How The Yakama Nation Is Using Traditional Stewardship to Increase Jobs and Build Wealth
Yakama Forest from yakamaforestproducts.com/
Indigenous Community Economic Development Example Overview
The people of the Yakama Nation has had a deep connection to the forest and their land for countless generations. They’re taught that they are a part of the land they come from and members’ livelihoods are tied to the natural resources of their forest. 600,000 acres of the nearly 1.4-million-acre reservation is forests and woodlands. The nation is utilizing their traditional ways to advance community economic development through conservation, selling timber, and educational advancement. The nation is creating jobs, advancing the nation’s economic capacity, and providing educational opportunities for their members.
The Yakama Forest Products (YFP), a two sawmill company owned and operated by the nation, produces almost
88 million board feet of lumber, $10.8 million in wages, and generates over $51 million in product sales.
The nation’s Forest Development Program has various units that include forest development, fuels management, fee land timber sales, recreation and campground maintenance for the enhancement of the nation’s forest lands. The Forest Development Program coordinates with the BIA Branch of Forestry and the YN Natural Resource Programs to provide services of the nation. The nation also has a partnership with the Salish Kootenai College (SKC) for Yakama tribal members to get educated in the only tribal college in the U.S. with a four-year forestry degree program according to an ICT article.
Yakama Forest Products (YFP) and Economic Development
As an enterprise of the Yakama Nation, Yakama Forest Products (YFP) receives guidance from both their board of directors and the Yakama Tribal Council. The management of the company’s team are all enrolled members of the Yakama Nation and so are 60% to 70% of the people who work at the company.
“These trees, and the lumber we produce, are truly a gift from our Creator. When we take people up there to see our forests, we get so many compliments, people saying we have the best forests in the world.” Cristy Fiander, Resource Manager of YFP.
In the mid 1990s lumber markets began to change so YFP completed a feasibility study. This study identified 5 to 10 inch diameter logs and a small-diameter sawmill for processing to be the most valuable future for YFP. 1991 was when the first Yakama forestry scholarships were offered. These were funded by forest management deductions. In 1998 the small-diameter mill could process 30-40 million board feet a year, and employed 110 workers, 90% of which were Tribal members.
Today, YFP provides 240 jobs, produces nearly 88 million board feet of lumber, contributes nearly $10.8 million in wages, and generate over $51 million in product sales according to their website. This provides great economic growth and capacity for the tribe.
“Beyond reacting to disasters such as wildfire in a positive way to reduce losses, YFP remains an economic tool for the Yakama Nation to provide meaningful and skilled jobs to members and families as well as an opportunity to care for the health of the forest lands of Reservation.” from the YFP website.
YFP has been involved large scale projects such as Portland International Airport (PDX), the largest airport in the state of Oregon, building the nine-arce roof of their main terminal. YFP provided curvy roof beams, 26 round skylights, shop and restaurant beams. PDX “wanted every square inch to represent the people and places of the Pacific Northwest.”
YFP Traditional Connections and Forest Management
Graphic showing natural process of succession from YFP website.
The forest provides for the nation beyond economic development by proving water, food, medicine, and spiritual values. Active forest management prevents disastrous fires, maintains the ecosystem, builds community, and maintains long standing connections to traditional resources. “Oral tradition in the Yakama culture plays a defining role in passing on the knowledge of natural resources and the personal, spiritual and family connections to those resources.”
Cristy Fiander, Resource Manager of YFP, comes from a logging family and says that YFP manages and logs in a healthy and sustainable way. A practice known by Indigenous groups in the Pacific Northwest is utilizing fire to maintain healthy forests. The YFP manages in a way that mimics fire by cutting weaker trees to prevent overgrowth. Thick forests are breeding grounds for diseases such as root rot, bugs, or needle blight.
“We harvest them before mortality sets in to continue to store carbon as lumber products are made. We always leave the best trees, the ones with the best crowns, the ones in the best health that will in turn produce healthy natural regeneration.”
Therefore, it is no surprise that the Yakama Nation won the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Presidents Award in 2019. In the press release Paul Robitaille, SFI’s Manager of Indigenous and Youth Relations said “The Yakama Nation is also taking an active role in engaging, inspiring and mentoring its next generation of sustainable forestry leaders,”
Forest Development Program and Education
Yakama Nation Forest Development Technician, Amelia Andy holding a chainsaw. (Steve Wilent from ICT.)
The Mission of the Forest Development Program is to protect, preserve and enhance the natural resources of the Yakama Nation, in accordance with the policy plans and contracts.
The program hires technicians to mark timber for harvesting, lay out thinning project units, collect cones for growing seedlings to plant on the reservation, conduct seedling survival plots, supervise contractors, thin young stands of timber, and fight wildfires when necessary. According to the ICT article.
The Nation is helping grow their members educational and professional careers by establishing a partnership with the Salish Kootenai College (SKC) based the Flathead Reservation. SKC is the only tribal college in the U.S. with a four-year forestry degree program
Three young Forest Development Technicians Amelia Andy, Landon Smartlowit, and Wayne Watlamet were highlighted in the ICT article and are attending SKC. These technicians are working toward earning a bachelor’s degrees in the forest management program. In June 2023, eleven total Yakama students were enrolled in the college’s forestry program. Because of the partnership with SKC, students are able to get educated virtually and coordinate with the Yakama Tribal Forest Manager, Tia Beavert. They provide the same labs and learning objectives as on-campus students.
“It’s great that Yakama Tribal Forestry gets to participate in their students’ education and focus on what they want their future employees to learn. That’s worked out really well as part of our hybrid approach to education.” Robert Kenning, Forestry & GIS Instructor, SKC
