WSFPI, a wholly-owned business enterprise of the Tribe, was established by Tribal Council on April 11, 1967. Over the course of almost five decades, WSFPI has served to promote the better and fuller development and utilization of the Reservation timber resources and to provide an economic return for the Tribe and its members and has provided the Tribe and its members with employment, education, and other social benefits. In the last several years, WSFPI’s profitability has diminished primarily because of a reduced log supply, an aging physical plant, and a changing economy. BIA has issued a cease and desist order to WSFPI prohibiting further timber harvest on the Warm Springs Reservation. Tribal Council did not reach the decision to seek appointment of a judicial receiver lightly and only after considering WSFPI’s financial condition and hearing from Tribal members.

As WSFPI is wound down, the Tribe intends to explore options available to it to maximize the value of its trust timber resources and to retain the opportunity to add value through logging, transportation, sorting, and possibly milling timber in the future. Austin Greene, Chairman of Tribal Council, stated that passage of the Tribal Resolution was intended “to protect the Tribe and its resources and to minimize the impact on individual tribal members.”