Lomakatsi and U.S. Forest Service Partner on Inter-Tribal Forestry Workforce Development Initiative

473008500_1030829752423482_2075581740377854564_n

Published January 10, 2025

Over the past year and a half, Lomakatsi has been honored to partner with the U.S. Forest Service- Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest (RRSNF) on an inter-tribal workforce training and development initiative to support tribes and tribal communities in building capacity for forest stewardship. Based on the RRSNF and integrated with Lomakatsi’s Tribal Ecological Forestry Training and Inter-Tribal Indian Youth Service Corps Programs, this opportunity has provided 27 tribal members – representing six different tribal nations and communities – with hands-on training in ecological thinning, prescribed fire, technical forestry, cultural monitoring, and trail maintenance. The initiative is funded through the USFS Rogue Basin Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program.

Working alongside professional staff from Lomakatsi and the U.S. Forest Service, crew members implemented ecological fuels reduction as part of The Ashland Forest Resiliency Stewardship Project and maintained trails at popular recreation areas in the Ashland Watershed. Ecological priorities include protecting large, old legacy trees in the area—some of which are at least 250 years old—by thinning smaller trees around them. The crew helped maintain previous restoration work by “culturing” groups of resprouting Madrone—removing smaller, weaker stems—to improve resilience and limit surface fuels on the landscape.

473117693_1030830505756740_7329902887087266421_n

473187519_1030829872423470_8421850171886932768_n

Inter-tribal crew members also applied fire with drip torches and held control lines during understory prescribed burns under the careful guidance of the RRSNF fire management team through the Rogue Basin Prescribed Fire Training Exchange. Throughout the program, crew members engaged and trained with natural resource professionals, learning about career pathways and earning nationally recognized certifications. The work supported overarching goals to protect the City of Ashland Oregon’s drinking water supply, provide rich training experiences, and prepare the land for future prescribed fire.

We’re proud of this innovative initiative that helps meet the regional capacity needed for wildland fire response, active forest restoration, and ecological maintenance of all lands—including federal lands—in response to increasing threats from wildfire and climate change. By advancing tribal inclusion in collaborative forest restoration, this initiative has also supported the integration of Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge and elevated the importance of cultural and subsistence resources such as First Foods that are essential to indigenous communities.