Tribal Relations

At the historic White House Tribal Nations Conference, President Obama signed a Memorandum on Tribal Consultation, pronouncing tribal consultation "a critical ingredient of a sound and productive Federal-tribal relationship." In keeping with this directive, and with our agency’s policies, we invited Tribes to participate in the collaborative process for the development of a new National Forest Planning Rule. This collaborative process was not itself a consultation; it was an opportunity for information sharing and dialog that will augment the consultation process. The opportunity for formal government-to-government consultation continued throughout the development of the preferred alternative, but separately and in addition to the collaborative process.

The Forest Service initiated consultation on the planning rule in September 2010, followed by 16 national and regional consultation meetings and one-on-one consultation meetings with local responsible officials. Consultation with federally recognized Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations continued following the release of the proposed rule in 2011, primarily at the local and regional levels. Federally recognized Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations were provided with additional consultation materials in September 2011.

A letter was sent to federally recognized Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations on January 26, 2012 to notify them of the release of the final programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS). This letter can be view by clicking the following link: PEIS Notification Letter for Tribes.

Responses the Tribal Comments Received During the Public Comment Period

Many Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations submitted comments during the public comment period that ran from February 14, 2011 through May 16, 2011. These comments were considered and analyzed during development of the preferred alternative. In an effort to provide Tribes with information on how the preferred alternative respondes to these comments, the Forest Service developed a comment-response document specifically for Tribal comments, which can be viewed by clicking the link below.

Responses to Tribal Comments Submitted During the Public Comment Period (pdf - 61kb)

2011 Tribal Conference Call

The Forest Service invited Tribes to participate in a national tribal telephone conference call on March 11, 2011. The call was opportunity to hear more about the proposed rule and to discuss it with the people who developed it.