Support Reforestation Across the Indigenous West

Reforestation is more than planting trees, something our Indigenous partners have understood since time immemorial. Our forests cannot thrive without functional watersheds, nutrient rich soils, diverse wildlife, and human interaction rooted in reciprocity. While reforestation is a critical component to restoring fire disturbed landscapes in the Southwest, cultivating healthy forests does not start or end with seedlings in the ground. 

Reforestation does not start without healthy soils that seedlings can call home or without water to nurture them. It does not end with simply “more trees in the ground” either; reforestation is an act of reclamation, knowledge perpetuity, cultural preservation, and economic opportunity through workforce development for Tribes, Pueblos, and Nations across the Southwest. 

Understanding the complexity of returning to flourishing native forests, Trees, Water & People (TWP) works to support Tribes and Pueblos that are spearheading burn scar restoration work in New Mexico. In Fall 2025, we supported Indigenous youth crews to plant 5,600 tree seedlings in the Cerro Pelado Burn Scar. These tree species not only reduce atmospheric carbon, but protect soil health, native habitat, and watersheds. Across the seedlings planted, nearly 60 acres of land in the Cerro Pelado burn scar was reforested. 

However, due to an unprecedented dry and warm winter, we were unable to continue with spring 2026 reforestation efforts. With parched soil and extreme heat, the seedlings would not survive the conditions. With high hopes for rainfall, we anticipate continuing our reforestation efforts in the fall of 2026. This spring, we are shifting to conducting seedling survival monitoring efforts to assess future planting conditions. 

Indigenous youth were foundational in project efforts, being the main foresters as they learned direct silvicultural skills on planting methods, tree species, and monitoring efforts. 

Investing into workforce initiatives takes a large network of partners; youth corps are already at their organizational capacity. As an NGO, TWP is able to plan projects, procure funding, and leverage pre-existing agreements that support hands-on career readiness for Indigenous youth. 

TWP has long been known for planting trees. 

But what’s most important to us is who, and how. 

In Northern New Mexico, we’re continuing to see what’s possible when these pillars remain central. Over a two-week hitch in October, an all-Indigenous crew planted nearly 6,000 trees within the Cerro Pelado burn scar of the Jemez Mountains.

This planting was the first stage of a two-year effort to plant 45,000 trees in the area, begin restoring broader ecosystem health, and provide young Native people a connection to their lands through hands-on training and employment.

Alongside the deep commitment of our local partners, this connection has been made possible by innovative agreements between TWP and Sante Fe National Forest (SFNF) that enableTribal stewardship of SFNF lands. It’s unusual for Tribes to have stewardship access to ancestral lands within National Forest designation, but these historic agreements open doors to strengthen Tribal leadership and management, integrate Traditional Ecological Knowledge in restoration efforts, and employ the next generation of Indigenous land managers. 

The partnership also boosts the Forest Service’s capacity to continue restoring public lands at a time when resources are scarce. 

“With federal capacity at an all-time low, land management agencies are turning to nonprofit partners like Trees, Water & People to do planning, design, implementation, and monitoring. Organizations like ours build trust and relationships with communities, opening doors to rekindle healthy relationships for ancestral lands protection.”
-- James Calabaza, TWP Indigenous Lands Program Director

From bridging gaps in restoration efforts, to bridging historically-tense relationships between federal agencies and Tribes, this effort is much more than planting trees.

This is a story of reconnection. 

For most of the 21 Native youth employed through the tree planting crew, this was the first time they had connected to their ancestral lands of the Jemez Mountains. 

For all, this was the first time they had taken part in restoring them. 

At TWP, we’re proud that 6,000 trees are back in the ground. But we’re even more proud that 21 young people, guided by Indigenous leadership and knowledges, are earning a living by restoring them.

Links:

• Trees, Water & People
• Trees, Water & People - Indigenous Lands Program