YAAK VALLEY FOREST COMMUNITY

Yaak Valley, Montana
The Yaak Valley is home to fewer than 150 families living year-round in this remote area of northwestern Montana. The population of Yaak, situated in the Kootenai National Forest, is comprised of a local community long and primarily dependent on the timber economy as well as those whose livelihoods are not timber-related. Residents, old and new, have strong feelings about forest preservation and management and the protection of endangered species within the forest. For instance, some want to limit road building and tree-cutting, which would pose a direct threat to longtime Yaak Valley logging practices. Under pressure to address environmental and economic issues, the community began to meet to discuss possible resolutions. These meetings were often polarized among opposing points of view.

Some residents founded the Yaak Valley Forest Council when the Forest Service asked for public input into the area's forest management. The Council managed to open dialogue between loggers and environmentalists, and to engage the entire community in finding new approaches to forest conservation. Together community representatives have worked towards a resolution that further involves local people in government management of the area. The program focuses on restoration of the land rather than removing entire sections of trees through clear-cutting practices. As an alternative, loggers are encouraged to use methods of salvaging or cutting trees already fallen or weak. Through this policy of "forest stewardship," independent Yaak Valley loggers are able to continue working responsibly, and people of opposing viewpoints have compromised, reflecting their common love for the forest and the preservation of its remarkable resources.

Photographer Terry Evans, a distinguished landscape and aerial photographer, is sensitive to and inspired by land and resource issues. Her images introduce us to the Yaak Valley and its residents whose lives revolve around the forest. Reuben Kneller, pictured at his sawmill, is a member of the Stewardship Project, and the Karuzas family (heard singing on the audio portrait) owns a small logging partnership. Also pictured are an aerial view of a barren, clear-cut section of Yaak Valley and horse logger, Jesse Sedle.

Interviewer Jens Lund is a folklorist who has been involved in research on the traditions of Northwest timber and marine fishing communities. His interviews present the voices of Yaak's citizens as they discuss their involvement and perceptions of the project. It describes working toward finding commonalties between diverse people who relate very closely to their forest environment in different and sometimes opposing ways. quotation from an interview

http://www.creativephotography.org    This page last updated September 24, 2000.   oncenter@ccp.arizona.edu