Forest Service retiree honored for work with Tribes
Published on Tue, Dec 13, 2011 by Beckye RandallRead More Local News
For the past six years, Rob Iwamoto, a U.S. Forest Service supervisor for the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, has worked closely with the Tulalip Tribes and other native groups to protect tribal treaty rights while ensuring conservation and continued tribal access to the natural resources of the forest. On Friday, Dec. 2, the Tulalip Tribes Board of Directors honored Iwamoto for his work and wished him well in his coming retirement after 35 years with the Forest Service.
"My goal was to develop better communications between the tribes and the Forest Service," said Iwamoto. "These lands are in traditional Tulalip territory, and it was important to us to seek input from tribal leaders to plan sustainability goals, at a government-to-government level."
The centerpiece of the partnership, according to Libby Halpin Nelson, an environmental policy analyst for the Tribes' Treaty Rights Office, is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Tribes and the Forest Service.
"This is more than a document of lofty goals," said Nelson. "It's a working document that is critical for the management of the forest's natural resources and the Tribes' rights to those resources."
The Tribes began working with Iwamoto shortly after he became the supervisor of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. In 2005 Tulalip leaders invited Iwamoto and his staff to visit the reservation and meet the Tribes' natural and cultural resources staff to hear ideas and concerns regarding the management of national forest lands, which were traditional hunting, fishing and gathering territories for tribal ancestors.
Over the past two years, Forest Service staff have begun working with Tulalip's staff to enhance huckleberry areas using traditional methods such as pruning, and planned controlled burns of vegetation. The Tribes have also involved tribal youth as workers on several projects to get younger generations back onto ancestral lands, and have partnered to bring needed tribal and federal grant funding to the forest for collaborative research and restoration efforts.
Tulalip chairman Mel Sheldon commended Iwamoto on his dedication.
"We have been very honored to work with you," said Sheldon. "We have the highest respect for you. You are a very unique individual, and you've meant so much to us."
The Tribes presented Iwamoto with a hand-carved cedar paddle by Mitch Metta and Joe Gobin, and Iwamoto reciprocated with the gift of a Forest Service blanket for the Tribes.
"The carving on the paddle is a squid design," explained the Tribes' Forestry Department manager Jason Gobin, "and it's based on a 100-year-old design."
Nelson added, "The Tribes look forward to working with Rob's successor to continue progress toward our common long-term goals."
"My goal was to develop better communications between the tribes and the Forest Service," said Iwamoto. "These lands are in traditional Tulalip territory, and it was important to us to seek input from tribal leaders to plan sustainability goals, at a government-to-government level."
The centerpiece of the partnership, according to Libby Halpin Nelson, an environmental policy analyst for the Tribes' Treaty Rights Office, is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Tribes and the Forest Service.
"This is more than a document of lofty goals," said Nelson. "It's a working document that is critical for the management of the forest's natural resources and the Tribes' rights to those resources."
The Tribes began working with Iwamoto shortly after he became the supervisor of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. In 2005 Tulalip leaders invited Iwamoto and his staff to visit the reservation and meet the Tribes' natural and cultural resources staff to hear ideas and concerns regarding the management of national forest lands, which were traditional hunting, fishing and gathering territories for tribal ancestors.
Over the past two years, Forest Service staff have begun working with Tulalip's staff to enhance huckleberry areas using traditional methods such as pruning, and planned controlled burns of vegetation. The Tribes have also involved tribal youth as workers on several projects to get younger generations back onto ancestral lands, and have partnered to bring needed tribal and federal grant funding to the forest for collaborative research and restoration efforts.
Tulalip chairman Mel Sheldon commended Iwamoto on his dedication.
"We have been very honored to work with you," said Sheldon. "We have the highest respect for you. You are a very unique individual, and you've meant so much to us."
The Tribes presented Iwamoto with a hand-carved cedar paddle by Mitch Metta and Joe Gobin, and Iwamoto reciprocated with the gift of a Forest Service blanket for the Tribes.
"The carving on the paddle is a squid design," explained the Tribes' Forestry Department manager Jason Gobin, "and it's based on a 100-year-old design."
Nelson added, "The Tribes look forward to working with Rob's successor to continue progress toward our common long-term goals."
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