The Yakama Nation Reservation consists of approximately 1.4 million acres in south-central Washington State, with approximately 650,000 acres in forest and woodlands. These lands provide water, food, medicine, spiritual values, employment, and revenue to the Yakama Nation. The Yakama Nation participates with The Nature Conservancy, the US Forest Service, The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Washington Department of Natural Resources in the The Tapash Sustainable Forest Collaborative. The Tapash Collaborative is a cross-ownership effort in Washington’s central Cascade region to create resilient forest ecosystems and to build community connections in order to achieve healthy fish and wildlife populations, minimize the effects of catastrophic fire, retain cultural values, provide desirable forested areas for present and future generations, and support development of a sustainable restoration economy.
This presentation will discuss the Yakama Nation’s participation in the Tapash Collaborative, and the Nation’s landscape-level approach to forest management, upland treatment, salmon and watershed restoration, and timber production, and how these strategies can help improve climate resilience and ecosystem health.
Return to the main conference page: https://www.bigmarker.com/series/carbon-friendly-forestry-con/series_summit
Superintendent of Natural Resources Department, Yakama Nation
Phil Rigdon is an enrolled member of the Yakama Nation and grew up on the Yakama Reservation in Southcentral Washington State. Phil has been the Superintendent of Yakama Nation’s Natural Resources Department since May 2005 and has worked for the...