More than $12 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will be invested in fiscal year 2023 for projects supporting the Tribal Forest Protection Act through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
Selected projects will focus on supporting forest and grassland restoration, including vegetation management, hazardous fuels risk reduction and cultural and ethnobotanical surveys on indigenous landscapes, according to a March 10 news release. These investments follow the release of the Strengthening Tribal Consultations and Nation-to-Nation Relationships: A USDA Forest Service Action Plan.
“Many of these projects will tackle our most pressing issues, including climate change and the wildfire crisis, while creating job opportunities for Tribal members with the benefit of incorporating indigenous knowledge into ecological restoration activities,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in the release. “This is just one example of how our renewed commitment to work with Tribal nations has multiple benefits, including expanding opportunities for Tribal youth to pursue land management careers and integrating indigenous traditional ecological knowledge passed through the generations into ongoing co-stewardship activities.”
A number of projects will be planned and implemented in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, California, Oregon, Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming, according to the release.
The Forest Service’s action plan focuses on advancing existing laws, regulations and policies in the areas of co-stewardship, relationships between Tribes and the Forest Service, trust and treaty obligations and advancing Tribal relations, the release reported.
“The Forest Service recognizes its unique, shared responsibility in ensuring decisions related to federal stewardship of lands, waters and wildlife consider how treaty rights and spiritual, subsistence and cultural interests of American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Nations are considered,” the release said.
In addition to its efforts to build resilient food production, promoting fair markets and competition and making historic investments in infrastructure, USDA is working to "removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America," the release reported.
