Menominee oral history: Using historical perspectives to inform contemporary sustainable forest management

Background/Question/Methods

The Menominee tribe of Wisconsin has emerged as a global pioneer in the field of sustainable forestry. The tribe has actively managed their forests for thousands of years, and for the past 150 years they have harvested timber from their reservation on a sustainable basis. For much of this time, foresters used selective logging techniques as the dominant silvicultural treatment. Beginning in the 1990s, tribal foresters began to see that the history of selective logging would lead to the loss of forest diversity and a decrease in the culturally important white pine. This paper explores the evolving discussions within the Menominee community over perceptions of even-aged silviculture, ecological change, and the ways different groups within the community value and define forestry. This paper asks, how do various community members define sustainable forest management, how do these definitions shape their position on conflicts concerning forest harvesting, and what implications does this have for future forest management? To address these questions, we use historical and qualitative social science research techniques to analyze original land survey records, tribal planning documents, and 21 oral history interviews with Menominee tribal members and descendants.

Results/Conclusions

Between 1839 and 1854 surveyors from the General Land Office described the eastern portion of the current Menominee reservation as open oak and pine forest and the western portion as heavily forested with maple, beech, and birch. Planning documents from 1914 describe a similar pattern. Current forest inventories show the once open oak and pine forests have closed due to fire suppression and a history of selective logging. Analysis of the oral history interviews show that some tribal members view attempts to regenerate shade intolerant species as contrary to Menominee forest management traditions. Others saw even-aged management as necessary to maintain forest diversity. Despite conflicting views of forest harvesting techniques, interview participants explained that forest management has provided economic resources that have allowed the tribe to control their territory, maintain their forest resources, and foster their culture. Sustainable forestry, according to interview participants, incorporates history, economics, ecology, and the Menominee values of respecting connections among past, present, and future generations and the relationships between Menominee people and the environment. The interviews suggest that an understanding of the historical, ecological, and social context of Menominee forest management is necessary to develop management goals in the context of ecological change.