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