Following the Lead of Tribal Wildlife Managers

Tribal land and wildlife managers are restoring habitat, addressing fragmentation and studying deadly threats, yet the true scope of this work often goes unrecognized

By Garrit Voggesser
Conservation
Sep 26, 2024

A Penobscot Nation trail camera captures a moose and calf in Maine.

WE KNOW INDIGENOUS PEOPLE are the original stewards of the land. Millennia of experience and intergenerational knowledge have prioritized whole-ecosystem conservation across Indian Country. And yet the true scope of Tribal wildlife and land management often goes unrecognized, undervalued and ignored.

At nearly 100 million acres and more than 10,000 miles of streams and rivers, Tribal lands and waters provide vital habitat for hundreds of federally listed species. In the summer edition of this column, our colleague Jeremy Romero wrote about one Tribal habitat project: the Pueblo of Santa Ana’s efforts to address fragmentation by removing and replacing nonwildlife-friendly fencing and constructing crossings to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions.

The Pueblo is also GPS-collaring animals to better understand movement patterns and is installing water sources and removing invasive vegetation. Because wildlife do not recognize boundaries, these benefits extend to adjacent lands.

The Pueblo of Santa Ana is not alone. Below are three more examples of Tribal wildlife management projects we can learn from.

While the North Cascades of Washington state are home to a healthy number of Canada lynx, the federally threatened species has diminished in the Kettle River Mountain Range farther east. To restore the historical population, the Fish and Wildlife Department of the Colville Tribes—in partnership with Conservation Northwest, Upper Columbia United Tribes, Okanagan Nation Alliance and others—has released 29 adult lynx on the Colville Reservation since 2021, with plans for 10 more in each of the next two winters.

Despite a “wildlife department of one,” the Penobscot Nation is a leader in moose conservation in Maine, home to the largest population—more than 60,000—of the ruminants in the continental United States. With climate change accelerating the number and survival rate of ticks, which present a deadly threat to moose, the Nation has focused on understanding moose-tick dynamics. This work on sovereign lands, where moose play a vital role in both forest ecology and Penobscot culture, is informing management decisions across the country. Still, efforts to develop long-term data have been severely constrained by intermittent federal support.

The Navajo Nation, with its Department of Fish and Wildlife (NNDFW), manages the largest Indian reservation in the United States—roughly the same acreage as West Virginia but with a fraction of that state’s federal natural resource funding. Despite unrelenting capacity and resource challenges, the Nation has built a native plants program from the ground up, with the goals of restoring locally sourced native seeds and plants to the landscape, conserving water and improving habitat for hundreds of plant and animal species. NNDFW has emphasized working with Navajo community members to protect species that hold ecological, cultural and medicinal importance—a commitment to wildlife and human health that exemplifies the Nation’s perseverance.

Even with so many successes, Tribal expertise too often isn’t given the same respect as Western science. As a non-Indigenous-led organization, it is the National Wildlife Federation’s responsibility to listen, learn and hold space for Indigenous partners, centering Tribal sovereignty, self-determination and Traditional Ecological Knowledges. We hope others recognize Tribes’ profound impact on conservation and follow their lead.

Garrit Voggesser is the senior director of Tribal partnerships and policy for the National Wildlife Federation. Learn more about NWF’s Tribal and Indigenous Partnership Enhancement Strategy.