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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1988)
PAGE 10 FUTURE OF TRIBAL REVENUES BASED ON GOOD TIMBER MAN AG ME NT Tribal Forester gears up to manage timber resource on reservation. The forested landscape that makes up the Grand Ronde Reservation rests on the western side of the Oregon coast range, in Yamhill County, at an average elevation of about 500 feet. The timber resource is comprised mainly of douglas fir with a mix of western hemlock and sika spruce. These trees were known to be some of the best intensively managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The continued intensive management of the reservation lands will play an important role in regards to the revenue it generates for the Grand Ronde Tribe. . Now, however, management of the timber resource will be the responsibility of the Tribe's forester, Cliff Adams. Adams has been waiting about a year to manage the reservation lands, but has not been idle. Preparing for the transfer of the lands, monitoring cutting and timber sales, and working on ordinances pertaining to forest management have kept him busy. With a 9,811 acre reservation, an estimated seven million board feet of timber will be cut annually on the reservation. This amounts to about ISO acres, according to Adams. Management activities will bclude harvesting timber, preparing sites for logging, setting up sales and bids, maintenance of roads, and planting and thinning trees for a productive forest. 4 - ' I Logging area on reservation Cliff Adams, tribal forester Under the Grand Ronde Reservation Act, the Tribe has committed itself to harvesting the reservation timber according to the BLM's Management Plan through 1992. This means that all BLM scheduled timber removal through 1992 will take place. Currently, there is one active timber sale on the reserva tion. Eight other sales have been sold and are scheduled to be cut by the end of 1991. All of the sales have been purchased by John Hampton of Willamina Lumber, according to Adams. By 1993, the Tribe will be responsible for putting into place its own management plan for the reservation. As part of this objective, the Tribal Council is expected to adopt a Forest Practices Ordiance for the reservation lands. The Ordinance would establish rules for the manage ment of the forest and will help insure responsible growing and harvesting of timber. It will establish guidelines for protection of environmental resources such as air, water, soil and wildlife, said Adams. For instance, the ordinance will set stream protection zones and outline guidelines for the treatment of slash. The Tribe will also abide by restrictions made into a Memorandum of Agreement with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. These restrictions include: (1) Making the first advertisement of timber sales available solely to the domestic market for a period of not less than 20 years. (2) Establishing a "sustained yield" program to assure annual availability of timber to the marketplace. (3) Not enter into competition with the local timber industry by bidding for or purchasing timber on reserva tion lands or adjacent public lands for a 20 year period. Adam's immediate plans include reviewing BLM data to determine the quality of roads on the res ervation, review presales, setting up boundary markers, updating information on timber types and harvestable timber, establishing a fire protection plan for the area and reviewing sites that need pre-commercial thinning. During the next couple of months, the Tribal Council and Adams will also be working to complete policies on the removal of minor forest products. These policies would set guidelines for the removal of firewood, fence posts, corral posts, shake bolts, fern, moss, boughs, Christmas trees and cones, etc. from the reservation. These rules probably won't be set until the first of the year, since some of these issues still need to be resolved. For instance, on all current timber sales, all the wood has been bought by the purchaser, this includes fire wood, said Adams. A permit system will probably be set up, but how it will operate will need to be worked out, said Adams. For Adams, the biggest challenge will be to "develop a good quality forest management plan to succeed the BLM plan," he said. Policies for removal of firewood, Christmas trees and other minor forest products to be set up, says Adams. "The management plan is the core of managing a forest, and if done right, you should have an excellent pro gram," Adams said. Being sure that sales are admini stered properly will also be an important responsibility, he said. However, obstacles won't make the job easy. For instance, the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget for Forestry Management has been cut. Adams hopes to see the funds restored, but if they aren't, it will mean he won't have the staff he would like to have to manage the forest. Funding will also determine if the Tribe or the BLM will administer the current sales on the reservation. Funds for site preparation, reforestation, pre-commercial thinning, brush control are more secure since 10 of timber revenues are required to be set aside by the BIA for these management activities. Before working for the Tribe, Adams was self-employed in pre-commercial thinning and timber cruising for a year and a half. Before that, he worked for Crown Zellerback as a forest engineer in forest management. Adams holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Oregon State University in forest engineering. "I've been looking forward to managing the land, " said Adams.
