Colvilles ask feds to boost forests’ fire safety

The dry forest north of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation used to burn every five to 20 years, resulting in open stands of ponderosa pine.

But a century of wildfire suppression has changed the forest’s make-up. Now, it’s a flammable thicket of pines and fir that compete for light and water.

When tribal officials look at the national forest adjacent to the reservation boundary, they see the potential for destructive wildfires like the Carlton Complex fire, which burned 300 Central Washington homes this summer.

“You could expect a pretty high-intensity, high-severity fire with significant impacts to tribal resources once it hits the reservation line,” said Cody Desautel, the Colville Tribe’s land and property director.

Tribal officials have asked the two national forests on its northern border to improve the fire-resiliency of the forest near the 1.4 million-acre reservation in Eastern Washington. The request was made under a federal policy that allows Indian tribes to contract for restoration work on nearby federal lands.

“It’s important to explore all possible avenues to address the forest health and wildfire risk,” Jim Boyd, the tribe’s chairman, wrote in letters to the Colville and Okanogan-Wenatchee national forests. “As with most of the forests east of the Cascades, these areas are in desperate need of restoration.”

It’s fairly rare for a Northwest tribe to invoke the 2004 Tribal Forest Protection Act, though it’s frequently used in the Southwest, officials said.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to work alongside the tribes,” said Laura Jo West, the Colville National Forest’s supervisor.

Foresters already had identified about 70,000 acres in the San Poil River watershed near the reservation boundary as a fire risk and in need of treatment, West said. Agency officials have begun talks with the tribe, but actions taken on the land still would go through an open, public process, she said.

The Forest Service will look at opportunities for returning the forest to more natural conditions, said Jonathan Day, the Colville Forest’s timber program manager. Thinning crowded trees, reintroducing fire through controlled burns and removing Douglas fir are actions the agency will evaluate, he said.

Shade-tolerant Douglas fir is more flammable than ponderosa pine, which has a thick bark that can withstand small fires. The agency also will assess opportunities for commercial timber sales as part of the restoration work, Day said.

Two tribal-owned mills in Omak, Washington, could benefit from the sales. A plywood plant reopened last year through a lease with another operator, said Desautel, the tribe’s land and property director. The tribe is in talks with a potential operator for the sawmill.

On the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, about half of the forest adjoining the reservation boundary has been thinned, burned or logged over the past 10 to 15 years in response to earlier concerns raised by the tribe, said Stuart Woolley, the forest’s resources and planning staff officer. But officials will meet with the tribe to discuss additional work that could occur in the area, he said.

The tribe would like the broad swath of Forest Service lands south of Highway 20 targeted for restoration, Boyd said in his letter.

In addition to wildfire concerns, the Colville Tribe’s members retain hunting and fishing rights on federal lands north of the reservation and want to see the forest returned to a healthier state, Boyd said.