people
• Unemployment has decreased in last 10 years due to economic development but still much higher than national average
•Historically, Salmon Fishing on Columbia River
•Forest resources – the economic backbone of the nation
•1994 Yakama Forest Products
•1997 Hew saw - mill went into operation
•Increased employment opportunities with over 100+ new jobs
•First time the Yakama Nation processed own logs
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation
The Forest Health Problem• large insect and disease complex• fifteen year western spruce budworm outbreak• 150,000 acres annual defoliation• bark beetle population buildups• an estimated billion board feet of mortality• two tribal declarations of emergency, 1997, 2000• increasing risk of catastrophic fire
Yearly Mortality from DifferentInventory Periods
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
80000
90000
1959 1975-76 1986-87 1995
Mortality MMBF
How We Got Here
• fire exclusion
• selective harvesting
• low levels of harvest
Results of Fire Exclusion
• conversion from low intensity to high intensity fire
• species conversion from pine to fir
• initiation of second growth dominated forest
• increasing volumes per acre
• increasing levels of insects and disease
• increasing spotted owl habitat
• increasing susceptibility to large mortality events
Standing Volumes on the Yakama in Billions of Board Feet
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1935 1959 1976 1997
Addressing forest health on the Yakama
Balancing
Forest restorationLong-term forest healthSustainable Forestry
Forest Health
Ability of a forest ecosystem to;
–remain productive and
–withstand disturbance over time
Addressing forest health on the Yakama
• Developed silvicultural guidelines to control spruce budworm
• Increased level of harvesting above 200 mmbf• Prioritized harvest in damaged areas, “gray
before green” • Accelerated the pre-sale process• Gained relief on some harvest restrictions
concerning the northern spotted owl• Sprayed bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki (Btk) on
thousand of acres in 1990,1999 and 2000
Before Silviculural Treatment
Before Silvicultural Treatment
After Treatment
Before Silvicultural Treatment
After Treatment
THE END