Tribal Relations

The Lolo National Forest encompasses lands traditionally occupied by peoples of the Salish, Pend d' Oreille and Kootenai, amongst several other nomadic tribes (Nez Perce, Blackfeet, Coeur d' Alene).  The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) are located in northwest Montana on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The 1.3-million-acre reservation was formed as a result of the Hellgate Treaty of 1855, which also ceded rights to approximately 22 million acres of what is now much of western Montana and eastern Idaho. The south and west side of the reservation is bordered by the Lolo National Forest.

CSKT still practices traditional and cultural life ways use in their ancestral homelands of the Lolo National Forest for hunting, berry picking, fishing, and gathering medicinal plants. There is oral history and archaeological evidence that the tribes have occupied these lands for over 10,000 years or time in memoriam. 

The Forest consults on several levels, government-to-government, staff to staff and program to program with three tribes; CSKT, Nez Perce and the Coeur d' Alene. These consultations help to ensure that programs which may be of religious, cultural or traditional significance to tribal parties are considered/incorporated during planning and implementation of agency actions.

Consultations and coordination efforts with tribes are always on-going to better achieve the goals and mission of the agency.