Summer Youth Program Week 3: Ecological Stewardship and Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Published July 11, 2025

The Ashland Youth crew kept busy this week exploring, learning, and putting hands on the land!

The crew started the week on Mount Ashland in the Ashland Forest All-Lands Restoration Initiative with Jack Singer and Lyndia Hammer of Pacific Forest Trust, working on madrone maintenance and learning more about the relationship between fire and fuels.

Tuesday’s field trip was a special highlight as the crew joined up with Shari Anderson, Fish Biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, at the former location of Irongate Dam to learn about Klamath River restoration and the largest dam removal project in history. The crew also got to visit a nearby hatchery operated by California Department of Fish and Wildlife to learn about efforts to support salmon populations.

The Nature Conservancy in Oregon’s Kerry Metlen met the crew at a site in the West Bear All-Lands Restoration Project to give his presentation about forest and fire ecology, historic stand reconstruction, and other research tools used in restoration science.

Thursday the youth toured the Icehouse Meadows Restoration Project, where Lomakatsi has been implementing ecological restoration of forests, woodlands and riparian areas across multiple private lands for the past 27 years with hundreds of students and tribal partners. The youth crew spent the day learning about Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge from Virginia Amoroso, Lomakatsi’s Cultural Specialist, citizen of the Ajumawi Band of the Ajumawi-Atsuge Nation (Pit River Tribe) and Shasta descendant, and Lomakatsi’s Tribal Partnerships Director Belinda Brown, citizen of the Kosealekte Band of the Ajumawi-Atsuge Nation (Pit River Tribe), northern Paiute and Isleta Pueblo descendant. The crew was also joined by Tom Rodhouse, a retired Senior Ecologist from the National Park Service, and Lomakatsi’s Executvie Director Marko Bey, who provided insight into ecological anchors and biological diversity of the forest and how partnerships strengthen ecosystem restoration.

We’re so grateful to all the outstanding professionals who are supporting this year’s program and providing fantastic educational opportunities for these youth this summer! Shout-out to the youth photographers who contributed to this week’s photo round-up.