What does it mean to Indigenize the USDA Forest Service?

What does it mean to Indigenize the USDA Forest Service?

Earlier this year, news articles across the Great Lakes region were abuzz with a new archeological find: pottery fragments from 1,750 years ago were uncovered in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota. Also in the news, researchers recently unearthed 23,000-year-old fossilized footprints of Indigenous Americans in present-day New Mexico, though this “discovery” comes as no surprise to the Indigenous peoples of the continent. What is the common thread in these two stories? The fact that Native Americans have been a part of Turtle Island, now known as the North American continent, since time immemorial.

Native Americans have been on the North American continent for at least 30,000 years. Prior to European colonization, the land we now call the United States was indigenized, meaning that it was influenced and actively managed by its original inhabitants. Native Americans are the first land stewards, farmers, and fire managers. Only with the arrival of European colonists did a rapid destabilization occur – the collapse of previously thriving bison, fish, plant, earthen and other economies and, likewise, the supporting ecosystems. Surviving Native Americans were summarily corralled and forced onto managed reservations with land boundaries. In the process, the indigenized systems in place, developed over tens of thousands of years, were discarded. Consequently, federal land management agencies and environmental organizations claimed the void.

Wherever we stand on this continent, we stand on Native land – previously indigenized land that has since been covered with layer upon layer of broken treaties and federal, state, private and political boundary lines.

Native peoples have indelible ties to the forests, grasslands, and waterways of this continent. As a federal agency that manages over 193 million acres of land, the USDA Forest Service maintains unique and important relationships to Tribes. For the Forest Service to maintain authenticity in its commitment to land management and its service to people, we must acknowledge our history through continued recognition of Indigenous American peoples as the original land managers of this country. But we must also move beyond acknowledgement to indigenize the Forest Service by reincorporating Indigenous values and knowledge into our land management systems.

What does it mean to indigenize the Forest Service in our day-to-day responsibilities? It means that we work to reshape federal-tribal relationships, to embed Indigenous wisdom into current land management and to fully pursue co-stewardship as authorizations allow, while upholding trust and treaty responsibilities.

To press forward with these efforts, the Forest Service is hiring several tribal relations specialists in the coming months. These positions are designed to encourage and support respectful government-to-government relationships; to clarify the Forest Service’s responsibilities regarding Tribal trust and treaty reserved rights; to develop and support education and training for Forest Service employees, helping them work with tribal governments and partners more effectively; and to explore innovative ways to collaborate with Tribal nations, Tribal organizations, and Tribal members.

As the Forest Service finalizes its Tribal Relations Action Plan on Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships which outlines steps for the Agency to meet the federal trust responsibility, honor treaty obligations, and support tribal self-determination, tribal relations specialists will play an especially pivotal role in leading positive efforts to strengthen Forest Service relationships with Tribal nations. This is an exciting time to work in Tribal Relations, join our team.

To explore opportunities with the Forest Service, including several Tribal Relations Specialist positions now available, please visit, https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/657948500

Reed Robinson

USDA Forest Service

Director

Office of Tribal Relations

USDA Forest Service Seeks Tribal-Federal Liaisons

Opportunity to support meaningful government-to-government collaboration and consultation.

Milwaukee, WI (June 3, 2022)—The USDA Forest Service is looking for exceptional applicants to fill six Tribal Relations Specialist positions across the country who will have the unique opportunity to work with world-class scientists, forestry professionals, and Tribal Leaders to help implement projects that ensure healthy forests, clean water, and spectacular recreation opportunities.

Tribal Relations Specialists play a critical role in the government-to-government trust responsibility that is crucial to the health and sustainability of many of our nation’s most treasured landscapes. They serve as the point of contact for American Indian Tribes; work with Tribal Councils, Tribal Leaders, and officials of other agencies; and serve as partnership coordinators for programs involving collaboration and consultation with American Indian Tribes.

“The Forest Service is committed to fulfilling federal trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations through regular, meaningful and robust consultation,” said Reed Robinson, director of the Office of Tribal Relations. “Through hiring Tribal Relations Specialists in these critical landscapes, our goal is to build, strengthen, and uphold nation-to-nation relationships that sustain tribal sovereignty and help meet the agency’s trust responsibilities and treaty obligations.”

These positions are based in varied locations, but all offer the opportunity to work toward positive, meaningful change and to help solve some of our most complex natural resource challenges. The positions will have the opportunity to work with cutting edge natural resource research and science, along with world class forestry experts. Locations include:

• Eastern Region Regional Office

• Northern Region Regional Office

• Northern Research Station / Forest Products Laboratory

• Pacific Southwest Research Station

• Rocky Mountain Regional Office

• Rocky Mountain Research Station

The Forest Service strives to be a recognized leader among federal land management agencies in partnering appropriately and collaboratively with American Indian and Alaska Native tribal nations for mutually beneficial outcomes. Join us as we implement agency programs and activities in a manner that honors American Indian Tribes’ treaty rights while fulfilling the Forest Service’s trust responsibilities.

To apply for these opportunities, please visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/657948500

To learn more about this and other types of career opportunities available within the Forest Service and how to find and apply for opportunities on USAJOBS.gov, please join us for a Live Webinar, on Thursday, June 9, 2022, at 5:00 PM ET/ 2:00 PM PT. During this webinar, we will also have a Q&A session with agency recruiters and HR professionals. For more information, including webinar connection, please visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/working-with-us/jobs/events