May 6,1983 Page 7
Through the windows of a bus
N pity ay Tymoo photo by Behrend
The Flathead P ost and Pole enterprise located in D ixon employs about 300 full and part time
employees. The operation produces posts, poles and fencing material. Northern Lodgepole Pine is
used fo r ail materials.
As has been traditional of the
past six N atio n al In d ian
Timber Symposiums, a tour is
conducted of the reservation
nearest the symposium site. It
was no different with this, the
s e v e n th a n n u a l T im b e r
Symposium, held in Missoula,
M ontana. Conferees were
taken by bus to the Flathead
Reservation for a day-long tour
of various Salish Kootenai
enterprises.
The Flathead Reservation
was established by treaty in
1855. The southern boarder of
the reservation is approxi
mately 20 miles north of
Missoula and it is bordered on
the north by Flathead Lake.
The reserv atio n itself is
ap p ro x im ately 1.5 m illion
acres in size with 450,000 of
these acres being forested.
There are about 6,000 Salish
K ootenai trib a l m em bers,
3,000 of whom live on the
reservation. Over 50 percent of
the tribal membership is under
18 years o f age. T o ta l
reservation population is about
18,000.
After boarding a small
school bus at 8:30 a.m.
conferees first visited the
Flathead Post and Pole Yard in
Dixon. This enterprise employs
15 men and women full time in
the yard and 25 full time
cutters. Another 275 or so
seasonal workers are also
employed as cutters and yard
workers. The post and pole
operation has a total annual
payroll of about $550,000.
T he o p e ra tio n u tiliz e s
exclusively small-dimension
N o rth e rn Lodgepole Pine
which is manufactured into
posts, poles and commercial
and privacy fencing. These
products are sold in North
Dakota, Kansas, Arkansas,
California and Washington.
Once the logs reach the yard,
they are cut, peeled, run
through a dry kiln, manufac
tured into specific types and
sizes of posts and poles and
finally treated in a pentachlo-
rophenol and diesel solution.
The operation has been
under its present management
since 1978 and fiscal sales have
grown from $265,000 to the
present sales of $ 1 million. The
plant expects to produce a net
profit this year of two to five
percent.
From the post and pole yard
those on the tour traveled to the
Kicking Horse Job Corp
Center nestled among the pine
trees at the base of the beautiful
M ission M o u n ta in s n e a r
Ronan. Open since 1971,
Kicking Horse is one of two all-
Indian job corp centers in the
United States. The camp is
located on 80 acres of tribal
land and unlike nearly all other
job corps centers in the United
S tates, Kicking H orse is
cooperatively funded and
o p e ra te d by the S a lish
K o o te n a i trib e a n d the
Department of Labor. The
camp is funded bi-annually
receiving $6.8 million for two
years’ operation. Over 70
percent of the camp staff are
tribal members.
Though the center can
accomodate 224 students, the
c a m p c u r r e n tly h a s an
enrollment of 184. Thirty
different tribes and 13 different
states are represented in this
enrollment. The camp has been
co-educational since 1975.
The young men and women,
aged 16 to 20 years, receive
training in the areas of auto
machine repair, truck and
heavy equipment mechanic,
heavy equipment operation,
c a rp e n try , tru c k d riv in g ,
forestry and conservation,
cook's apprentice, m ainte
nance and clerical. Training
duration ranges from six
months to two years with pay
based on their length of stay.
According to one camp
official. Kicking Horse places,
on the average, 73 percent of its
graduates. In addition to the
v o c a tio n a l tr a in in g th e
students are offered a chance to
obtain their GEDs. Though
acquiring their GED is not
required, most students usually
se e k it , r e a liz in g t h a t
prospective employment relies
heavily on having a diploma. In
1982, about 110 students
received their GEDs.
C orpm en, as they are
referred to, have been involved
in building projects, helping
su rro u n d in g c o m m u n itie s
co n stru c t roads, im prove
existing recreation areas and
help with a community center.
The center can not participate
in any project if the community
is capable of contracting a
private construction company.
So far, their projects have
totalled over $3 million-
A fter hav in g a lunch
prepared by food service
trainees at the camp, the tour
p ro ced ed to th e S alish
Kootenai forestry and BIA fire
control center. The container
nursery is currently producing
200,000 seedlings per year in
tw o d iffe re n t p la n tin g s.
Seedlings being grown are
varied, ranging from Ponde
rosa Pine to E nglem ann
Spruce. One nurseryman stated
that because of the low market
thus low cutting, planting is
down by about 100 trees per
acre. The fire control center has
modern dispatching equipment
and economical trucks that
have been designed and
assembled by the fire control
employees.
Next, the group visited the
tribal and BIA complex in
Pablo. There are approxi
mately 450 people employed in
26 different departm ents.
Located near this complex is
the Salish Kootenai College. Of
particular interest to those on
the tour was the college’s two-
year Forest Technology course.
U pon completion, each student
is equipped to work as a forest
technician in any aspect of the
foresty field. The curriculum is
designed to meet the guidelines
established by the Society of
American Foresters. Each
student will also obtain
knowledge in ecology and tree
and plant identification.
Those on the tour realized
t h a t th e r e w e re m a n y
similarities among the tribes.
What has been successful for
the Flathead Reservation may
be useful on other reservations.
It is this type of idea-sharing
th a t c re a te s the un iq u e
com aradarie among Indian
reservations across the United
States.
SpUyay Tym oo p hoto by B ahr end
These grape stakes are California-bound. Before being shipped, they are treated in a solution which
retards decay.