S moke S ignals
NOVEMBER 1, 2016
9
Wakeland hired by BIA as chief forester
By Brent Merrill
Smoke Signals staff writer
Grand Ronde Tribal member
Pete Wakeland, 54, recently ac-
cepted a position as chief forester
with the Bureau of Indian Affairs
in Washington, D.C., after working
the last 18 months for the Coquille
Indian Tribe in North Bend in
southern Oregon.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs
is within the Department of the
Interior and responsible for the
administration and management
of more than 55 million acres held
in trust status on behalf of Native
American Tribes by the federal
government. The bureau serves all
567 federally recognized Tribes in
the nation.
Wakeland, who had been the
Coquille Tribe’s natural resources
director, will direct the bureau’s
Division of Forestry and Wildland
Fire Management, which oversees
the National Indian Forestry and
Wildland Fire Management Pro-
gram.
The National Indian Forestry
Program is a cooperative effort
between the Department of the
Interior, BIA, Office of the Deputy
Director of Trust Services, the
Division of Forestry and Wildland
Fire Management, the Inter-Trib-
al Timber Council and individual
Tribal governments.
The division is responsible for
providing coordination, manage-
ment, planning, oversight and
monitoring for all activities related
to the development and protection
of trust forest resources.
Wakeland, who was the Grand
Ronde Tribe’s first Hatfield Fellow
in 1998 after graduating from Ore-
gon State University with a degree
in forestry management, is the son
of Norita Wakeland (Langley) and
John Wakeland Sr., the grandson
of Roscoe and Rosella Langley and
the great-grandson of Joseph Leno
and Hattie Holmes and William
Langley and Mary Quenelle.
Wakeland worked in Sen. Ron
Wyden’s office in Washington,
D.C., and worked with former
Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith after
being awarded the Hatfield Fellow-
ship. He then
w o r k e d
his way up
through the
Grand Ronde
Tribe start-
ing as a for-
ester in 1996.
Wakeland
became the
Pete Wakeland
Tribe’s Natu-
ral Resources
Department director before accept-
ing a position as an executive with-
in the Tribal government as the
deputy director under the Tribe’s
general manager.
“We really wanted a strong lead-
er,” said BIA’s Deputy Regional
Director Bodie Shaw. “With Pete’s
background in forestry, but also his
natural resources leadership with
the Coquille and the Grand Ronde
Tribes over the years, we really
knew that with his mix of skills
and experience, the chief forester
position would be a perfect fit for
him and we really need someone
like him.”
Shaw, who is a member of the
Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs and also a former Hatfield
Fellow, said that he actively dis-
cussed the position of chief forester
with Wakeland before he decided to
accept the job.
“Pete and my connection goes
back to Oregon State University
forestry,” said Shaw. “That is where
we initially had met. It was through
him that attracted my interest in
the Hatfield Fellowship.”
Tribal Finance Officer Chris Leno
worked with Wakeland when both
were part of the Tribe’s executive
team – Leno as general manager
and Wakeland as deputy director.
“It’s a fantastic achievement and
great recognition for Pete,” said
Leno. “He did a great job out here
for many years. It’s a great honor
and recognition.”
Leno said Wakeland often shared
with him his affinity for Washing-
ton, D.C., over their years of work-
ing together.
“I think his experience there as a
Hatfield Fellow, he really liked that
environment and someday probably
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OPEN FOR COMMENT
The Tribal Council has proposed adoption of an Independent Tribal
Press Ordinance. The first reading of the proposed Ordinance was
presented at the October 26, 2016, Tribal Council meeting.
The purpose of the new Independent Tribal Press Ordinance is
to establish a free and independent press and to ensure the Tribal
publication has the independence to report objectively.
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endorsed by the Native American Journalists Association.
Tribal Council invites comment on the proposed Independent Tribal
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For a copy of the proposed Ordinance, please contact the Tribal
Attorney’s Office at 503-879-4664.
Please send your comments to the Tribal Attorney’s Office, 9615
Grand Ronde Road, Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347 or by e-mail to
legal@grandronde.org.
Comments must be received by December 1, 2016.
thought he would head back,” said
Leno. “What a great honor to have
a Grand Ronde Tribal member in
that position – with all the Tribes
across the country, all the Tribal
members in those Tribes, we have
a Grand Ronde Tribal member in
that top position with the bureau
so that’s quite an honor for him.”
Tribal General Manager Dave
Fullerton worked with Wakeland
when he was a forester in the
Tribe’s Natural Resources Depart-
ment. Fullerton said he worked
with Wakeland many times over
the years as each filled different
management positions with the
Tribe.
Fullerton said he wasn’t sur-
prised to learn of Wakeland’s rise
to the top of the bureau’s forestry
program.
“I think Pete as a Tribal member,
as a forester brought huge value
to this organization in the natural
resources field,” said Fullerton.
“When he was in the position of
development he was a great asset.
It’s a compliment to him, but it
also says something about where
we have come that we have people
who have worked their way up
through our organization from a
line worker as a forester, to a man-
agement position to a director level
position in the executive office to
other experiences he has had with
other Tribes to he’s now the head
guy in D.C. for the BIA forestry.
It’s a credit to him. It’s a credit to
this organization and it’s a credit
to this Tribe.”
Fullerton said Wakeland’s abil-
ity to put on his boots and cruise
a stand of trees and then don a
suit and be in high-level meetings
makes him different.
“Pete’s knowledge of Tribal tim-
ber makes him a very sought out
asset and resource in Indian Coun-
try for the timber industry and the
natural resource industry,” said
Fullerton. “We all wish Pete well in
all his endeavors back there.”
Tribal Natural Resources Direc-
tor Michael Wilson said he thinks
having Wakeland in the position of
top forester at the bureau will ulti-
mately be a plus for Grand Ronde.
“I think that is a place where he
will really be in his element,” said
Wilson. “I know he has a deep pas-
sion for forestry and does a great job
at it. He is very knowledgeable, but
he is also a people person. I think he
is going to bring together a lot of his
talents. I look forward to working
with him.”
Wilson said he sees Wakeland
as a potential role model for young
Tribal members looking to achieve
great things.
“I think people going to college
and anticipating careers might
think more about a position in the
federal offices, be it the BIA or some
other spot,” said Wilson. “It shows
that that is an option that is very
real.”
Tribal Council member Chris
Mercier said he is happy for Wake-
land despite losing out to him for
the Hatfield Fellowship in 1998.
“The only other applicant he
beat out was me,” Mercier said. “I
always joke I was the first person
to lose the Hatfield Fellow. I think
this is right up his alley.”
Tribal Council Chairman Reyn
Leno said the Tribe should be proud
of Wakeland for this accomplish-
ment.
“When you look at the story of
people like Pete, he got started out
here and he went to different places
and now to be back in D.C. at such
a high position, he worked very
hard for it,” said Leno. “I think the
education dollars and everything
made available to him to go get his
education and the support he has
had from this Tribe – it’s a real
good thing for Indian Country and
it is something we should really be
proud of as a Tribe.”
Leno said he hopes the growth of
the Tribe’s education program will
keep producing top achievers.
“Hopefully, we will have many
more Pete Wakelands and other
people moving up into very suc-
cessful roles,” said Leno. “This
Tribe believes in education and our
scholarship program is now fully
endowed.”
Former Grand Ronde General
Manager Mark Johnston has been
working with Wakeland for the last
18 months at the Coquille Tribe.
Johnston became deputy executive
director for Coquille after leaving
Grand Ronde.
Wakeland worked with Johnston
as Coquille’s Natural Resources
director and, according to Johnston,
he was very involved in the Tribe’s
acquisition of 3,000 acres in their
ancestral homelands.
“I think it is certainly a won-
derful opportunity for Pete,” said
Johnston. “But, I also think it
is an opportunity for the BIA
to have somebody that has that
background from a self-gover-
nance Tribe. I just think it’s neat
how he’s going to be able to use
that background to make the BIA
better. Tribes will have someone
there who will understand their
perspective even more.”
Johnston said as the BIA tran-
sitions from a supervisory role for
Indian Tribes to more of an advi-
sory role, he sees Wakeland being
integral to that effort.
“I think he will be instrumental
in helping the BIA move even fur-
ther in that direction,” said John-
ston. “I have a feeling Pete’s going
to be a big player in that.”
Shaw said Wakeland fills a big
need for the bureau.
“I think what we really needed
within Indian Country in terms
of forestry, forest management is
to provide a national vision,” said
Shaw. “With Pete’s mix of experi-
ence, background and legislative
side, he can really help forge a
future for Indian Country forestry.
We have needed a clearer vision
and maybe a more specific vision
as we have over 230 Tribes that
have forested reservations. That
is another thing that Pete really
brings to the table is that ability to
work with a variety of Tribes and
help develop a clearer vision for our
future in Indian forestry.”
Smoke Signals’ attempts to reach
Wakeland for comment before this
issue’s deadline were unsuccessful.