Tribes lead the way in forest resilience

Tribal lands in the Pacific Northwest are earning national recognition for something the U.S. Forest Service has struggled to achieve: healthy, resilient forests.

Despite receiving less than 40 cents for every federal dollar spent on national forests, tribes are restoring forest health and reducing tree mortality. Their success is rooted in thousands of years of stewardship and a willingness to act where federal policy too often stalls.

Long before European colonization, Indigenous people actively managed forests through cultural burning and selective thinning to clear underbrush, promote desired species, and prevent catastrophic wildfires.

“In my neck of the woods, there was a five-to-15-year fire return interval that was clearly from tribal management,” said Cody Desautel, executive director of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, which extends across Washington and into British Columbia, Oregon, and Idaho.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/09/25/tribes-lead-the-way-in-forest-resilience/