San Carlos Forest Resources Program (Forestry)
Forestry provides several services including:
● Home use and re-sale permits for forest product harvesting (wood harvesting) for tribal members.
● Burn permits for burning organic fuels with specific restrictions depending on the weather and season; available to tribal members and departments.
●Cutter Woodyard which offers tribal and non-tribal members and locals the opportunity to purchase firewood. Wood bundles offered at the Cutter Woodyard are currently being sold in Arizona by various Apache/Native American vendors.
Forestry also oversees various programs and projects including:
● Timber sale program utilizes the ponderosa pine forest for economic value and operates two portable mills for creating timber products. These products, such as lumber and wood chips, are marketed off and on the reservation.
● Inventory program collects data to determine the current conditions of the pine forest. The data is used to determine where treatments, such as timber sales, forest development activities, etc., should be implemented.
● Fire management program manages naturally ignited or human-caused wildfires in accordance with current policies and management regulations. Programs include Geronimo Hotshots, Fire Use, Fire Prevention, SWFF and RTRL.
● Woodlands program manages and identifies woodland areas for tribal member fuel wood usage.
● Apache food project conserves traditional foods by harvesting and/or educating community members about the nutritional benefits.
● Forest Development manages for forest health by reducing diseases and pathogens in pre-identified infected areas. The program also aids in planting of ponderosa pine seedlings in areas where natural regeneration may not be possible or in wildfire caused mortality locations.
● Natural Resource Youth Practicum is an educational outreach program that educates students on all-natural resources issues, professionals and management techniques with an Apache based approach.
● Range management is a program that works to improve grassland production for wildlife and cattle.
● Soil & Moisture works to protect the soil from erosion that improves watershed production that maintains nutrient rich soils.
● Forest Management makes recommendations to close the forest or woodcutting areas for the safety of the Apache people, contractors and visitors.
Geospatial Information System (GIS) is used as a tool by Natural Resources for mapping and record keeping of all past, present, and potential treatment areas across the reservation. This includes our ancestral home range.