Tribal Stewardship
In service of Indigenous stewardship across ancestral homelands through data, science, and sustained partnership
Grounding Our Work in Sovereignty
We acknowledge Tribal Nations as sovereign governments, representing communities with deeply held interests in the health and well-being of the ecosystems upon which we all depend. These interests extend throughout each Nation’s ancestral territory and are not extinguished or diminished by the patchwork of land ownership that has evolved across these lands.
We recognize that Tribal Nations act upon generations of lived experience with ecosystem-based management—knowledge that has been undermined and neglected by non-Indigenous governments and communities for centuries, and at great cost. We clearly see the effects of this history, with relationships between people and the places we rely upon pushed out of balance. We know that Indigenous stewardship practices and systems can offer uniquely effective responses to the crises facing communities across North America (and beyond).
This understanding carries forward into how we work—with humility, listening, and respect for Tribal priorities.
Our Ways of Working with Tribal Nations
- Listening - We ground our work by first seeking to understand the needs, interests, and contexts that are unique to each Tribe.
- Two-Eyed Seeing - We seek out and apply Indigenous science alongside Western science. Strengthening the legitimacy and community support for the management decisions we help inform.
- Data Sovereignty - We honor each Nation’s right to govern the collection, ownership, and use of data about their lands, people, and resources. Our role is to support—not supersede—Tribal authority by ensuring data are handled, stored, and shared in ways that align with each Nation’s values, permissions, and governance frameworks.
- Supporting Decisions - We recognize and adapt to capacity constraints around evaluating new data and technologies, focusing our work where it most effectively enables informed decision-making rather than prioritizing technical analysis alone.
- Expecting Complexity - We understand the challenges of coordinating landscape-level management across allotments, alienated parcels, and regulatory overlays involving Tribal, state, and federal governments, as well as the need to navigate multiple funding sources to get work done on the ground.
What We Do
- Deliver data needed for technical assessment, monitoring, and reporting of forest conditions, risks, and impacts of management actions and natural disturbances.
- Generate technical reports such as Quantitative Wildfire Risk Assessments.
- Produce data-driven storytelling that spotlights Tribal leadership in ecosystem management and builds broader support for Indigenous stewardship.
- Prepare communications materials—such as maps, infographics, and narrative summaries—that illustrate fire and restoration needs or track changes and accomplishments over time for non-technical audiences.
- Provide technical assistance and consulting support for assessing forest and fire conditions and developing plans and proposals, including strategic prioritization of restoration activities, Community Wildfire Protection Plans, and grant proposals for implementing and monitoring wildfire and forest restoration projects.
- Engage in research co-production, such as developing custom Response Functions that describe how highly valued resources, areas, and assets change following management or natural disturbance.