Delaware Nation … honored elders and elected representatives … honored sponsors and organizers of this event, guests and attendees … it is a pleasure to be able to address the 20th Annual To Bridge a Gap Meeting. Thank you to the Delaware Nation for organizing and co-hosting this event and for giving me the opportunity to pay my respects and to say a few words.

Welcome

I am Vicki Christiansen, Chief of the USDA Forest Service. I had the opportunity to attend the 18th To Bridge a Gap Meeting in 2019. So it is a special honor and privilege to be able to say a few words again this year. 

Thank you again to the Delaware Nation and to President Deborah Dotson for inviting me. On behalf of all of us at the Forest Service, I extend our deep appreciation to you and your staff for cohosting this year’s virtual event. Also, thank you to the other elected Tribal officials in attendance. I know it takes a lot of work to make this meeting happen.

Last year at this time, we were just becoming aware of how the COVID-19 pandemic might change our lives. I recognize that the pandemic has taken a terrible toll on Tribal communities, and I am deeply sorry for your losses.   

The Forest Service is honored to be in partnership to help host this event. As Ken said, this is the 20th year that the Forest Service has co-hosted this annual event. This year could be the last time we refer to it as To Bridge a Gap. You will all be involved in choosing a new name during this year’s conference. We want a name that reflects our continued commitment to strengthening the relationships we have been building together over the last 20 years.

Welcome to everyone attending … to Tribes, including elected leaders and Tribal elders. I’d also like to acknowledge the Forest Service employees in attendance. This demonstrates what a priority this is for the agency. Welcome also to representatives from state and other federal agencies and to everyone else in attendance. 

Again, I feel deeply honored to be a part of this event, and I look forward to our continued dialogue. I look forward to deepening our existing relationships and to finding new opportunities for dialogue and new areas where we can find common ground and work together.

Our Trust and Treaty Obligations

We know that the success of this meeting is anchored in building relationships by sharing and learning about our common interests and challenges. We build those relationships through  dialogue and consultation between Tribal leadership and agency line officers. We build those relationships through the executive sessions held by our Forest Service regional leaders and staff with Tribal leaders and their chosen representatives. 

We also build those relationships through consultations at the national level between our national leadership and Tribal leaders and elders. We had an opportunity for national consultations with Tribes just a few weeks ago.   

As you know, the administration of the U.S. Government has changed. With every change in administration, our priorities shift at the Forest Service in accordance with the priorities of the incoming administration. This is a good opportunity for me to outline our current priorities.

First and foremost, I want to assure you: We remain committed to our Trust and treaty responsibilities. We remain committed to keeping our relationships strong, and our commitment to all of you will never waiver. That is our overarching priority.

In this, we fully embrace the President’s Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-To-Nation Relationships. The President makes it a priority, and I quote, “to make respect for Tribal sovereignty and self-governance, commitment to fulfilling Federal trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations, and regular, meaningful, and robust consultation with Tribal Nations cornerstones of Federal Indian policy.”

We make these commitments because the lands we manage are important to you as well. These lands include many sites important to Tribes—sacred sites, spiritual sites, cultural sites, heritage sites. They include many resources important to Tribes—wildlife, fish, special plants, special materials, and more. 

That is why, every day and in so many different ways, what we do at the Forest Service touches the lives of native people. It touches the resources, natural and cultural, that are important to you—that are such a big part of your lives. 

That is why, for every Forest Service employee, it is so critically important to deliver on our Trust responsibilities to Tribes. The relationship between the Federal Government and Tribal Governments is unique. Tribes are sovereign nations, and we have a sacred Trust to deliver on our responsibility to build Government-to-Government relationships and to hold Nation-to-Nation consultations with the sovereign Tribes.

So I come here with one overarching message: The Forest Service recognizes and supports the sovereignty of Tribal Nations. We recognize and support the self-determination of Tribal peoples through building, maintaining, and enhancing Government-to-Government relationships with Tribal Governments.

Consultation is so important … collaboration is so important … because both are founded on respect between sovereign partners. Each partner brings resources to the table so that both can do more than either partner could do alone. Our relationships with Tribes are based on that kind of mutual benefit because we share mutual goals. 

Tribes have been on these lands since time immemorial. Tribes are the ancestral peoples, so Tribes have indelible ties to the nation’s forests and grasslands. Those ties reach far into the millennia of the past, bringing unique sets of knowledge, perspectives, and resources that only Tribes can share. 

The Forest Service has similar ties to the land—a commitment to the future, to stewardship of the land for the benefit of generations to come. Through our research and our land management, we do the best we can for the benefit of the people we serve.

But our best can only get better if we can benefit from the traditional knowledge, perspectives, and resources that Tribes bring to the land from the past to the present. That is partly why we so value our relationships with Tribes. That is why we come to you on occasions like this, with all due respect and humility, to seek your help in strengthening our relationships so we can better fulfill our mission. If we incorporate the knowledge, perspectives, and wisdom of indigenous peoples into our deliberations, then our decisions will become better and wiser.

That is also why we strive for stronger relationships with Tribes. By recognizing and supporting the sovereignty of Tribal nations and the expertise of Tribal peoples … by sharing stewardship and being good neighbors … the Forest Service can better fulfill our mission of caring for the land and serving people. 

Executive Orders and National Priorities

The change of administration has refocused our national priorities at the Forest Service in ways that can only strengthen our relationships with Tribes. I already quoted from the President’s Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-To-Nation Relationships. That memorandum reminds us of our sacred obligation to respect Tribes and to fulfill our Trust and treaty obligations.

Our first priority is controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused so much suffering in Indian Country and beyond. None of us has experienced anything like this before, and none of us can hope to cope with it alone. Recognizing our interdependence locally, regionally, and globally, we need to stand together as one. We need an all-lands, all-hands effort joining us together across Governments and Nations to control the pandemic and to recover from its horrendous effects. 

But we also need to recognize the inequities facing rural and Tribal communities, which are often hardest hit by COVID. As the President said in his executive order on COVID, we need to ensure an equitable pandemic response and recovery. Tribal communities require a place-based approach to data collection and a place-based response to the disease. We welcome every opportunity to work with Tribes to make it happen.

Another priority is economic recovery. As you know, the pandemic caused a national economic downturn that is still with us. Recovery from the pandemic will go hand in hand with economic recovery, but again we need to recognize the inequities facing Tribal and rural communities. We recognize that our Trust and treaty responsibilities include working with Tribes to create economic opportunities. We have a sacred obligation to work with Tribes to help make sure that no one is left behind.

For example, the Pueblo of Jemez has joined the Forest Service and other partners in the Southwest Jemez Mountains Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project. The project treats landscapes in northern New Mexico for watershed restoration and forest health and resilience. The timber harvested through the project gave rise to Jemez Pueblo’s Walatowa Timber Industries. The Tribe’s mill processes the timber, creating jobs for Jemez Pueblo members.

Through projects like this, we can work with Tribes on economic recovery. We can also work together across landscapes to improve forest conditions and reduce risks from wildfire, insects and disease, hurricanes, and a changing climate. Every dollar we spend has an economic multiplier effect. 

The Tribal Forest Protection Act lets us meaningfully collaborate on projects proposed by Tribes on federal lands bordering Tribal lands—projects to reduce risks from disturbances like wildfire and bark beetle. Since the 2018 Farm Bill, we’ve had even more opportunities to work with Tribes under our expanded Good Neighbor Authority. We also have new opportunities for TFPA projects with Tribes under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. 638 lets us enter into self-determination agreements and future contracts for projects on National Forest System lands. Through opportunities like these, we can improve forest conditions while also helping in economic recovery. 

A third priority is tackling climate change. Climate change threatens the ecosystems, watersheds, and water supplies that all of us need to live. Using tools like the Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu and spending on green infrastructure can help us with multiple priorities: We can create new jobs and opportunities for economic recovery, and we can also make landscapes more resistant to climate-related stressors and more resilient following climate-related disturbances like wildfires and hurricanes.

Through shared stewardship across shared landscapes, we have even more opportunities for working together to take care of the land. The Forest Service is using Shared Stewardship agreements across broad landscapes to accelerate our treatments by meeting fuels and forest health challenges in the right places at the right times at the right scale. We work closely with Tribes and other stakeholders to set landscape-scale priorities based on shared values and goals. Our shared goals include the social, economic, and ecological sustainability of the lands we share and the communities we serve. Together, we can accelerate our landscape-scale treatments at the scale of the challenges we face in the places most at risk. 

In tackling climate change, we focus on climate science, climate policy, and climate-responsive management in working with land managers to mitigate climate change while managing for its adverse effects. Traditional Tribal knowledge can play a huge role in this, and we welcome Tribal partnerships and support.

Already, we are working together with Tribes to tackle climate change. Each year, Forest Service units report their progress by completing an annual Sustainability Scorecard. The scorecard tracks progress in six areas, including adaptive actions, managing for carbon, restoring watersheds, and reducing our carbon footprints. Almost every Forest Service Region is working in partnership with Tribes to make progress on their climate resilience journeys.

For example, the Boise National Forest partners with the Nez Perce Tribe under a participating agreement to restore watersheds by reducing sediment delivery from roads to streams. The Salmon-Challis National Forest works with the Shoshone Bannock Tribes to conserve Chinook salmon and steelhead habitats by operating fish weirs to monitor adult fish. The Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest partners with multiple Tribes to improve watershed and riparian habitats. The Sitka Ranger District and Sitka Tribe of Alaska joined forces to create and sustain a Tlingit potato garden, a traditional food source for community members. I could go on.

A fourth priority for the Forest Service is advancing racial equity in everything we do. Again, the President has charted a course for us through his Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, and I quote: “Our country faces converging economic, health, and climate crises that have exposed and exacerbated inequities, while a historic movement for justice has highlighted the unbearable human costs of systemic racism. Our Nation deserves an ambitious whole-of-government equity agenda that matches the scale of the opportunities and challenges that we face.”

The pandemic, the economic downturn, climate change, racial inequities … we face multiple crises all at once. But as you know, challenges are also opportunities, and we now have the opportunity to chart a new course together through an equity agenda across governments.

The Forest Service is ready to act. Over the past 10 to 15 years, we have taken a hard look at our culture and identity as an organization, and we have embraced the need for change. We have made a commitment to become a learning organization by being curious and respectful … by exploring and interconnecting with others … and by learning from our mistakes. As a learning organization, we are constantly evaluating how well our many programs model integrity, humility, and respect for the people we serve. We want to make sure that the goods, services, grants, contracts, and benefits we offer are equitably distributed in a way that is above reproach, without bias of any kind, intentional or otherwise. 

At the same time, we understand that our actions can have different impacts on different communities. The services we offer and the lands entrusted to our care are not always equally available to every community. We want to broaden the base of our visitors, partners, and contractors to become more inclusive and representative of every community in America. We are committed to environmental justice by treating every community equitably. We are committed to ensuring that all Americans from every community can fairly compete for and prosper from our grants, agreements, and contracting opportunities. 

But we also recognize our special Trust and treaty obligations to Tribes. That is why our goals for advancing racial equity include strengthening the Government-to-Government relationship between the United States and Tribal Nations. Our goals include honoring Tribal sovereignty and engaging in regular, meaningful, and robust consultations with Tribal officials in co-developing policies, programs, and projects with Tribal implications. Our goals include increasing the use of authorities that enable Tribes to participate in our work, such as GNA, TFPA, and 638 agreements.

Our fifth priority at the Forest Service is related: improving our workforce and our work environment. We want a workforce and workplace that reflect the face of America. That is why we are striving to improve outreach and recruitment through various direct hire authorities. We are also focusing on integrating Job Corps students into the Forest Service, and we are building on best practices for helping women and underrepresented groups succeed in wildland fire management and our other mission-critical work.

One of our core values as an agency is diversity. The Forest Service can succeed only by being caring and inclusive—by welcoming everyone and giving them a sense of belonging. We are committed to treating everyone with respect and valuing everyone for their work. We are committed to building a strong sense of community, where we empower and protect one another.

Achieving racial equity means acknowledging the systemic biases in our nation’s history and culture, including with respect to Tribes. It means facing the biases in Forest Service history and working to change our own culture accordingly. It means adopting rigorous policies against harassment and discrimination of any kind. In recent years, the Forest Service renewed its commitment to breaking the silence about harassment and to improving our work environment for all. I am proud of that. Now we need to pick up the pace.

Personal Commitment

I have served in the Forest Service for more than 10 years and before that in the state forestry organizations of Arizona and Washington. During all that time, I have had many opportunities to consult with Tribal leaders and elders and to benefit from their experience and wisdom. My personal passion is connecting people with the land, and we can do that best by understanding that Tribes are the original peoples. Through their ties to the land over thousands of years, Tribes bring unique knowledge and perspectives that can help us all better connect to the land.

I have also had the opportunity on special occasions with Tribal leaders and elders to learn about places of special importance to Tribes—sacred sites, spiritual sites, cultural sites, heritage sites. I even had the opportunity to visit some. While I will never have the same connection to these special places, I felt great humility and respect. I was grateful for the opportunity to share, in some small way, in the power of these special places. I also felt pride that I, in some small way, could help to protect places like these for future generations.  

So I have great hope that we will continue to be able to protect these special places, in partnership with Tribes. That is part of our sacred Trust through our Government-to-Government relationships with Tribes and our Nation-to-Nation consultations with Tribes. I am confident that the robust conversations that come out of this meeting will strengthen our partnerships with Tribes and our collaboration with Tribes, for the benefit of generations to come. 

In closing, I thank the Tribal leadership at this meeting for placing value on this continued relationship with the Forest Service. I hope you will help us continue to learn together … that you will continue to hold us to our Trust and treaty responsibilities … that we will continue to work together to protect the things we all value on the land.

So again, thank you, President Deborah Dotson of the Delaware Nation, for cohosting this event! The Forest Service is so proud to be a part of it. We look forward to ongoing opportunities for dialogue and understanding and to finding new opportunities to work together. Thank you for this opportunity to reconfirm our commitment to partnership with Tribes, and thank you for giving me the honor of joining you for this event!