Tribal Forestry informs elders on ever-changing industry

By B.L. Azure

Tribal forester Jon Matt gave a Power Point presentation to Salish and Pend d’Oreille elders on how the CSKT Forestry Department manages tribal forestlands as a sustainable resource for income, recreation and fisheries and wildlife habitat. (B.L. Azure photo)

ST. IGNATIUS — Through the years the forest industry has had to adjust to the changing times, public concerns and governmental regulations. Gone are the days of clear cutting large parcels of forestlands to feed the timber milling industry.

At last week’s Salish Pend d’Oreille Culture Committee Elders meeting CSKT Forestry Division personnel gave a presentation on how the Tribes manage forestlands - some of it familiar, some of it new.

On the Flathead Indian Reservation the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Forestry Division manages more than a quarter million acres of forestlands. They have taken a holistic approach to forest management. The forests still produce income for the Tribes and they are managed to sustain timber production for future revenue. However, they are also managed to encourage healthy development, to reduce the risk of fire, to provide recreational areas and for fisheries and wildlife habitat, among other things.

“We are managing for the greater good. It is not necessarily commercial for forestry but for fisheries and wildlife,” tribal forester Jean Matt, told the tribal elders. “A lot is used to enhance the habitat.”

Matt said the tribal forestry program has been doing reforestation projects in some way, shape or form for years. In the 1970s the Tribes began pre-commercial thinning of forests to encourage growth and combat disease. They also have been replanting logged and burned forest sites to ensure future income. Today federal, state and tribal laws mandate reforestation.

A big part of the Tribes reforestation programs are the tribal greenhouses located in Ronan and at the Division of Fire complex near the Ronan airport.

The Tribes raise conifers in the greenhouses for reforestation. They are also venturing out into new areas such as raising natural vegetation that grows in the area including trees and shrubs.

“We grow trees that will be salable to the mills,” Matt said. “We put a large emphasis on Ponderosa Pine and larch. They are the species that have a high value return.”

And return is coming from other markets including seedling sales to other forest management entities, natural vegetation sales, biomass sales and maybe in the not too distant future plants for landscaping.

Retired tribal forester Louie Adams recalled some of the ways forest management has changed through the years. (B.L. Azure photo)

The Tribes, according to Matt, are on the cutting edge of growing natural vegetation. The tribal greenhouses began growing native plants in 2002 as part of the U.S. Highway 93 reconstruction project. They presently are propagating around 50 native plant species that are found on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

The native plants are used along the sections of reconstructed Highway 93 and stream/river bank restoration projects on and off the reservation. The plants fit in with the existing vegetation mix of the area and are adapted to the extremes of weather that exist in the region.

The tribal greenhouses have raised natural vegetation for the Clark Fork restoration project at Milltown Dam, at the Opportunity ponds near Butte and at Georgetown Lake near Helena.

Through the years the high quality of the seedlings raised at the tribal greenhouses has become its drawing card for sales on and off the reservation.

“We collect our seeds here on the reservation so we know where they come from. Local seeds are the best way to collect to grow in the greenhouse and plant in the area,” Matt said. “Our reputation is growing nationally and we have seen an increase in sales because of that. As a result the income helps pay for the jobs we have.”

Tribal Forestry uses tribal members as much as they can to plant trees. In its recently completed spring tree-planting season the Tribes employed 72 people - all tribal members - for the hard-outdoor manual labor required.

“There is a lot of hand planting because it has the least impact on the ground,” Matt said. “We try to leave the best trees standing in a logged area so it helps with seeding. Forestry does a good job at that but sometimes that is not possible, especially in diseased stands.”

The Tribes also get revenue by selling what used to be considered forest waste and burned in slash piles. But now it’s waste not, want not as biomass burning heating or manufacturing systems have created a new market for heretofore forest waste.

“Everything is used now. We are providing a salable product that allows us to compete in the business environment locally and regionally,” Matt said. “Our biomass sales to mills creates income for the Tribes.”

Biomass left on site is often chipped up and spread for natural composition that aids healthy growth naturally. And a healthy forest is good for the Tribes’ bottom line, wildlife habitat, recreation and income to tribal members.