CALIFORNIA – National Forest System lands are ancestral homelands of Native American tribes and have been honored and respected for generations by those who lived and depended on them. Public land managers like the USDA Forest Service have federal trust responsibilities to tribes on lands within those they manage. When events like wildfires come into play, threats to lands important to tribes often bring tribal members and land managers together seeking solutions.

The Dixie Fire ignited in California on July 13, 2021. When it was 100% contained on Oct. 24 at 963,309 acres it had burned across five counties and two national forests (Lassen and Plumas) for over three months. Many homes, businesses, cultural and heritage sites were destroyed or damaged.

Tribal liaisons were brought in to work with tribal members and agency personnel on the Lassen and Plumas National Forests. Wearing many hats, tribal liaisons serve as ambassadors for tribal members, raise awareness of tribal concerns, act as educators and interpreters between tribes, agencies, and Incident Management Teams, maintain continuity as IMTs rotate in and out of incidents and bridge gaps on forests lacking tribal relationships.

Tribal liaisons Yolynda Begay, Dirk Charley, Pete Crowheart, Serra Hoagland and Arnold Wilson worked with Monte Kawahara and Paul Ryan, Bureau of India Affairs, Greenville Rancheria Assistant Fire Chief Danny Manning and Fire and Fuels Crew member Shelby Leung to provide assistance to the Maidu Tribe and others affected by the Dixie Fire. Their work began early on with direct assistance to tribal members in need and will continue through suppression repair and rehabilitation of the landscape.

In the process, they developed a Memorandum of Understanding template to facilitate joint meetings between the agency and local tribes. Scheduled quarterly meetings can open space for conversations on planned work on the Lassen, Dixie suppression repair and restoration and the potential for shared stewardship projects into the future.

Ideas generated for future incidents include a strike team of tribal liaisons, training for tribal members to provide incident support as monitors working with resource advisors, and training to help tribal councils develop support for tribal liaisons in Incident Command System format.