Lomakatsi and partners champion tribal workforce development initiatives and collaborative forest restoration in Washington, D.C.

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Published March 26, 2025

Earlier this month, Lomakatsi’s leadership team joined tribal conservation corps organizations from across the country in Washington, D.C. to highlight the importance of Indian Youth Service Corps (IYSC) for serving tribal and rural youth, and increasing the workforce capacity needed to address the growing threat of wildfire and other environmental challenges. The trip was timed around The Corps Network’s 2025 Conference (#CorpsCon25), where Lomakatsi was honored to receive full accreditation for our Corps programs and present on our model for integrating tribally centered workforce development programs into collaborative forest restoration initiatives. Our delegation—which for key meetings included fellow members of the IYSC National Working Group and elected tribal representatives from across the West—had productive conversations with congressional representatives and federal department and agency leadership.

Over the course of two weeks, we met with the following elected officials and/or their legislative staff: Congressman Cliff Bentz (R-OR), Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Congresswoman Andrea Salinas (D-OR), Congresswoman Val Hoyle (D-OR), Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID), Senator James Risch (R-ID), Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA), and Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA). We also met with leadership from the USDA Office of Natural Resources and Environment, U.S. Department of Interior, USDA Office of Tribal Relations, and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and attended a Senate hearing on the pending Fix Our Forests Act legislation.

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During these engagements, we shared success stories and discussed how to increase the pace and scale of forest health and ecological fuels reduction work to reduce wildfire risks to communities and natural resources. We elevated the model that Lomakatsi and our many partners use, leveraging collaborative agreements and stewardship-based projects to restore forests and watersheds while building regional workforce capacity, supporting rural jobs, and helping to sustain the timber industry and local mills.

The delegation highlighted the importance of working with tribes to conduct critical restoration work across ancestral lands, and the life-changing impacts of IYSC programs that are serving thousands of tribal youth across the country. IYSC is a federal program created in 2019 through an amendment to the Public Land Corps Act, to support training and employment opportunities for tribal and rural young adults ages 18-30, and up to age 35 for veterans.

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Lomakatsi looks forward to continuing our partnerships—some spanning nearly 30 years—with the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Park Service, and the many tribal, state, and local community partners who share our dedicated to safer communities and healthier forests and watersheds.