In recent years, the federal government has tried to work more closely with tribal nations on land management, and a new online of such agreements seeks to facilitate that collaboration.
In 2021, the departments of Interior and Agriculture issued a joint calling for agreements to co-steward federal lands with tribal governments, and to incorporate Indigenous knowledge.
It called for these arrangements 鈥渨here Federal lands or waters, including wildlife and its habitat, are located within or adjacent to a federally recognized Indian Tribe鈥檚 reservation, where federally recognized Indian Tribes have subsistence or other rights or interests in non-adjacent Federal lands or waters, or where requested by a federally recognized Indian Tribe.鈥�
Earlier this year, an online of such agreements was compiled by a number of , including the Colorado-based Native American Rights Fund. It鈥檚 hosted by the University of Washington.
After outreach to tribal representatives, organizers identified 鈥淪overeign-to-Sovereign Agreements鈥� as the preferred term for such arrangements. They鈥檙e also known as co-stewardship or co-management agreements, according to a release from the Native American Rights Fund and the Wilderness Society.
Some have recently talked about building to a new era of public lands management.
鈥淭he time has come for a more holistic and inclusive approach to public lands management,鈥� University of Washington Native American Law Center Director Monte Mills and University of Montana Bolle Center for People and Forests Director Martine Nie wrote in 2021. 鈥淭he legal framework for federal public lands must no longer be divorced from and exclude tribes and tribal interests.鈥�
鈥淭he repository is basically the place to get the bricks to build that bridge,鈥� said Ada Montague Stepleton, a staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund. 鈥淚t's the raw materials you need to understand what are the legal mechanisms that allow for these types of arrangements to exist on the land.鈥�
鈥淢ore and more, we are getting requests from tribal nations who are expressing an interest in these opportunities through co-management and co-stewardship agreements,鈥� she added. 鈥淭hey want to take on bigger roles in land management and stewardship, but oftentimes it's hard for them to know where to start, what's already been done, where did it work, where hasn't it worked well.鈥�
Montague Stepleton cited a on the Sequoia National Forest last year by members of several tribes as an example of the sort of work that such agreements can enable. refers to the traditional use of fire for land management and cultural purposes by Indigenous people in the U.S. and around the world.
Climate change and other growing threats to public land are only adding urgency to the development of these collaborations, according to Montague Stepleton.
鈥淒espite the history of colonization in this country, there are relationships still intact and there is still a willingness,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I think some of it does come from this time pressure that people are feeling generally in the face of these really catastrophic conditions that we're starting to face. And the thought of, 鈥榳hat's this going to be like for our kids and our grandkids?鈥欌��
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, 萝莉少女 in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the .