Historically, the Forest Service and Tribal Nations haven’t always seen eye to eye. This is understandable, given the complex history between the two. But history also shows that perspectives and relationships can shift under thoughtful guidance and direction. 

Earlier this year, the Forest Service implemented a new roadmap to serve tribal nations with a deeper commitment to regular and meaningful consultation. It is known as the Tribal Action Plan.

“We felt it was important to work with officials to operationalize the Forest Service plan and create the Tribal Action Plan to hold us [the Forest Service] accountable with clear goals and time frames,” said Reed Robinson, Director of the Forest Service Office of Tribal Relations.

At one time, there were about 1,000 Indigenous Nations that roamed freely, following seasonal cycles of food sources and maintaining a life of peace, but now there are only 574 federally recognized tribes throughout the United States. In 1830, the Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson, authorizing the president to grant lands west of the Mississippi. The resultant westward expansion caused warfare with indigenous nations that did not wish to leave their ancestral homelands and led to further Indian removal campaigns.

The westward land rushes also created an urgent need for public land policy around conservation. Concern for conserving land, including forests, and water sources led to the creation of federal agencies, like the Forest Service, that would manage land and resources. The same expansion that forced removal led to the creation of the Forest Service, which went on to manage land formerly occupied by tribes. Those lands that were taken are considered ancestral homelands to many tribal nations today.

“Because of the complex history of our Indigenous peoples, Indian Country is still rising from the ashes of genocide,” said Robinson. “We will never forget the past. Indian Country is maturing, and we’re guided by the resiliency of our ancestors.”

To tribes, this was a sad time of forced removal, causing loss of culture and way of life. With this Tribal Action Plan, the Forest Service is recognizing the wrongdoings of the federal government during the early stages of a national land discovery and expansion and recognizing how important it is to implement stronger initiatives to create a new foundation of change.

Part of this commitment has come in the form of creating a more robust tribal relations program. The Office of Tribal Relations (OTR) manages, leads, and provides direction for the national tribal relations program.

Reed Robinson, a tribal member of the Sicangu/Lakota, was hired to lead OTR in 2020 after 30 years of experience working for the National Park Service. Since joining, his Washington DC staff has grown from seven to sixteen. The office also works collaboratively with eleven regional tribal relation specialists to reaffirm regular, meaningful, and robust consultation with tribes on national-level policies, procedures, and actions that have tribal implications. Like Robinson, the majority of OTR staff are also members of tribes.

"When I first started, I recognized the Forest Service tribal policies had not been enforced due to lack of awareness,” said Robinson. “The agency wrote and published a strategic plan that included tribal initiatives dating from 2019 to 2021 that lacked enforcement.”

The new Tribal Action Plan is much more robust and includes outcomes. In it, there are four areas of focus, which include commitments to enhance, expand, improve, engage, and grow agency and tribal capacity to get the work done. These focuses are to:

1. Strengthen relationships between Indian tribes and the USDA Forest Service.

2. Fulfill trust and treaty obligations.

3. Enhance co-stewardship of the nation’s forests and grasslands.

4. Advance tribal relations within the USDA Forest Service.

Robinson said, “Today, we are meeting the four focus areas of the plan and continually work to meet these goals as an agency to respect our treaty and trust obligations to tribal nations.”

Benjamin Benoit, a district ranger on the Chippewa National Forest and a tribal member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, was excited to learn of the Forest Service's Tribal Action Plan. “It shows commitment to the tribes and paved the way for consistency by the Forest Service,” he said.

Benoit has managed the Deer River Ranger District, which lies within his tribe’s territory, since 2021. Prior to working at the Forest Service, Benoit spent nine years working for his tribe as an environmental director and tribal liaison between the tribe and Forest Service, and he was part of a signing event that took place between his tribe and the Forest Service in 2019. His work for the Forest Service is personal because he can work on implementing the goals set forth in the memorandum of understanding. More than 40% of the Chippewa National Forest's land is within the Leech Lake Indian Reservation.

“I’m starting to see that tribes are being asked to be part of interdisciplinary projects in our region as resource specialists as outlined in the forest plan,” said Benoit. I’m excited to have the Tribal Action Plan in place.”

The Tribal Action Plan is more than a piece of paper, it is a written plan of actionable items that the Forest Service takes seriously. The staff enacting the plan are members of federally recognized tribes, they understand the tribal issues and are standing firmly behind the Forest Service to ensure the action items are followed through with integrity and respect.

Tribes are now recognizing the new commitment from the federal agencies and willing to engage in further conversations on all levels as co-stewards of the land. It is imperative for federal governments to embrace the long history of tribes and continue the dialogue for meaningful tribal consultation that results in success for all.

“Our call to action is we want the public to hold us [the Forest Service] accountable,” said Robinson. “We chose to publish the Tribal Action Plan because we want to be transparent.”

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Editor's note: An official press release on the Tribal Action Plan was announced this February 3, 2023.