Forest Service providing $800,000 for co-stewardship projects with Northeast Oregon Tribes

By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, June 25th, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News

NORTHEAST OREGON – The U.S. Forest Service recently announced that it will be providing $800,000 dollars for co-stewardship forestry projects with various Native American tribes in Union and Umatilla Counties. This is part of a larger 4.9-million-dollar funding effort involving tribes across both Oregon and Washington, itself also part of an even larger 18-million-dollar national effort. In a press release for the effort, the Forest Service clarified:

“Projects to receive funding in Washington and Oregon include work to increase Tribal involvement in forest planning, reducing wildfire risk, historical preservation, planning to support continued availability and harvest of culturally-significant forest products and First Foods, and implementation the national Native Seed Strategy.”

Specific projects, tribes, and National forests in Northeast Oregon to receive funding are as follows:

“Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and Nez Perce Tribe: This project will fund Tribal work to capture traditional usage history of locations on Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, with the shared goal of enhancing exercise and protection of cultural and treaty rights. The results of this project will help inform to land use management activities to ensure they support long term, sustainable forest uses that are historically and culturally significant to the Nez Perce people. $150,000

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and Nez Perce Tribe: This project will fund creation of a restoration strategy based on Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation First Foods to assist the Forest Service and Tribes, and their forestry and botanical staffs, to more fully engage and work as equal partners on co-stewardship related planning and activity. $500,000

Umatilla National Forest, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Malheur National Forest, and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation: This funding will be used to implement the National Native Seed Strategy, with a specific emphasis on tribal interests. The project will focus on seed collection, seed increase, container stock, and outreach and education. $150,000”