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JUNE 30, 1978 PAGE »
lo g g e r s T a c k le W inter B lo w d o w n s
Powerful mid-winter winds
swept through the high country
in the northwest portion of the
reservation early this year, an
event witnessed by few if any
humans. When the snow melted
and foresters ventured into the
remote area, a panorama of
destruction awaited their eyes.
Acre after acre of trees had
been snapped in two or torn up
by the roots, leaving forest
graveyards throughout the 20
square mile area.
Air and ground reconnais
sance confirmed that this was
the worst blowdown that veteran
Bureau of Indian Affairs for
esters had . seen on the reser
vation. A total of 1950 acres of
Once a healthy stand of fir between clearcuts on the Camas Prairie
logging unit, this “leave-setting” suffered some of the worst damage
from winds that ravaged the high country last winter. Trees were
snapped or torn up by the roots, and many of those left standing
suffered Severe damage. Some have since fallen.
timber of 33 million board feet,
fell victim to the winter winds.
In the Mt. Hood National
Forest where blowdowns were
heavier than usual this year,
foresters are blaming a late
January or early February
storm ”ith winds up to 75 m.p.h.
Locals have* aat^pinpointed a
particular storm. ' *
Forester Bill Apgar, who di
rects forest management efforts
for the B.I.A. described the
summer fire hazard potential of
the fallen timber as “one big
bomb ready to explode.” The
B.I.A. Agency and Area Offices
have “come on real strong,”
said Apgar, directing that all the
blowdown be removed this year.
Hank Palmer, logging man
ager from Warm Springs Forest
Products, is pulling four local
loggers from their scheduled
green sales to perform salvage
operations. Blowdown will make
up a staggering 40 per cent of
the annual allowable cut for the
reservation.
The mid-winter catastrophe,
which Apgar referred to as
“nature’s ciearcutting,” made
pick-up sticks of both young and
old stands of Douglas-Fir and
White Fir between the Warm
Springs River and Badger Butte,
just east of the McQuinn Strip.
The concentrated area that was
hit has been logged periodically
since 1970.
Much of the blowdown was
associated with clearcuts where
the wind blew across the barren,
irregular ground generally from
the southwest and wiped out the
north and east fringes of the
blocks, sometimes
sweeping
through a string of clearcuts.
But some partial cuts were af
fected too. The only preventa
tive measure that could have
been taken would have been
“not to cut at all,” said forestry
staff.
The greater part of the des
troyed timber was old and deca
dent but healthy 8-14” trees on
the old Cedar Creek sales also
became /ictims as did some
virgin stands. There was “no
rhyme or reason,” said Apgar.
Once the evidence was re
corded in aerial photographs,
forestry staff created new sales
and amended existing sales.
Normal cruises were abandoned
in favor of estimating volume
based on the known volume of
adjacent unit. When the blow
down is cleared away, foresters
will take a look at the remaining
stands and determine the best
course for future management.
Loggers are currently nego
tiating with the Mill for then-
new sales. “Our loggers are
willing to do anything if the
price is right,” said Palmer.
They face operations that are
more costly and more dangerous
than green logging.
Risks are higher and work-
slower when the logs are lying
“like jackstraws,” said Palmer.
Falling and bucking are more
difficult and skids are longer.
There is also more breakage and
therefore greater waste.
But the loggers are “fairly
flexible” and will be moved to
the blowdowns when their pre
sent sales are completed. Pal
mer noted that he is also looking
for two outside logging outfits to
take the wet areas and steep
slopes.
W.S.F.P.I. will be
only
slightly affected by the logging
changes, according to operations
manager Bob Macy. A market is
being sought for the small stems
which are not efficiently used by
the Mill. The rest of the wood
will be processed as usual, with
millworkers keeping an eye out
for cracks and breaks, some of
which do not become ’ obvious
until a board gets as far as the
planer or kiln.
After the blowdowns are
cleared and the piled brush
burned, the B.I.A. will go back
in to replant with Douglas-Fir,
and ponderosa pine s e e dlings
The program, to begin this fall,
will be completed by the spring
An aerial view of the Camas Prairie logging unit shows where wind swept through a string of clearcuts
(see light gray patches). Photo at.left was taken between blocks 7 and 8, the first of the four clearcuts
shown at the center of the aerial.
from^ke TRIBAL LEADERS DISMAYED WITH TRUST FAILURES
Gerard, who went to bat for
Indian water rights, regretted
that final formulation of the
policy ws not done in his depart
ment but a t the White House
level. However, he encouraged"
tribes to “seize'this opportunity
to initiate a comprehensive wat
er development program.”
President’s Reorganization
Project
As a consultant to the BIA
reorganization effort, Sam De-
loria of the American Indian
Law Center has tried to encour
age Indian input for the last
year. He reported to the NCAI
conference that the project has
made every mistake they were
expected to make and he is still
trying to get the task force
members out to the reservations
to “see what’s happening.” .
The four points that Deloria
said the task force should be
keeping in mind are: 1. The
trust responsibility is shared by
all federal agencies and no
department can get off the hook.
2. All federal programs, must be
made a v a ila b ly « Indians. 3.
Tribal governments are local
governments, entitled to the
same services and consideration
as county and municipal govern
ments. 4. Long-range planning
has._been difficult when Tribes
, are kept on an “annual funding
mentality;”
Tribal potential deriving
from P.L. 93-638 is that of
building program s from the
"ground up but they are far from
realizing this, Deloria said.
93-638-An Impossible- Dream?
Failure to implement the
Indian Self-Determination Act,
billed a s t h e “ Impossible
D ream ” in the NCAI agenda,
was cited by four experts who
have been evaluating the BIA’s
performance under 93-638. The
law and its regulations are
basically sound, said Gary Mor-
ishima who is affiliated with the
Quinault Nation, but the BIA
must be cleared of the deadwood
among its staff before it will be
effective in implementing self-
determination.
Some reco m m en dations
made by the evaluation team
were that the role and function
of 93-638 in the Bureau be
defined, that the BIA respond
mor sensitively to Indian needs
and that self-determination ef
forts be made accountable
through sound budgeting and
standards of evaluation.
S. 991 debated
Although NCAI has taken an
official stand against the Senate
bill that would transfer Bureau
of Indian Affairs education pro
grams to a new Department of
Education, the matter was de
bated thoroughly by two panels
of experts at the conference.
Neither side supported the
proposed legislation as original
ly introduced but several educa
tors offered modifications that
would make it acceptable.
Representing the Advocates
for Indian Education, an arm of
the Affiliated Tribes of North
west Indians, Lorraine Misias-
zek called S.991 a first step in
dismantling the BIA and term
inating the federal government’s
trust responsibility.
“ I t’s term ination in dis
guise,” said Maxine Edmo, a
Sho-Ban also with the Advo
cates.
Administratively, there are
no improvements promised-just .
temporary chaos--and legally,
the removal of trust responsibil
ity from the Department of
Interior is questionable, noted
Forrest Kutch, director of edu
cation for the Ute Tribe.
Education programs comp
rise 60 per cent of the BIA
budget, said opponents, so a
transfer would have a major
impact on the Bureau, which
admittedly doesn’t have a great
track record in education but
has undergone considerable im
provement through the years.
Calvin Isaac, whose Mississ
ippi Band of Choctaw supports
the proposed legislation, maint
ained that a cabinet-level de
partment would give education
the national stature it deserves
and would encourage the coor
dination of program s at the
national level.
Isaac, along with Joe Little
of the All-Indian Pueblo Council,
recommended the creation of an
Assistant Secretary for Indian
Education within a new depart
ment of education to ensure the
delivery of coherent and cultur
ally sensitive services to Indian
children.
The transfer might also be
acceptable if Indian preference
was still honored and the pres
ent level of funding for Indian
program s was maintained or
increased, they said.
Negotiation instead of renegotia
tion
In light of recent challenges
to treaty rights and trusteeship
presented at the state, congress
ional and executive level, the
NCAI opted to negotiate rather
than await possible renegotia
tions; .
Delegates to the convention
approved a resolution to support
the formation of a Commission
on Tribal-State Relations,, to be
comprised of seven tribal chair
men and seven alternates from
the NCAI and NTCA, along with
seven legislators and seven al
ternates from the National
Council of State Legislatures.
Operating under the as
sumption that tribal and local
governments have interests in
common, the commission would
be a forum for mutual concerns
and an opportunity to cooperate
in the resolution of fundamental
differences.
Said Sam Deloria, who has
been instrumental in effecting
this alliance, tribes must be
careful not to unify non-Indians
in opposition to them by assum
ing there is no basis for comm
unication or cooperation. “Unify
and Lose” could become the
disastrous counterpart of thé
non-Indians’ “Divide and Con
quer” tactic, he warned.
The next NCAI convention is
scheduled for September 18-22 at
Rapid City, South Dakota.
Ip