There are two primary missions for the Timber and Roads Department. The first mission is to plan and implement sustainable timber harvest prescriptions on the Tribes’ forest and maximize the revenue obtained from the sale of timber. Secondly, the Timber and Roads Department is responsible for maintaining, improving, and developing the forest road transportation system for the extraction of commercial products and for recreational access by the public.
The Tribe practices sustained-yield management of their timber. The Tribe’s Natural Resources Management Plan (NRMP) provides for an average annual timber harvest of 6.1 million board feet. The NRMP also provides for protection and improvement of habitat for many wildlife species and protects streams on the Reservation. The harvesting program includes regeneration, salvage, and commercial thinning practices. Commercial thinning is implemented on most of the Reservation in stands between 30 and 60 years of age, except in the Coast Creek drainage where thinning of older stands is implemented. Regeneration harvests are permitted when the average stand age is at least 70 years, except in the Coast Creek special emphasis area where the minimum average stand age must be 90 years before regeneration harvest are allowed.
The primary harvest prescription implemented in the Coast Creek drainage is a combination of thinning and gap-cutting. Gap-cuts are re-planted with shade-tolerant species and improve diversity by introducing other native species and creating differences in crown heights and stand structure. Older stands are thinned to create diversity in stand structure and promote late-successional stand characteristics.
The Reservation has 74.1 miles of forest roads. New roads on the Reservation are carefully designed using forest road engineering standards. Road maintenance is funded by Tribal road use fees and forest management deductions. The roads are maintained through service agreements with the Tribe’s Forest Enterprise, Round Valley Construction, and other local Contractors.