Transcript Molly Pitts - University of Washington

“An independent assessment on monitoring the
effectiveness the federal-tribal relationships under the
Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) –
A Huckleberry Trust Walk”
Sustainable and Innovative Solutions Panel
Huckleberry Summit
June 21, 2007
Don Motanic
Intertribal Timber Council, Technical Specialist
A Huckleberry Trust Walk

Background
• Intertribal Timber Council
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Non profit serving 60+ tribes
nationwide
Conducted 31 symposium since
1977 with proceedings
• Focus on issues with findings and
recommendations

Two symposiums w/ non timber
forest products workshops
• 2000
• 2004

Participated w/ Affiliated Tribes of
NW Indians 2005 Trading at the
River – Focus on Huckleberries
• Warm Springs – Louie Pitt
• Cow Creek Band of Umpqua –
USFS Special Interest Area
A Huckleberry Trust Walk

Background
Trust Walk
• In a trust walk, two people
alternate being leader and
blindfolded follower.
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individuals take turns as the
blind follower or leader
guide each other through an
obstacle course
both learn communication
skills and develop a sense of
trust.
• While attempting to manage
huckleberries on federal lands,
who plays the leader and who
plays the blind?
A Huckleberry Trust Walk

Background
Special Trust Walk Federal-Tribal Gov’t
Tribes are not just another “stakeholder”
(This slide needs to join handshake sign)
Like a forest and the huckleberry fields,
where my family has gathered for many
years, the relationship between Indian
tribes and the United States is dynamic.
Rooted in the U.S. Constitution, the
relationship between tribes and the
United States varies and can be
established many ways
•treaties (1855 treaties predate states)
•statutes
•executive orders
•judicial decisions
A Huckleberry Trust Walk

Monitoring Trust Walk – Pilot Project on
Effectiveness Monitoring NW Forest
Plan on federal-tribal relationships
• Purpose
• Objectives
• Design
• Method
• Participation
A Huckleberry Trust Walk

Monitoring Trust Walk – Pilot
Project
• Purpose

76 tribes were part of the NW Forest Plan
• Intergovernmental Advisory Committee
included three intertribal organizations
 ITC, NW Indian Fisheries
Commission, Cal Indian Fire Forest
Management Council
A Huckleberry Trust Walk

Monitoring Trust Walk – Pilot
Project
• Purpose


NW Forest Plan required effectiveness
monitoring as it related to tribal-federal
relationships and effected resources,
which includes huckleberries
A third party monitoring process was
recommended in a report on the
Effectiveness of the Federal-Tribal
Relationship during the first 10 year
period of the NWFP
• The tribal reps did not want the federal
government to self monitoring its own
performance. Its like the feds are…
 “pitching and umpiring”
• Lessons learned will be valuable w/ third
party
A Huckleberry Trust Walk

Monitoring Trust Walk – Pilot Project
• Objectives


Report on government to government relationships at
local level
Collect information on how:
• Relationship is functioning
• Resources of tribal interest are being managed
• Feedback is being processed between governments

Summarize the regional outcomes for federal
executives in Washington, Oregon and Northern
California and make appropriate changes to guidelines,
such as permit process for huckleberries.
A Huckleberry Trust Walk

Monitoring Trust Walk – Pilot Project
• Design

Completed through questionnaires and case
studies
• Invite all 76 tribes to participate
• Onsite and telephone surveys

Case Studies
• What’s working
• What’s not working
• Highlight new ideas, tools, processes, agreements
A Huckleberry Trust Walk

Monitoring Trust Walk – Pilot
Project

Case Studies
• What’s working
• What’s not working
• Highlight new ideas, tools,
processes, agreements

Examples
Tribal Wildfire Guide
 Building Bridges
 Evergreen 2005 “Indian
forestry, a model for
National Forests?”
Tribal Nursery Needs
Assessment
 31 Indian Timber
symposium proceedings
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A Huckleberry Trust Walk
Monitoring Trust Walk – Pilot Project
• Method
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Conducted by a third party contractor
Contractor will be solicited by federal agency
tribal relations program managers with
intertribal organization assistance
A Method Similar to the Independent
Assessment of Indian Forest Lands and
Forest Management in the United States for
1993 and 2003
A Huckleberry Trust Walk
Monitoring Trust Walk –
Pilot Project
• Participation

Contractor will
participate w/ Local
Tribal-Federal Contact
Teams
• Example: Cow Creek
Band of Umpqua and
Umpqua and Rogue
River-Sisikiyou
National Forest w/
Huckleberry Patch
Special Interest Area
A Huckleberry Trust Walk
Monitoring Trust Walk – Pilot Project
• Participation

Contractor will participate w/ Local Tribal-Federal
Contact Teams
• Example: Mescalero Tribe in NM utilizing Tribal
Forest Protection Act to perform stewardship
contracts on Lincoln NF
See Mescalero Tribe’s “view on the boarder”
View on the Border
Mescalero Reservation
Lincoln N.F.
A Huckleberry Trust Walk
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Conclusions
• By using a third party
monitoring process
there will be less
surprises
• The monitoring process
provides feedback to
improve the resource
• More communication
will lead to a safer
huckleberry trust walk
A Huckleberry Trust Walk
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Why are we here?
• To honor our past
• Inspire vision for today
• Create the agreements,
structures and monitor the
trust walk for tomorrow
• THE END
• “Let’s go fishing while the
berries ripen”
1965
1997
2007