Stewarding Native Lands program

Stewarding Native Lands program is sponsored by First Nations Development Institute (funded by National Fish and Wildlife Foundation). This program supports the development of tribal co-stewardship agreements and related capacity building for eligible Tribes. The grant period for this funding opportunity is October 15, 2024, to November 30, 2026.

Stewarding Native Lands | First Nations Development Institute First Nations envisions a future where Native stewardship is woven into all lands, nourishing vibrant ecosystems and communities. Native knowledge and stewardship are evident and undeniable to those willing to see.

Generations of experiences, practice, observations, innovations, traditions, and adaptations have formed an expansive reservoir of knowledge and shaped our ecosystems, biodiversity, and communities. We are here. Connected to our land, connected to each other, connected to our plant and animal relatives.

Tribes and Native communities have been stewarding their lands for tens of thousands of years, cultivating and transferring traditional knowledge across generations. This knowledge and deep connection to the land keep Native communities strong and the natural world in balance.

Informed by Tribes and Native communities, First Nations established the Stewarding Native Lands program in 2020, based on the belief that Native communities already have strategies and localized solutions, rooted in traditional knowledge and stewardship practices, to build adaptive capacity; manage land, animals, and plants; and improve the health of communities and ecosystems.

Through the Stewarding Native Lands program, First Nations supports Tribes and Native communities in uplifting and sustaining this knowledge, and regaining and restoring their lands through five focus areas.

“Usugilix Awakun: We Are Working Together” Tribal Lands Conservation Fund Tribal Lands Conservation Fund Program Officer, Stewarding Native Lands Navajo, Blackfeet, Shoshone-Bannock Program Officer, Stewarding Native Lands Program Associate, Stewarding Native Lands Director, Stewarding Native Lands Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation Associate Director, Stewarding Native Lands Environmental Sovereignty and Justice This project will build tribal capacity and support tribal leadership efforts in cross-agency management of native habitats and culturally important natural resources on reservation and adjacent U.S. Forest Service Lands.

Tataviam Land Conservancy Wassamasaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians Kake Tribal Heritage Foundation Nurturing Future Ancestors This project will create paid workforce opportunities for Alaska Native youth, increase community food security, and leverage traditional Tlingit knowledge with sustainable growing practices to strengthen climate adaptation, develop future leaders, and retain cultural stewardship skills.

This project will build Kusilvak Rising's capacity to engage federal partners and pursue federal funding that supports Native leadership; climate adaptation; and sustainable stewardship of land, water, and subsistence resources in the Kusilvak region.

Fort Belknap Community Economic Development Corporation Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions This project will restore wetland ecosystems while expanding community understanding of the role beavers play in watershed health. This project will also improve water quality and increase water retention on the landscape, and address landowner concerns about coexistence-based beaver management.

Blackfeet Community College Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions This Beaver Pond Levelers project will restore and conserve wetland and riparian habitats, strengthen biodiversity, and support sustainable beaver populations. The project promotes long-term coexistence between humans and beavers through non-lethal management practices.

Blackfeet Fish & Wildlife Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions This project will restore healthy watershed function, reduce human–wildlife conflict, and strengthen ecological resilience across the Blackfeet Reservation. The project uses beavers as a natural tool for habitat restoration while balancing the need for landowners and elders.

Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions This project will support the Cowlitz Tribe's beaver relocation and restoration program by building programmatic capacity to monitor beaver activity at relocation sites. This project will support the development of novel monitoring methods and provide critical data to determine relocation success.

Atux̂ Forever: Restoring Attuans' Freedom Environmental Sovereignty and Justice This project will support Atux̂ Forever's assessment of the management practices of U.S. federal agencies activities on traditional homelands. This project will pave the way for environmental remediation and justice for the Saskinax̂ am Alaiit Sovereign Nation.

Environmental Sovereignty and Justice Protecting Bering Sea Marine Resources This project will protect the Bering Sea from industrial development impacts, in part, through engaging in the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area Coalition, coordinating meetings to solicit guidance from Elder Representatives, and implementing a Government Relations Plan.

Fort Belknap Indian Community This project will focus on growing program staff capacity, increasing community education, and developing construction plans on a buffalo program office. This project will advance tribal food sovereignty and grassland stewardship within the boundaries of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions This project will support the Pueblo of Santa Clara's planning efforts to develop a wildlife management plan and strategy that includes beaver. This project will increase the capacity of the Forestry Department to restore healthy beaver populations to lands impacted by the Conchas Wildfire.

Fort Belknap Indian Community Tribal Stewardship in the Northern Great Plains This project will observe buffalo behavior through a lens of traditional knowledge. Findings will guide development of culturally informed, low-stress buffalo management practices, operational effectiveness, and long-term stewardship consistent with community values.

This project will elevate tribal renewable energy projects through community education and in-person gatherings. This project will also support the People of the Sun gathering, an immersive experience centering Indigenous-led clean energy innovation, cultural expression, and economic opportunity.

Nurturing Future Ancestors The Pāpala Lele Biocultural Internship will cultivate Native Hawaiian youth, high school youth, and college students as the next generation of environmental stewards through place-based learning across the Hāʻena ahupuaʻa, integrating traditional knowledge with accredited academic pathways.

Menominee Tribal Enterprises The Center for Native Health INC Nurturing Future Ancestors Through this project the Youth Conservation Clubs will empower Indigenous youth to strengthen stewardship through cultural knowledge, place-based conservation activities, and community engagement. The clubs foster commitment to protecting natural resources while honoring relationships with the land.

Learning Center at the Euchee Butterfly Farm Inc Our project will assist tribes with native plant restoration to improve support of pollinator populations threatened by climate change to bolster the health of Native people and lands. Tribes will be assisted by capacity building, onsite technical assistance, and delivery of plants and equipment.

Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of Stewarts Point Rancheria Advancing Tribal Conservation Easements This project will support Kashia Band of Pomo Indians to pursue a conservation easement that will enable access to and protection of tribal cultural resources. This easement will enable the Tribe to access a site that they haven't been able to access for over 30 years.

Mooretown Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California This project will improve Mooretown’s forest stewardship through purchasing high-pressure water pumps and Compressed Air Foam Systems (CAFS) for our existing equipment, which will allow for safer operations during forestry activities throughout the year.

This project will build capacity for Dot Lake Village’s forestry program by acquiring essential equipment and safety tools to support sustainable forest management, stewardship activities, and safe access to tribal lands for ongoing maintenance, thinning, and resource protection.

This project strengthens Dena’ina and Alutiiq stewardship by acquiring forestry equipment to care for Tribal forest homelands, reduce wildfire risk, and protect lands that sustain cultural lifeways, subsistence traditions, and community well-being for future generations.

This project will support efforts to restore our forests through the purchase of essential equipment including a truck, fire pump and forestry saw needed for prescribed fires and restoration purposes. This project increases capacity for two Pit River tribal forestry crews located 200 miles apart to manage our 3.

4 million acres of ancestral homelands through the purchase of a side-by-side to access high-risk fuel areas, essential supplies and equipment to manage forest health. This project strengthens the Tribe’s capacity to sustainably manage and harvest forest resources by improving operational efficiency and access.

It supports forest health, enhances timber value, and enabling the Tribe to manage its lands and steward resources for future generations. California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project The purpose of all CHIRP activities is to preserve, protect, and perpetuate Nisenan culture.

This project supports the purchase of essential forestry equipment for CHIRP's recently formed Tribally-led Land Stewardship Crew, which is designed to return beneficial fire to our Tribal landscapes.

Sponsorship for the 2026 Pueblo of Acoma Earth Day, Sacred Power of Sacred Land Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative Our project will kickstart ecological monitoring on both privately owned buffalo habitat and expand onto Tribal land through the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative. Our project will also support WRTBI operations tied to the Science Department.

Our project will provide quality buffalo meat to support community health while advancing buffalo restoration. Through education and outreach, we will engage future generations, strengthen cultural and spiritual connections, support ecological restoration, and create employment opportunities.

This project will support the development of Rocky Boy Buffalo Project's community-based visitor center where people can learn about the Rocky Boy Buffalo Project and the cultural, ecological, and economic importance of buffalo restoration.

Medicine Fish Corporation Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative This grant will support the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative’s fee simple acquisition of a parcel within the boundaries of the Wind River Reservation adjacent to Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative’s property. This land will support expansion of Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative’s buffalo pasture.

Native Village of Chitina Environmental Sovereignty and Justice Our project is dedicated to protecting burial sites while fully aligning with tribal priorities and upholding Tribal Sovereignty. California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project The purpose of all CHIRP activities is to preserve, protect, and perpetuate Nisenan culture.

To these ends, CHIRP has formed a Tribally-led Land Stewardship Crew to return beneficial fire to our Tribal landscapes. This project serves to increase the capacity of the Crew through staffing support. Native American Fish and Wildlife Society This grant will sponsor the 2026 National Conference and Southwest, Great Lakes, Great Plains, Pacific, and Southeast Regional Conferences.

This project will support wildlife habitat enhancement, environmental outreach to and education for tribal youth, and tribal engagement in wildlife connectivity and corridors.

Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska will establish wildlife forage plantings on tribal lands to strengthen habitat, improve deer and game nutrition, and build Tribal capacity in natural resource stewardship through hands-on monitoring, youth engagement, and data-driven conservation.

Environmental Sovereignty and Justice This project supports the time of Kawerak's Tribal Research Coordinator to create, distribute, and promote tribal research protocols and the newly developed research priorities of Kawerak-region tribes to enhance tribal research sovereignty.

This project strengthens Nooksack internal capacity to engage with United States Forest Service programs; expand government-to-government collaboration; and support co-stewardship and future partnership agreements that protect culturally significant ancestral lands for future generations.

The purpose of this project is to process and distribute logs into firewood for Crow families, while providing winter employment to tribal members previously engaged in wildfire firefighting. This effort strengthens community, and creates local workforce opportunities tied to land stewardship.

Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians Increase the capacity of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians to engage with offshore wind planning in the Gulf of Maine and advance its own local community / governmental energy sustainability initiatives, projects, goals, and objectives.

Through this project, the tribe is removing invasive non-native trees, destroying invasive non-native smooth brome grass areas, and replanting the entire 660 acres to a diverse mix of native grasses and forbs.

Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative This project will resolve community concerns regarding Brucellosis within the elk herds around Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative at the same time deploy GPS tracking collars or ear tags on the elk to increase the understanding of elk movements along the Wind River.

This project supports the hiring of staff to increase tribal energy planning by growing networks and consultation with tribal and non-Native entities outside of Maine and the United States, and the sharing of information, practices, and opportunities with other Wabanaki Nations and regional tribes.

Passamaquoddy Tribe Indian Township This project provides for a staff position at the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township to act under the direction of the Chief and the Tribal Council. This staffer will consult state and federal governments and labor/environmental allies on planning and policy processes for clean energy.

This project empowers southwest Tribal Nations to protect and manage sacred sites and cultural resources by strengthening their capacity to engage in federal processes, advance energy sovereignty, and ensure development aligns with tribal priorities and values.

Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions This project will grow adaptive capacity to increase civic action to plant the rain to retain water within the watershed to minimize erosion, restore native vegetation/habitats, and increase soil moisture, to drive action toward preparing for rising temperatures within the Colorado River Basin.

This project provides staff support to the Penobscot Nation’s Department of Natural Resources in order to consult governments and labor/environmental allies on planning and policy processes regarding offshore wind and clean energy advancement.

Colorado River Indian Tribes Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions This project supports the restoration of willows, mesquite and cottonwood vegetation in riparian areas to reduce hazardous fuels and erosion that pose wildfire threats in recreation areas, increase habitat conservation, and enhance water quality.

Environmental Sovereignty and Justice This project connects Apache people and other Native and non-Native allies to protect Chi’chil Biłdagoteel (also known as Oak Flat), a sacred site for Apache people and many other Indigenous people, from copper mining.

Dooda (No) Helium Extraction Organization Environmental Sovereignty and Justice This project's purpose is to stop helium extraction and a hydrogen pipeline in communities on the Navajo reservation.

Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions The project supports information gathering, planning, and decision making by tribal leaders and experts with the ultimate goals of setting water quality standards and outlining a collaborative water monitoring program for Bears Ears National Monument.

Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative Advancing Tribal Conservation Easements This project supports the planning, reimagining, and implementation of conservation easements to perpetually protect the culturally significant buffalo habitat within and adjacent to the Wind River Indian Reservation, while strengthening land sovereignty for the respective tribal communities.

Southern Ute Indian Tribe Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions The project supports the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s natural resources through low-tech, process-based restoration that enhances riverine processes, expands riparian habitat, reduces nonpoint source pollution, improve water quality, and strengthens tribal climate resiliency. Aleut Community of St.

Paul Island Environmental Sovereignty and Justice This project advances collaborative fisheries research by promoting and advocating for the use of Skipper Science with fishery partners, and creating and implementing a policy for a subsistence food security monitoring program.

Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions This project restores native riparian vegetation, removes invasive species, and improves habitat for plants, wildlife, and aquatic species in and around Pasture Canyon Reservoir to strengthen ecological health, cultural use, and long-term watershed resilience.

Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions This project aims to restore ecological balance within the Colorado River Basin by supporting the strategic removal of feral equids. This removal will prevent further erosion, reestablish native habitat, eliminate competition for native species, and improve watershed health.

This project empowers Molokaʻi youth through ʻāina-based education, art, and cultural leadership while strengthening organizational capacity and digital storytelling. It protects ancestral knowledge and ongoing stewardship of ʻāina, kai, as well as community well-being for future generations.

Environmental Sovereignty and Justice This project supports the work of the People of Red Mountain (Atsa Koodakuh wyh Nuwu, in Paiute), a committee of traditional knowledge keepers and descendants of the Fort McDermitt Paiute, Shoshone, and Bannock Tribes working in coalition with allies to protect ancestral homelands.

Medicine Fish Corporation Medicine Fish Corporation will celebrate their recently approved 550-acre expansion and introduction of 19 new buffalo to Menominee homelands Eastern Dine Navajos Against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM) Red Water Pond Community Association White Mesa Concerned Community Laguna Acoma Coalition for a Safe Environment Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians Advancing Tribal Conservation Easements This project supports Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians (BVBMI) to enact a cultural conservation easement on a 6,500-acre portion of their ancestral land.

BVBMI plans to use a cultural conservation easement to strengthen connection and access to land and strengthen community. Advancing Tribal Conservation Easements This project supports the Rappahannock Tribe in developing a conservation easement template that respects Tribal Sovereignty and encourages tribes to negotiate when using an easement for land back.

This template supports the rematriation of 200 acres of tribal land bordering Fones Cliffs. Advancing Tribal Conservation Easements This project supports the use of conservation easements to permanently protect the subsistence and conservation values of approximately 80,000 acres owned by Igiugig Native Corporation. The acres identified for protection are of both subsistence and cultural significance to the tribe.

Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas Environmental Sovereignty and Justice The Protecting Ancestral Wisdom project preserves, maintains, protects, and offers services that better tribal lands and communities to overcome the erasure of the Original People of Texas, the Esto’k Gna.

Ahtna Intertribal Resources Commission This project strengthens co-management of Alaska’s migratory birds by fostering collaboration, shared understanding & trust among Tribal, federal, and state partners, ensuring sustainable, culturally grounded subsistence practices and long-term stewardship of Alaska’s vital migratory bird resources.

Ahtna Intertribal Resources Commission Our project will support the eight Ahtna Tribes in their Stewardship Planning for lands within the Ahtna Traditional Territory.

Advancing Tribal Conservation Easements This project supports Molokai Heritage Trust in implementing an easement on newly acquired coastal lands of significant value to the Hawaiian community in order to permanently protect land while codifying and upholding existing spiritual, cultural, and subsistence practices.

Magpie Buffalo Organizing Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation This project strengthens organizational infrastructure to sustain and grow programming rooted in Lakota values, ensuring long-term capacity to support community priorities in land stewardship, youth leadership, and cultural revitalization across homelands.

Colfax Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe of the Colfax Rancheria and Koy'o Land Conservancy To consult with USFS on the Tahoe National Forest and El Dorado National Forest to secure funding to engage in tribal consultation and contracting.

Mesa Grande Indian Housing Authority Hui Malama i ke Ala Ulili Advancing Tribal Conservation Easements This funding supports the purchase of essential equipment, supplies for logging and forest monitoring operations. Activities integrate modern tools with traditional stewardship values, ensuring environmental and cultural sustainability to support the Harvest to Home initiative.

To support Chilkat Indian Village (Klukwan)'s intergovernmental advocacy and legal strategy efforts to defend our traditional territory, pursue #landback, and assert Tribal governance and protection of the Jilḵáat Aani Ka Héeni (the Chilkat Valley Watershed).

Oglala Sioux Parks and Recreation Authority Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe proposes a project that retains access to ancestral Tribal lands, increasing forest management to enable staff to build capacity within timberland productivity, management, silviculture, marketing, and protect cultural forest resources.

Our goal is to increase the capacity of our staff to be pursue partnerships, funding, and strategically plan for the benefit of our forested ancestral lands and for the Tribal nation through training on grant seeking, writing, and management.

This program supports nearly 4,000 Tribal members while building the Tribe’s organizational capacity to engage with federal partners, manage natural resources, and sustain long-term programming in environmental stewardship through a sustainable food systems. Blackfeet Eco Knowledge Inc. We are committed to revitalizing Nitsitapii (the Real People) ways of knowing, increasingly recognized as vital to climate resilience.

We work to restore balance to the land and its inhabitants, leading efforts in historical trauma healing through reconnection and access to land-based practices.

Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission The Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission will utilize legal representation as we continue to uphold rural subsistence rights in Alaska, while also upholding the participation of local people, elected by the Tribes, in the co-management of Kuskokwim salmon.

The ultimate purpose is to 1) expand Tribal capacity through a Firewood & Resilience Program Coordinator, 2) reduce hazardous fuels on Kiowa lands, and 3) ensure sustainable firewood access for heating, disaster resilience, and cultural continuity.

Establish a sustainable, tribally owned firewood program on under-managed fee and trust lands to improve local forest health, support Tribal members, and create new self-sustaining economic opportunities. Develop partnerships with the Forest Service, National Forest Foundation, and Wood for Life. Our program strengthens forest management and assesses participation in climate markets.

This grant will increase capacity, support forest management and carbon project development which integrates our cultural values, while creating marketability through stewardship of our natural resources. Our project will support the reintegration of tribal traditional uses to Santa Fe National Forest. The area of focus will be the 45,000 acre section of the national forest that was illegally taken from the Pueblo of Nambé in 1905.

Our purpose is to 1) expand the Tribe's capacity to implement prescribed fire, habitat restoration and other natural resource management on Tribal lands, 2) enhance participation in regional restoration efforts, 3) participate in habitat restoration decision-making with local partners Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians This project establishes a LiDAR-based forest inventory and growth modeling system to create a baseline dataset that enables complex economic, ecological, and cultural analysis to guide strategic management decisions relating to conventional and emerging carbon, water and biodiversity markets.

Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon This project increases capacity of acreage treated within Siletz Tribal lands for cultural and prescribed fire, and begins research into a new carbon sequestration market through prescribed burning by blending traditional ecological practices, soil science, and sustainable forest management.

This funding supports a feasibility study to assess the ecological health of forest lands and evaluate sustainable, income-generating opportunities that ensure long-term forest stewardship and economic viability.

The Salamatof Tribe Capacity Building & Forest Innovations Planning Project improves and promotes forest health through active forest management on tribal lands and a long-term plan for the development of marketable forest products. This project implements sustainable forest management through selective harvesting, replanting, and biodiversity protection while exploring carbon and forest product markets.

This strengthens the Dot Lake tribal economy, supports Native-led stewardship, and promotes long-term forest health. The Kuskokwim Corporation Purchase essential equipment and supplies for logging and forest monitoring operations. Activities will integrate modern tools, such as GPS mapping and drone surveys, with traditional stewardship values, ensuring environmental and cultural sustainability to support the Harvest to Home initiative.

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma This project supports a feasibility study of the Lake Talawanda watershed to improve water quality, collect baseline data, and enhance land use for the benefit of Choctaw Nation, tribal members, and the nearby community.

Los Coyotes Band of Indians This project establishes culturally informed, regenerative, and less harmful economic development by utilizing the natural resources of tribal trust lands through forestry and other agribusiness-focused pursuits.

This project establishes a Section 17 tribally chartered enterprise to produce biochar from invasive forest fuels, integrate Traditional Ecological Knowledge, reduce forest fire risk, create skilled jobs, and generate long-term economic and ecological benefits for the Pueblo of Cochiti. Indigenous Caucus of the Western Mining Action Network Mining takes place in rural places which is isolating.

The Indigenous Caucus was founded to provide space for Indigenous participants of WMAN to build collective power to address mining and support communities that are protecting water/land/air/wildlife/communities and Indigenous rights.

Texas Tribal Buffalo Project This project supports the restoration of buffalo and native grasslands in the Southern Plains to revitalize Indigenous foodways, strengthen land stewardship, and rebuild a buffalo-based economy rooted in cultural sovereignty, ecological balance, and community well-being.

Tikhatnu Inter-Tribal Fish Commission This project will build stewardship capacity for Tikahtnu Tribes by hiring an Environmental Monitoring contractor position to support intertribal collaboration, manage internships, support environmental monitoring, & sustain volunteer-led efforts. The grant will be leveraged into additional funding.

Chugach Regional Resources Commission To restore and strengthen reciprocal relationships between the Port Graham community and native pollinators through traditional knowledge integration, habitat restoration, and community engagement, ultimately supporting ecosystem health and cultural food security. Our project will support the restoration of an oyster reef in the Rappahannock River.

Our project will support the restoration of wetland and riparian habitats that sustain critical food and ceremonial wildlife resources of the Cowlitz People. Our project will protect and relocate beaver relatives to cultivate and maintain healthy aquatic ecosystems.

Hoonah Indian Association To ensure the long-term food security and cultural well-being of the Hoonah people, this project establishes a tribally led sockeye salmon monitoring program. It leverages new technology and traditional knowledge to provide data for management and strengthens tribal sovereignty over vital fisheries.

Organized Village of Kake (OVK) The ultimate purpose of this project is to reestablish yaaw (herring) populations near Keex Kwaan (Kake, Alaska and the surrounding areas) for sustainable community harvest, to revitalize the coastal ecosystems that provide critical, sacred foods, and support our traditional way of life.

Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative Our project will support the current conservation herd’s skilled workers in buffalo wildlife management and allow for the retention of Indigenous staff for the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative.

Fort Belknap Community Economic Development Corporation Our project exemplifies how Native stewardship, traditional ecological knowledge & conservation partnerships will restore ecosystems, strengthen cultural identity, & support biodiversity. Mesa Grande Indian Housing Authority Our project restores culturally significant native plants and traditional knowledge as lasting Tribal assets.

It protects ecological and cultural resources while building community capacity to steward MGBOMI lands through seasonal restoration, foodways education, and intergenerational learning.

The Center for Native Health INC This project is an effort to strengthen the Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources (RTCAR) program by growing the community partner pool and developing resources that better serve the EBCI artisan community and ensure artisan natural resources are protected and available.

Medicine Fish Corporation Our project supports the restoration of approximately 900 acres of agriculturally converted lands on the Menominee Reservation, re-establishing native ecosystems to create a sustainable, healthy landscape that provides opportunities for community buffalo harvest.

Ka Ipu Makani Cultural Heritage Center Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Restore Pacific lamprey access to historical spawning grounds above dams through culturally guided translocation, addressing ecological restoration and tribal food sovereignty for Columbia River Basin tribes.

Roots of Resilience will support the restoration of Arrow Arum, Button Bush, Spiny Rush, 4 Sides, Swamp Milkweed and Pickerelweed, to prevent erosion and restore the ecosystem for cultural stewardship continuity for the Mattaponi people using significant riparian plants and animals.

People of the Sacred Land Our project will provide the funds to transport buffalo from the City and County of Denver buffalo herds to Tribes with existing buffalo programs. Denver has been donating buffalo to communities over the last 8 years, but Tribes face economic barriers to transportation.

Nez Perce Tribe Wildlife Division Our project aims to revitalize the Nez Perce Tribe’s Himiin (Wolf- Canis lupus) Program by protecting the cultural and ecological legacy of Hímiin through community engagement, traditional knowledge, and youth mentorship to ensure the long-term care and presence of wolves on Nimiipuu homelands.

Ahtna Intertribal Resources Commission This project will establish baseline health data on Dall sheep harvested in the Ahtna Territory by analyzing hunter-harvested sample collections for heavy metals and trace elements to assess Dall sheep health, critical historic subsistence resources, and wildlife stewardship.

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe This project is the cleanup and enrichment of communities on Standing Rock, we will also be informing the public of the importance of solid waste management. Reimagining Conservation Finance This project will help create economic opportunities on Moloka‘i by providing a permanent land base for community-driven initiatives such as renewable energy, a community food hub, and a forest economy.

Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship Reimagining Conservation Finance Our project will support developing an understanding of carbon, biodiversity and other novel stewardship finance schemes, in order to help the Wabanaki Commission develop culturally relevant frameworks and data sovereignty tools.

Chugach Regional Resources Commission Reimagining Conservation Finance Our program will establish a Tribally-led biodiversity crediting framework using eDNA tools to monitor and protect species across the Chugach region, aligning Indigenous values with emerging markets to support long-term stewardship, climate resilience, and sustainable Tribal economic opportunities.

Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative Reimagining Conservation Finance WRTBI's Buffalo Biodiversity Crediting Program will support the planning and development of our bio crediting program, which will increase economic, environmental, and community health, along with diversifying our funding streams for the nonprofit. Sault Ste.

Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Reimagining Conservation Finance Our project will support the development program capacity to monitor biodiversity and carbon hemiboreal forests in the 1836 Treaty Ceded Territory with a focus on Sault Tribe's Shingle Bay Preserve as a demonstration site Indigenous Conservation Council Reimagining Conservation Finance Our project will support the development of a new fund for land re-matriation that can be accessed by our Tribal Nation members to re-acquire and protect their ancestral lands.

Blackfeet Eco Knowledge Inc. Reimagining Conservation Finance Our project will support the planning and development of our land return biocultural crediting project. This project will create a pathway for tribes and ethical investors to partner in the return of Blackfeet lands for a sustainable effort at land, culture, language, and Bison rematriation.

To strengthen the Modoc Nation’s capacity to secure and leverage funding that protects, regenerates, and sustains our sacred homelands by integrating TEK and asserting sovereignty. This will enable us to heal and reconnect our people to ancestral lands for the well-being of future generations.

Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation The purpose integrates TEK with science-based restoration and centers tribal perspectives and priorities to build Tr capacity to create and manage resilient habitats that support and protect significant natural and cultural resources of the White Salmon River through shared, place-based stewardship.

Chugach Regional Resources Commission Medicine Fish Corporation With this funding, Medicine Fish will conduct a feasibility study for dam removal on the Wolf River, once a critical spawning ground for their relative the sturgeon, which sustained the Menominee people for generations.

Mono Lake Kootzaduka'a Tribe The purpose of the Spirit Lake Forest Restoration Project is to reduce wildfire danger after a severe spruce bark beetle infestation and to restore forest health and subsistence activities through a reforestation project on approximately ten acres of Tribal land. (Please see attached document).

Blackfeet Community College This project will revive a long-standing program that connects students to the landscape through traditional knowledge, highlighting its past and present uses. This work fosters cultural and physical ties to the land while supporting pathways to college for future generations. Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative Sassafras Earth Education