FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 16, 2003

Contacts: Allen Foreman, Tribal Chairman, 541-783-2219
Bud Ullman, Tribes¹ water attorney, 541-783-3081
Don Wharton, Native American Rights Fund (land issues) 303-447-8760
Joe Browder, Washington D.C., 202-546-3720

Monica Shovlin, The Ulum Group, 541-434-7028

Forestry Experts Deliver Landmark Forest
Management Plan to Klamath Tribes

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Plan Outlines Unprecedented Tribal Management of Reservation
Lands for Continued Public Use

Klamath Falls, Ore. ‹ The Klamath Tribes have received the final draft of a
forest management plan designed to help them achieve their habitat
restoration goals.

According to Allen Foreman, chairman of the Klamath Tribes, the plan
represents further refinement of the Tribes¹ sustainability strategy and
another step in their efforts to secure the return of their original
reservation lands and begin habitat restoration. ³The Tribal council and
members of the Tribes are reviewing the plan in detail, and we welcome
public comments,² Foreman says. ³We hope this plan will help us restore and
maintain healthy forestlands for future benefit of the Tribes, the
environment and all who live in and visit the Klamath Basin. Everyone
can agree restoration must take place.²

The Tribes commissioned two of the country¹s most eminent forest scientists
to develop the plan based on principles for management of the Klamath Tribal
forestlands approved by the General Council of the Klamath Tribal membership
last February, and on the restoration alternative in ³A Sustainability
Strategy for the Klamath Forest, in the Context of the Upper Klamath Basin,²
a document developed for the Tribes by Interforest, LLC in 2000.

If the Tribes are successful in negotiating the return of approximately
690,000 acres of their reservation lands that are now considered part of the
Fremont-Winema National Forests, it will mark the first time a Native
American Tribe will manage its private lands for continued public use as
well as to achieve Tribal management goals. Another unprecedented aspect is
the Klamath Tribes¹ decision to waive their sovereign immunity from suit in
order to encourage public participation in the forest management process.
That decision is detailed in the recently adopted Public Participation and
Dispute Resolution Process in Management of the Klamath Tribal Forestlands.

Environmental organizations Ecotrust and The Wilderness Society co-hosted
the first presentation of the Forest Management Plan to tribal leaders and
regional environmental groups in Eugene, Ore., on Dec. 4. At that time,
Craig Jacobsen, Ecotrust¹s vice president for native programs, explained
that The Klamath Tribes¹ Forest Management Plan is a first for several
reasons. Among those reasons, he said, are that several preeminent
scientists have developed the plan; the Tribes and their partners have the
opportunity to model effective and sustainable forest management techniques
for the benefit of other tribes and forest agencies; the Tribes are in a
unique position to implement and manage their own lands for continued public
use; and the Tribes will involve the public via their Public Participation
and Dispute Resolution Process.

Among the plan¹s key provisions is a goal to restore a more heterogeneous
forest like the open, large diameter ponderosa pine dominated forest of the
Klamath reservation prior to termination. The plan was developed based on
extensive research of historical records and contemporary scientific
literature pertinent to issues of the forest, an assessment of the current
forest conditions and a current forest inventory. The plan offers
prescriptions for restoration based on a matrix of forest types and the
complexity of forest structure (e.g., variable densities and a mix of size
and age classes of trees). The plan¹s highest priority is to direct
management toward reducing the threat of stand-replacing wildfires to
ponderosa pine and mixed conifer stands that are structurally complex or
contain large old growth ponderosa pines. In addition, the plan recognizes
that the lodgepole pine/bitterbrush forest type has commercial value and can
be managed to off-set costs to conduct the restoration work in the priority
forest areas, while also restoring this forest type to more healthy,
sustainable conditions. The plan¹s authors also acknowledge that riparian
and meadow areas need attention; hardwoods need restoration; and bitterbrush
needs revitalization.

The plan calls for a third party monitoring body and acknowledges the need
for a road plan. Rather than providing specifics for roads and
transportation, the forest management plan proposes that the Tribes develop
a transportation plan consistent with their restoration goals.

The estimated cost of restoration planning recommended by the forest
management plan is $4-5 million. A portion of that cost as well as costs for
implementation of the plan would need to be covered by funds in the current
$22-24 million budget for Fremont-Winema Forest National Forests. Tribal
Chairman Foreman points out that forest restoration is key to the Tribes¹
economic independence, since habitat restoration involves recovering
sustainable resources that are the foundation of self-sufficiency. He also
notes that the Tribes are starting with a deficit due to previous
mismanagement that left many forest needs unattended; he says a significant
upfront investment will be needed to recover.

The forest management plan has undergone a peer review process with highly
favorable results, and is now being closely reviewed by Tribal leaders and
members. The plan will be posted on the Tribes¹ Web site by next week and
available in Klamath County libraries for public review and comment through
Jan. 30, 2004. The Tribes will consider feedback received via email and
postal mail.

The next steps in development of the Tribes¹ sustainability strategy include
creation of plans to address issues of public access to the forestlands,
including transportation and recreational use.

Note: The following reference documents will be posted on the Klamath
Tribes Web site soon and are available to members of the news media by
contacting Monica Shovlin at (541) 434-7028 or mshovlin@ulum.com:

Principles for the Management of the Klamath Tribal Forestlands
Public Participation and Dispute Resolution Process in Management of the Klamath Tribal Forestlands
Klamath Reservation Forest Plan
Forest Management Plan Author Biographies
Forest Plan Peer Review
Peer Review Participant Biographies
A Sustainability Strategy for the Klamath Forest, in the Context of the Upper Klamath Basin
Backgrounder: Klamath Tribes¹ Water Rights
Backgrounder: The Case for Klamath Tribal Lands Restoration.