Support Reforestation Across the Indigenous West

Now that winter is over, we are gearing up to begin the planting season! The Colorado State University Forest Service Nursery started 30,000 Ponderosa Pine seedlings for us to plant this year! These seedlings will be making their journey to Pine Ridge on May 1st and will spend a week or two acclimating to the environmental conditions of South Dakota. After this adjustment period, hired residence of Pine Ridge will begin to plant the trees in areas that have been destroyed by fire.

But before the trees make their journey to South Dakota, we took advantage of an Earth Day event for Trees, Water & People to engage with the public about the reforestation work we do. Like last year, we celebrated Earth Day with New Belgium Brewery to send Ponderosa Pine seedlings with special well-wishes written on gardening stakes. This event was met with great enthusiasm by the New Belgium Brewery patrons and raised awareness about the issues on the Pine Ridge reservation.

Planting the Ponderosa Pines sequesters carbon and reduce greenhouse gases, improves air and water quality, reduces soil erosion, re-establishes wildlife habitat, and enhances ecosystem resiliency, while engaging Native Americans in the protection of their lands.

Community reforestation on tribal lands is not just great for the environment, it also provides tribal members with valuable skills that could promote future employment in forestry. Planting trees is a meaningful and symbolic way for communities to “take back the land” in a way that honors their customs and beliefs. This project incorporates culturally-relevant avenues to climate change mitigation, with an emphasis on placing Native voices at the forefront of a local climate change movement.