OCTOBER 20, 1978 PAGE 3
WSFPI Using Gravel Pit For Lag Starage
by Sandy Rangila
Log decks are springing up
among the junipers at the old
gravel pit area along Highway
26. Since October 5, Warm
Springs Forest Products Indust
ries has been using the gravel pit
on the grade for temporary log
storage.
Because of the tremendous
blowdown this year, too many
logs were arriving at the mill too
quickly and more storage room
was needed immediately. The
situation is described by WSFPI
manager Ralph DeMoisy as an
“abnormal surge”.
Operations manager Bob
Macy explained that the gravel
pit is ideal for temporary storage
because of its proximity to the
mill and to the highway. And he
said that it is less costly than
going on further up the hill
behind the mill.
“It’s cheaper to deck on the
grade and run the logs into the
mill from the highway,” said
Macy. “During the winter those
roads behind the mill get pretty
muddy and hazardous for the log
trucks,” he added. ■
There is already 75 million
board feet of lumber decked at
the mill and, according to Macy,
they should have the annual
allowable cut out by the end of
the month. He noted that the
Tribes are allowed to go 10
percent over the annual allow
able cut.
Mill management was aware
that extra storage space was
going to be needed, so arrang
ements were made for WSFPI to
use the five-acre parcel at the
gravel pit on a short-term basis.
“Hopefully it will be a one-time
deal,” said Macy.
“Our purpose is to salvage
all the blowdowns we can this
year,” explained DeMoisy. The
fallen logs deteriorate rapidly, so
they have to be picked up and
stored as quickly as possible.
“Essentially, we’re racing the
bugs,” he said.
The logs being decked at the
gravel pit will not be sprinkled
since they will be among the first
used this winter. Most being
stored at the gravel pit are White
and Douglas Fir.
DECKED OUT - Log trucks roll into WSFPI’s temporary decking area at the gravel pit. More storage
Rangila Photo
space was needed due to the tremendous blowdown this year.
"From Stump To Market"
Timbered Tribes Exchange Ideas At Second Symposium
by Cynthia Stowell
From the prospering Men-
The twenty timbered tribes
that gathered in Spokane Octo ominees and their wood products
ber 10-12 for the second annual enterprise in Wisconsin, to the
Timber Symposium represented struggling Quinaults and their
twenty variations on the theme attempts to correct timber mis
of forest management and mar management on largely allotted
lands - the degree of sophistica
keting.
They in turn were exposed to tion and savvy varied widely.
Few tribes process their bwn
the state of the art as it exists in
the private timber industry and timber, said Smith, a fact that
were perhaps given a fresh look places Warm Springs near the
at the familiar methods of the top of the heap aloiig with the
Navajo, White Mountain Apache,
Bureau of Indian Affairs.
“From Stump to Market” and Menominee operations.
“There’s more to this than
was the topic that brought the
varied interests together to ex opening up your land and having
change information, explore new contractors come in and buy
techniques, and raise concerns your timber,” noted Smith. He
that often don’t find expression felt the symposium pointed up
in the workaday world of isolated the different options in market
ing that tribes might consider.
reservation timber operation.
“Most tribes think only of
Warm Springs general man
ager Ken Smith,,who headed the management. But opportunities
steering committees for both exist to keep the money in the
symposia, felt that this, year’s community and provide employ
effort surpassed the first, which ment for tribal members.”
“Hopefully this symposium
focused on forest management
alone. Forestry consultant Al stimulated their minds and got
Cronk of Portland, who lined up them thinking,” said Smith.
In remarks to the assembled
the speakers, said there was an
attempt to be less “provincial” tribes, Smith made an appeal for
this year, inviting participants constructive, businesslike deal
from across the nation to share ings with the Bureau of Indian
their experience and expertise. Affairs. Too often tribes sit back
and criticize the Bureau or “take
their ball and go home” when
they don’t like what the Bureau
is doing, he noted. In recent
years tribes have been distres
sed with B.I.A. policies and
regulations and the adverse
effect Indian preference has had
on the quality of forestry person
nel and programs.
“Let’s identify problems bn
the tribal side of the fence, too,”
he challenged. Haven’t tribal
politics, funding problems and
personnel inadequacies
also
been obstacles to progress?
It is felt that the formation of
an Intertribal Timber Council
will assist tribes in taking thé
steps toward good management
and marketing. There
was
debate at the symposium, how
ever, about whether the council
should be a political body or
simply serve an educational
function.
While some felt that a timber
council patterned after the Na
tional Congress of American
Indians might successfully apply
political pressure to achieve the
ends of individual tribes, others
felt that this would be just
another hammer against the
B.I.A., creating unporductive de
fensiveness.
The council and its annual
symposium might be more con
structive if it serves as a forum
for the free exchange of informa
tion, where pending legislation
and policy affecting
Indian
timber interests can be examin
ed and discussed in an open
educational atmosphere, said
Smith.
Then the information can be
taken home by tribal represen
tatives and utilized on a local or
regional basis. Political organi
zations already exist for lobby
ing, he said.
A compromise was reached
on the third day and a section of
the council’s organizational sta
tement discouraging political
stands was deleted. It will be up
to the membership to make the
final decision when they gather
for the next symposium, slated
for March 1979.
Messages from the pro’s
Two Warm Springs experts
addressed the symposium in
addition to Smith. Bob Macy,
operations manager for Warm
Springs Forest Products Indust
ries, was the moderator on the
second day, and Hank Palmer
got rave reviews for his talk on
selecting a good logger.
First Female Forester Just "One of the Boys"
Think of the possible ways in
which a single, well-educated, 21
year old woman might make a
living in Warm Springs. Jean
Brien’s job is probably not on
your list. Jean is a Forester with
the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the
first female to enter
that
all-male world.
Jean studied forestry at the
University of New Hampshire
and received her BS in Forestry
management, graduating last
spring. Jean was working in
Montana as a forestry technician
when the job in Warm Springs
appeared on the Civil Service
register.
One of the biggest challenges
Jean has found is the difference
in Eastern and Western forestry.
“There are many types of hard
woods in the Eastern forests, and
here there are many types of
softer woods and no hardwoods,”
said the newly1 hired ’ forester.
JEAN BRIEN, FORESTER
Jean enjoys her job and the
outdoors and, so far, hasn’t been
teased too much by her male
co-wprkers. “But I don’t think
they know me well enough yet for
that,” she said with a friendly
grin. Having worked in different
forests during summer months,
Jean is used to being the only
female and expects some tea
sing.
In her spare time Jean
enjoys crosscountry
skiing,
backpacking and sewing. She
uses swimming as a way to keep
in shape for the
strenuous
walking and hiking done daily.
Jean also plans to join the
volunteer fire department, a
traditionally male enclave al
ready invaded by females.
The men Jean works with
everyday treat her “as an equal
and like I can do my job,” she
says. “That makes me feel good
about my job 'aiid myself.”
They rubbed shoulders with
a host of professional people
from the public, private and
tribal sectors.
New B.I.A. Chief Forester
George Smith endorsed the In
tertribal Timber Council and
offered a self-assignment. It will
be up to the Bureau to prevent
further personnel shortages,
make more of a commitment to
longterm planning, take more
innovative approaches to fores
try management and develop
ment, and better utilize tribal
input, said Smith.
Bureau and tribal represen
tatives discussed timber apprai
sal methods, with» Yakima’s
assistant forest manager Henry
Williams explaining the B.I.A.’s
techniques and Makah Council
man Jerry Lucas suggesting that
tribes often are not getting the
full value of their timber. Dr.
Ronald Trosper, professor of
economics from Boston College,
also offered a critique of B.I.A.
appraisal methods which are
often outdated.
James Jackson of the Quin-
ault Tribe was the only inde
pendent logger who spoke. He
told of having to wade through
red tape when removing timber
from allotted lands.
Loren
Hearst of Coop Forestry in
Missoula, Montana, described
improvements in logging equip
ment that minimize loss and
increase efficiency.
Marketing strategies were
tackled from several perspec
tives including the broker, the
private company, the logger and
the export market. Although
each speaker had his
own
method which he had found to be
successful, the common theme
was getting the maximum value
from the logs.
John Squires, lumber and
plywood marketing manager for
International Paper Company,
described his “vertically inte
grated” company, where the
land and timber are owned by
the
manufacturer.
Warm
Springs can be considered a
vertically integrated system
since it owns the resource and
the processing plant. Since many
tribes have this potential, the
“stump to market” theme of the
symposium was particularly 'ap-
propriate?/Zz ’v