Rivers of Resilience:
Indigenous Perspectives on Stream Restoration
Location: Roosevelt Ballroom
Moderator:
Mariah Black Bird Perry (Cheyenne River Sioux), Policy-Partnerships Specialist,
Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs, Department of Interior
9:00 am Introduction & Blessing
-- Moderator, Mariah Black Bird-Perry, (Cheyenne River Sioux), Policy-Partnerships Specialist, Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs, Department of Interior
9:15 am Raven Fork Restoration Project
-- Michael LaVoie, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Cherokee, NC
Abstract: The Cherokee people have always viewed their rivers as embodied living entities (“Long Man” - Ga-nv-hi-dv A-s-ga-ya). Raven Fork, a large stream located on Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian (EBCI) trust lands in western North Carolina, is experiencing major stream degradation issues. Existing concerns include streambank failure, aquatic organism passage impediments, and threats to an existing trout hatchery. These issues present both aquatic resource and safety threats to the community who utilize the stream for fishing, recreational, and cultural purposes. The EBCI, in partnership with the Resource Institute, received funding through the NRCS RCPP program to remove an existing diversion dam and restore approximately 4,000 linear feet of Raven Fork incorporating natural channel design features. Ultimately, this project is part of a larger initiative to work for an EBCI future in which the local community and river ecosystems can thrive by using traditional knowledge systems and modern expertise.
9:45 am Bringing the Salmon Home: The Story of Klamath Dam Removal and River Renewal
-- Kenneth Brink, Vice-Chair, Karuk Tribe, Happy Camp, CA
-- Toz Soto, Karuk Fisheries Program Manager, Karuk Tribe, Somes Bar, CA
-- Craig Tucker, Karuk Water Policy Consultant, Suits & Signs, McKinleyville, CA
Our talk will tell the story of Klamath Dam Removal from the perspective of the Karuk Tribe. We will provide a unique tribal perspective on why dams needed to come out, a dam removal history and a timeline for the current dam removal process. We will talk about the challenges and successes leading to dam removal and how traditional ecological knowledge and western science worked in tandem to achieve our goal of “Bringing the Klamath Salmon Home”.
10:15 am
Reviving a Sacred Landscape in Tsegi Canyon: Vision, Planning, Design and Implementation
-- Benalebahe Benallee, Navajo Nation, Tsegi, AZ
-- Martha Austin, Navajo Nation, Kayenta, AZ
-- Fred Phillips, Fred Phillips Consulting
Navajo Nation lands located in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah are highly degraded from over 100 years of feral and managed livestock overgrazing. Grazing permits were first issued on the Navajo Nation in the 1940s. The number of livestock permitted were based on (5 sheep units equal to one year or older horse, mule, or donkey; 4 sheep unit equal to one year or older cow) livestock owned at the time and did not account for the carrying capacity of the land. This led to high stocking rates which expedited erosion, increased noxious weeds, and degraded the land.
In 2014 a collaborative effort between the Tribal grazing Permit Holders, BIA, Navajo Nation, NPS and permit holders led by Fred Phillips Consulting (FPC) and Oxbow Ecological Engineering (OEE) was established to develop a grazing management and ecological restoration plan for Tsegi and Niitsi’ii Canyons. The primary purpose of these plans is to define carrying capacity of the land, propose sustainable grazing techniques and initiate riparian and range restoration.
Tsegi Canyon is located in extreme northern Arizona, as part of the intricate and biologically diverse canyon system around Navajo National Monument in the western Navajo Nation. The canyon is an ecological and cultural treasure.
Currently there are 14 permit holders in Tsegi Canyon permitted to graze over 850 sheep. In 2013 the land was determined to have a carrying capacity of 36 sheep units. Overgrazing in the canyon has led to severe environmental degradation. All permit holders recognized the degradation of the land and desired to initiate sustainable range management.
The pilot project for this plan was completed in October 2018. This included a deferment agreement for Keet Seel Canyon that was signed by the majority of permit holders, the construction of wildlife friendly fencing across a steep, rugged canyon, 1000s of native plantings and the removal of wild horses without brands and unmonitored livestock. This initial effort has protected and restored over 1,000 acres of Tsegi Canyon. Since that time over 12,000 acres of side canyons have been restored and protected. The ecological uplift of these restored lands is staggering, and efforts continue to expand. This project is serving as a model for other rangeland restoration projects on the Navajo Nation.
Navajo Nation Collaborative Projects that Contribute to Stream Restoration
-- Crystal Tulley-Cordova, PhD, MWR, Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources, Water Management Branch, Fort Defiance, AZ
About Mariah Black Bird Perry
Coming Soon
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariah-black-bird-perry-2611a9220/
About Michael LaVoie
Mike LaVoie serves as the Natural Resources Director for Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) and has worked for the Tribe since 2007. Mike was raised in upstate New York and has resided in North Carolina since his completion of an M.S. in Biology at Western Carolina University. He worked for a variety of federal and state natural resource management agencies as a fish and wildlife biologist prior to beginning work with the EBCI. Mike also currently serves as a regional director and Vice-President for the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society.
Kenneth “Binx” Brink
Most recently, I am the elected Vice-Chairman for the Karuk Tribe. I will be serving our people for a 4-year term, holding an office at our Headquarters in Happy Camp, CA. Previously I was working for the Fisheries Department of the Karuk Tribe for over 22 years. During this time I was honored to host a variety of youth, co-workers, interns, as well as training opportunities. For a period of two years, I also worked for the United States Forest Services (USFS) fisheries department in Happy Camp. Throughout my career, I have developed and sustained working relationships with internal and external government officials, providing onsite training, field assessments, and field demonstrations. Bringing new and old concepts to light and training additional generations our way of life regarding fisheries is important to me. Exercising and practicing my cultural beliefs and practices has led to a lifelong goal of passing knowledge down to the future generations.
About Toz Soto
Toz Soto is the Fisheries Program Manager for the Karuk Tribe where he has spent the past 22 years working in the Klamath River managing the program for the tribe. He studied fisheries at Humboldt State University. He’s lived most of his life in the Klamath Mountains and Karuk Homelands in northern California, where he enjoys steelhead fishing from his drift boat, especially with his family. He appreciates the Klamath River because of its diversity and remoteness and never misses an opportunity to put on a wet suit and count Spring Run Chinook Salmon in the Salmon River. He’s spent many years working on the Klamath Dam removal process and looks forward to a day, not too far in the future, when Spring Run Chinook will occupy the upper Klamath River Basin again.
About Craig Tucker
Craig started Suits and Signs Consulting in 2018 to provide professional advocacy and campaign planning services to tribes, local governments, and non-profits working to protect watersheds and advance the principles of social justice. Craig's career in advocacy began after earning an advanced science degree then realizing that data alone will not address the social and environmental crises many communities struggle with every day.
Craig's approach to social change was shaped in part by his year long training with GreenCorps, the most respected school in the country for environmental organizing. However, the most profound lessons he learned over the the past 20+ years of advocacy were taught by the tribal members, fishermen and farmers of the Klamath basin. The Klamath may be the most respected school of hard knocks in the country. The passion, dedication, and wisdom of the colleagues, friends, and mentors Craig was lucky enough to cultivate working on the Klamath inspires everything we do at Suits and Signs.
Suits and Signs Consulting can apply the lessons learned from a variety of Klamath issues including dam removal, traditional fire management, gold mining, and water policy to your issue with winning results. You can reach Craig at craig@suitsandsigns.com.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/scraigtucker/
About Benalebahe Benallee
Coming Soon
About Martha Austin
Coming Soon
About Fred Phillips
Fred earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Landscape Architecture in 1995 from Purdue University. While a student at Purdue, he designed the 1,042-acre Ahakhav Tribal Preserve on the Colorado River Indian Reservation (CRIT), where, with the Tribe built the project and served as project director from 1994 to 1999.
Fred moved on to establish Fred Phillips Consulting in 1999. Since then, he has largely overseen the planning, design, and implementation of more than 12,000 acres of wetland and riparian habitat and stream restoration projects in the southwest. He and the FPC Team have directed millions of acres of restoration and conservation master plans in the southwest, Mexico and Indonesia.
Fred has helped successfully raised over $30 million dollars for the planning, restoration, monitoring, and maintenance of numerous watersheds in the southwest. The longevity of the firm’s success lies in FPC’s ability to take complex projects that involve a multitude of stakeholders from conception to completion.
Fred’s work has been featured in a variety publications, including The New Yorker, Landscape Architecture Magazine, Restoration Ecology, Outside Magazine, and Arizona Highways. Fred has received many awards for his work, including the Waterfront Center Honor Award for his work transforming Yuma’s riverfront. Fred has also thoroughly enjoyed guest lecturing to a diverse range of students, from kindergarten to graduate-level design students. Purdue awarded him the Distinguished Alumni Award in the practice of Landscape Architecture in 2018. More recently he worked as a Tribal Segment music producer on the Playing for Change Piece Through Music: A Global Event for the Environment.
Fred has boated the entire Colorado River, from westwater canyon in Colorado to the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. He is a father, painter, musician, filmmaker, and photographer. Fred lives on a small farm on the banks of the Uncompahgre River in Ouray, Colorado.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fred-phillips-consulting/
About Crystal Tulley-Cordova, PhD, MWR
Crystal Tulley-Cordova, PhD, MWR is a Principal Hydrologist in the Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources - Water Management Branch. She is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. Crystal currently works on securing water rights and developing water infrastructure projects for the Navajo Nation. She also works on watershed studies and as a collaborating partner for restoration projects. She has worked collaboratively with Navajo Nation partners on water-related research since 2013. Her past research consisted of three projects conducted in collaboration with the Navajo Nation Water Management Branch, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, and Navajo Environmental Protection Agency; they are entitled (1) Navajo Nation, USA, Precipitation Variability from 2002 to 2015, (2) Stable isotopes in precipitation and associated waters: Recording the North American monsoon in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, and (3) Groundwater sustainability and susceptibility to modern contamination in Fort Defiance, AZ. In 2021, she was awarded the American Indian Science and Engineering Society Professional of the Year Award and the University of Arizona Agnese Nelms Haury Tribal Resilience Leadership Award. She received a doctoral degree in Geology and an Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Sustainability from the University of Utah. She has received a Master of Water Resources in Hydroscience and a Bachelor of Science in Earth and Planetary Sciences from the University of New Mexico.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystal-tulley-cordova-phd-mwr-530085158/