Dr. Hoagland regularly hunts turkey and elk on her reservation in New Mexico.

Contributed by Dr. Serra Hoagland, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula, MT

I distinctly remember asking my master’s thesis advisor about how to describe the very jargon-y sounding term basal area in my public presentation on oak woodland management and ecology. Since that project, I’ve been attached at the hip to the field of forestry, through assessing forested habitat of threatened and endangered species, hunting big game in woodlands found on my reservation, or using remote sensing to describe our most remote, dynamic forest ecosystems.

Nearly a decade ago, I found myself at a crossroad between studying the ecology of the land or studying the ecology of the sea. From a young age, I knew I loved wildlife and naturally felt drawn to the holistic field of ecology both through the teachings of my family and the environment I grew up in. I knew the ocean could always be there for me as a place for enjoyment and escape and as I completed my masters defense, I was invited to present at the Intertribal Timber Council after receiving the Truman Picard scholarship. To some extent maybe forestry found me but the path it has led me on is one I feel is imperative for Indian people to be leading today.

Tribes manage 56 million acres of land, 18 million of which are forests. My family is from the Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico and our reservation is nearly a half-million acres with beautiful mesas speckled with junipers, Pinon pines, sagebrush and saltbush. My home doesn’t support a massive commercial forest, but it is nonetheless sacred to us in many ways. Indian people understand our inherent bind and connection to the land. We belong to these places, as my favorite author, Leslie Marmon Silko writes – who I’m proud to mention is from Laguna as well. Besides natural gas and uranium, forests are the tribes next highest valuable resource. However, counting the number of tribal forest managers is like finding a needle in a haystack. We are so few. The forestry profession boomed and saw sharp declines in the 80s and now we face overstocked stands and climate change. Our forests need responsible stewardship now more than ever. What better group of future leaders than Native foresters to lead the change?

Nationally, we see that tribes achieve the triple bottom line of forestry – the social, economic and ecological goals are well balanced and sustained overtime (Gordon et al. 2013). This is a true form of sustainability. Yet tribal forests and forest management face many challenges and threats such as declining budgets, declining timber markets, staff capacity, remote office locations and low staff retention rates, not to mention all the ecological challenges such as invasive species, drought, fire, trespass and the adverse effects of climate change. Despite the challenges, we find nuggets of hope, resilience and innovation in Indian forestry. Tribes are leading the way in reintroducing fire to the landscape, using traditional ecological knowledge to guide their Integrated Resource Management Plans, and tapping into partnerships and collaborations to provide them with external expertise and bandwidth to accomplish projects that sustain their landscapes while meeting tribal objectives.

Forestry, and conducting research on forest management topics, has “dream-level” job security. Our nation will always have a market for wood products and demands for clean water, outdoor recreation and environmental solitude. Every day in my job, I feel thankful to work towards conserving the flora and fauna that my ancestors relied on to support our cultural traditions and lifeways. Protecting our relations in 2020 is something my community supports because it is what they are bound to and will not exist without.

I look forward to attending the Tribal Forestry Summit at Northern Arizona University when it is safe to do so. In the meantime, I hope our network of Native students and professionals maintain their resilience in these uncertain times and I cannot wait until we can meet again in person.