Bureau of Indian Affairs Pilot Woodlands
Management Program
Beverly A. ~ c h w a b '
Abstract -The B.I.A. is in the fourth year of a pilot woodlands management
program. Indian reservations in the Southwest have over seven million acres
of woodland forest. Yet, historically, the primary use of woodlands has been
for personal use fuelwood and piiion nut gathering. Until recently, the
B.I.A./Tribes have received no funding for woodlands management. The
purpose of the pilot woodlands management program is to:
1) Explore the feasibility of tribal economic development through
management and utilization of woodland resources.
2) Study the potential for resource enhancement through woodland
management.
This paper will summarize the activities of the B.I.A. Albuquerque Area pilot
woodlands management program.
INTRODUCTION
Native Americans have utilized piibn-juniper woodlands for
thousands of years. Many tribes favored P-J woodlands for
winter home sites due to the mild winter climate. A wide variety
of woodland products were used by these early Indians. Piiion
nuts were sometimes the principle winter food, and years with
poor nut crops were often disastrous. Woodland trees were also
used for fuelwood, and for end products such as poles, roof
beams, and handtools. The pitch was used to: make glue for
jewelry making, waterproof basket waterjugs, make dye for
blankets and wool, coat stone griddles, and for various medicinal
purposes (Bureau of Indian Affairs 1988) (Lanner 1981).
Piiion-juniper woodlands are still an important resource for
native Americans. Wood remains the principle source of heating
and cooking he1 on resewations in the southwest. Piiion nut
harvesting is also a good source of extra income. Livestock
grazing is another major use. Piiion-juniper woodlands provide
habitat for several big game animals and many birds, as well as
small mammals. The economic value of woodland products on
Indian resewations in the southwest is estimated to exceed
$29,000,000 annually (Bureau of Indian Affairs 1988).
' Beverly A. Schwab is e Forester with the Bureau of lndian Affairs,
Albuquerque Area Ofiice.
Despite the historical and c m n t use of woodlands by native
Americans, management of this resource has been minimal. Due
to limited forest management funding, timber management has
received higher priority on most reservations. Because of low
volumes and slow growth rates, woodlands were thought to have
little value as a commercial resource. However, in 1987, the
Southern Pueblos Governor's Council made a formal request to
the Assistant S e c r e t . , Indian Affairs, for funrlmg to inventoy
and begin management of woodland resource on resewations in
the southwest. Because of this request, a study to evaluate
woodland resource values and management needs on Indian
lands was commissioned. The study report was produced in
1988. Due to the findings of this report, special woodlands
management funding was appropriated by congress for the fmt
time in 1989 for the B.I.A, and has continued for the last four
years on a year-to-year basis. It is intended for the woodlarads
management program to go through a "pilot" stage, so that the
feasibility and benefits of woodlands management can be
assessed after a given period.
B.I.A. ALBUQUERQUE AREA
WOODLAND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
In the past four years, seven tribes within the Albuqueque
Area have been funded for woodlands management pilot
projects. Most of these tribes have a very limited timber
ALBUQUERQUE AREA
resource, yet own thousands of acres of woodlands. Many of
these reservations are also in remote areas where jobs are scarce.
Woodland management funding has created opportunities for
tribes to develop new sources of income from their forest
resource.
I
I
COLORADO
Economic Development
n
mm ACCMA
sm JICARILLA
DSOCTTl-!EW UTE
Economic development is a top priority for these pilot
woodland management projects. Unless the projects can pmve
that woodlands management is economically feasible, the
p r o w is doomed to failure. Consequently, a large proportion
of the project b d i n g has gone directly to the tribes to provide
start up capital for woodland product enterprises. A total of six
tribal fuelwood yards have been established. Most tribes have
opted to test this type of enterprise because of its low overhead
and simplicity of administration and operation After three years
of operation, several of the tribes involved are now looking into
opportunities for expamhg their enterprises to market a variety
of products such as: juniper chip ffled dog beds and scent bags,
juniper fkmiture, bundled fuelwood, and piiion nuts.
The program is still in its infancy, and tribes are learning
from their successes and failures. However, even though tribes
are still in the learning process, over $200,000 in tribal
employment and income have been generated from the projects
to date. As tribes become more knowledgeable about product
markets and funding opportunities, the potential for ~ i ~ c a n t
economic development is enormous.
&
NEW MEXICO
r
INDIAN RESERVATIONS
1
-
Resource Enhancement
The remainder of the funding has been used by the B.I.A. to
prepare and administer woodland management areas.
Management objectives of the treatment m a s has been diverse.
Wood production is only one of the many reasons why
management is desirable. Woodland management also offers the
opportunity to improve wildlrfe habitat, increase forage for
livestock, reduce soil erosion, control insect and Qsease
problems, improve forest health and vigor, and increase piilon
nut production. To learn more about woodlands management,
specifically, response to treatment, the Bureau is in the process
of installing long-term uneven-aged stocking studies on four
reservations (Figure 1). Data from these studies will enable
foresters to assess the response of woodland forests to treatment,
and to determine which stocking levels are optimum for a variety
of management objectives. An informational summary of the
stocking studies can be found in Table 1.
Piiion nuts are the woodland product thought to have the most
potential commercial value. In order to study treatment effects
on piiron nut production, the Bureau is cooperating with the
U.S.F.S. Rocky Mountain Range and Experiment Station in a
series of nut production studies. The study plots are located
Figure 1.
Location of four long-term uneven-aged stocking
studies by the B.I.A.
adjacent to the uneven-aged stocking studies. They consist of a
one acre plot where all trees except for the best cone producers
are harvested. The number of cones are counted on each tree
within the plot and on number of sample trees within each of
the stocking study plots. The main objective of the study is to
determine the effects of stand density on nut production
Some more informal types of studies are also being installed
on several reservations in the form of silvicultural demonstration
areas and photo point documentation. Silvicultural
demonstration areas are blocks of different treatments laid out
adjacent to one another within a woodland stand. Demonstration
areas are valuable tools for foresters and tribal members alike.
They allow foresters to monitor the response of a stand to a
variety of treatments in order to learn which types of treatments
are best for specific management objectives. They are also
important tools for tribal members. When making management
decisions, tribes can visit demonstration m a s to actually see
what various merits look like. Oftentimes, foresters tty to
orally describe treatments to tribal membes in the planning
process. But the end result is often not what the tribe imagined.
Demonstration areas take a lot of the guesswork out of the
process.
Table 1.
- Informational Summary of B.I.A. Uneven-Aged Stocking Studies.
Jicarilla
So. Ute
Acoma
Zuni
No. of 2.4 ac Plots
4 + Control
3 + Control
3 + Control
3 + Control
Plot Densities (BA)
25,40,55,70,C
30,50,70,C
20,40,60,C
~
Nut Prod. Study
Planned '93
Planned '93
Planned '93
Installed '92
Habitat Type
PIEDIQUGA
PIEDICEMO
PIEDIFEAR
PIEDIARTR
7300'
6700'
8000'
7100'
SE
NW
Flat
Flat
T27N, RZW, Sec. 29, 30
T33NI R9W, Sec. 32, 33
T I 1N, R8W, Sec. 19
T1ON, R18Wl Sec. 9
Winter
Winter
Summer
Winter
Yes
No
No
No
Elevation
Aspect
Legal Description
Precip. Pattern
Soil PitslAnalysis
Soil Survey
Range
'
~
'
Typed
TYP d
TYped
TYped
None to Date
lnventory '92
lnventory '92
Inventory '92
~
Down Wdy Fuels Inv
Planned '93
Planned '93
Planned '93
Planned '93
Wildlife Surveys
None to Date
Big Game '92
Big Game '92
Big Game, Small
Mammals, Songbirds '92
Crown Cover Survey
Planned '93
Planned '93
Planned '93
Planned '93
Regeneration Survey
Completed '92
Planned '93
Planned '93
Planned '93
Photo point documentation is an inexpensive and impressive
form of treatment monitoring. Photo point documentation
consists simply of taking a series of photos of a treatment from
the same point over time. Treatment effects, even in the short
term, are often striking and might not be obsewed without photo
documentation. Photo point documentation is done on all the
stocking studies and on some of the demonstration areas and
operational treatments.
'
Ecologically based management activities are being
implemented and monitored in order to learn more about
treatment effects and benefits. Data collected from formal and
informal treatment studies will provide valuable information for
future management.
LITERATURE CITED
CONCLUSION
Woodland management on Indian reservations within the
Albuquerque Anxi is a new but growing program The economic
potential of woodland management is being explored through
development of tribal woodland product enterprises.
Bureau of Indian Affairs. 1988. Native American Woodland
Resources: A National Overview, Assessing the Resource
Potential and Management Needs. USDI, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, Branch of Forest Resources Planning.
Lamer, Ronald M. 1981. The Pmyon Pine - A Natural and
Cultural History. University of Nevada Press.
C