Forest & Woodland Goals and Objectives

 

Manage the Tribes’ forest and woodland resources to provide sustainable harvesting of commercial timber and minor forest products for the benefit of the tribal community. Maintain an effective fire prevention and management program to ensure the health of the forests and woodlands and to ensure the safety of the community. Enhance and protect habitat for fish and wildlife.

Forest & Woodland Resource Objectives

• Manage the forest for sustainable levels of wildlife, fish, native plants, and clean water.

• Manage commercial timber stands, as much as practical, on an uneven-aged basis.

• Market timber sales to gain maximum value to tribal members from tribal trust lands, and to allotment owners for allotments.

• Employ tribal members in forest management-related activities.

• Conduct timely and effective post-sale activities, including slash treatment, water barring of skid trails and road closure.

• Maintain and improve the road system accessing the forested land base.

• Implement forest development activities to improve the health and vigor of forestlands capable of producing commercial timber, including precommercial thinning, reforestation, and species control/site conversion.

• Conduct a new vegetation typing of reservation forestlands to identify timber stands in need of precommercial thinning.

• Maintain and enforce tribal policy for the harvest of minor forest products.

• Identify and protect wildlife habitat, cultural and archaeological sites and gathering areas with protection measures in all timber sale and forest development activities.

• Construct fuel breaks to minimize the potential for damage to resources from fire.

• Implement management policies and actions, consistent with documented goals and objectives and available personnel and funding.

Fire Management Objectives

Fire Program

• Develop an efficient, balanced fire management program which includes fire prevention, fuels management, prescribed fire, and the use of appropriate management response other than full suppression to address long standing problems of fuel build up, to replicate natural fire regimes, and reduce wildland fire threats to the community and forest resources.

• Develop Indian employees into qualified professionals to manage the Tribal Wildland Management Program. The hiring and career development of tribal employees is of great importance.

• Maximize tribal employment within the wildland fire program and assure that pay scales and benefits are commensurate with similar Federal positions.

• Develop a Tribal Fire Department with a fuels/fire crew with the capability to complete projects on the reservation and eventually for other businesses and/or agencies for hazardous fuels reduction to prevent wildland fire and to create defensible space for homeowners through the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP).