Conservation in Native Communities

Since its founding in 1895, WCS has been an international leader in protecting and promoting a world rich in wildlife and wild lands through research, conservation, education, and partnerships with local communities.  One of our most effective long-term conservation approaches is training the next generation of conservationists.   

Native American lands in the United States and First Nations lands in Canada contain a rich abundance of wildlife across a wide variety of landscapes. 

Parallel with our efforts around the rest of the world, WCS is working with native communities in North America to increase their capacity to conserve and manage biodiversity on their lands.  Although many of these communities relate their cultural well-being with the health of the natural world and express a strong desire to sustain their wildlife, few community members have training in modern wildlife and habitat management skills necessary to meet this goal.  WCS is working to address this problem through a long-term program of Native American/First Nation capacity-building that draws on our extensive experience working with indigenous groups around the world. 

In 2002, WCS initiated a program to support First Nations and Native Americans in wildlife conservation efforts. The strategies of this program are to:

•Identify conservation goals common to both WCS and native communities.

•Provide technical assistance, advice, tools, and training to enhance the 
  capacity of  native communities to address conservation priorities on their lands.

•Help native communities design, manage, and monitor conservation projects.

•Share lessons learned on conservation projects worldwide and facilitate 
  exchanges with other native communities.

•Identify and help secure resources for native communities that will further
  conservation efforts on their lands.

Native American/First Nation collaborative projects

Wind River Reservation          for more information visit windriveralliance.org

The Wind River, a critical life line that passes through the Wind River Reservation, has suffered cumulative human impacts.  Community members (including tribal members, non-Indians, youth and elders) came together to form a new non-profit organization, the Wind River Alliance with the purpose of restoring the health to the river and watershed. The Alliance is working to promote education about the watershed and empower residents to work together on projects and in developing policies that promote the health of the watershed.  WCS has supported the Wind River Alliance’s environmental outreach efforts.

Highway impact on wildlife on the Flathead reservation

Roads are one of the biggest causes of habitat fragmentation in the United States.  Understanding road impacts on wildlife and developing tools to predict and diminish these impacts are important for wildlife conservation.  WCS has teamed up with the Western Transportation Institute and a tribal biologist on the Flathead Reservation in Montana to both study highway impacts on wildlife and provide graduate training to a tribal member.  This effort will increase our ability to reduce road impact and enhance the capacity of tribal members to manage their wildlife.

Northern Goshawk Survey on Nez Perce Lands    

The northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis atricapillus) is the largest of the three species of Accipiter in North America and occupies forested habitats throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere.   Goshawks are large raptors, gray (adult) and brown (juvenile) with rounded wings and a long, barred tail.  They are top-level consumers in northern forest ecosystems and have a corollary nesting relationship with great grey owls.

Marcie Carter, a member of the Nez Perce Tribe, received a WCS Research Fellowship grant to determine abundance, distribution, and habitat use of the northern goshawk on Nez Perce Tribal forested lands and surrounding areas in Idaho, Washington and Oregon.  Nest trees will be monitored for nest success.  Adults will be trapped and affixed with a VHF transmitter to determine their home range, seasonal habitat use patterns, and movements.  To date, no information exists on the number of breeding pairs of goshawks on Nez Perce Tribal lands. 

The northern goshawk is closely associated with mature and late-successional forest for nesting and foraging.  In some areas in the US, there are indications that populations are declining due to forest habitat loss.  However, timber harvesting could be compatible with goshawk management if goshawk habitat needs are protected at multiple spatial scales.  The Nez Perce have an active forestry industry and Ms. Carter’s research findings will be shared with the Nez Perce Tribe’s Forest Management for effective management of these lands for the goshawk (as well other species) that are dependent on mature forests. 

Reintroduction of the northern leopard frog to the Flathead Indian Reservation   

The tribes on the Flathead Indian Reservation are seeking to reintroduce northern leopard frogs that disappeared off their reservation in the last century.  Part of this effort has entailed cooperating with the Blackfeet Reservation where these frogs still exist and eggs can be gathered for translocation onto the Flathead Reservation.  As part of WCS’s commitment toward inspiring tribal youth to pursue careers in wildlife conservation, WCS has supported the training and participation of Blackfeet tribal member youth to find and monitor egg masses as well as to assist with the translocation efforts. Specific objectives are to:

1) Establish breeding populations of leopard frogs in at least one release area within each
    of 5 general reintroduction areas.
2) Continue long-term monitoring of breeding areas.
3) Monitor surrounding wetlands for natural dispersals.

For more information visit the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Fish, Wildlife, Recreation and Conservation webpage


         Ecology and Conservation of the Pacific Fisher on the Hoopa Valley Reservation

WCS and the Hoopa Valley Tribe have recently embarked upon a collaborative two-year study of the ecology of the Pacific fisher, a member of the weasel family that is culturally important, and a species of special concern in California.  The Tribe requires information on fisher den site use to develop guidelines for the protection, retention, or development of this key habitat element.  It is also critical to understand what types of habitat fisher are using for foraging, dispersal, and other active behaviors.  With recent improvements to global positioning equipment, tracking active fishers with two or more observers will allow access to critical information about how fisher utilize managed forest habitat. 

Taku River Tlingit First Nations (link under construction)

In Northwest British Columbia, members of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation approached WCS requesting help in increasing their capacity to manage their wildlife and lands.  To assist the community, WCS is working with the Tlingit to design a program to collect baseline information needed for the management of their pristine ancestral wild lands and to train individuals to staff this department.  WCS will also reach out to other First Nation communities in the region.

Nahanni

The Greater Nahanni Ecoregion of the Northwest Territories, which contains Nahanni National Park, straddles the traditional territories of the Deh Cho and Sahtu First Nations.  WCS is working with the the Nah Deh Consensus Team (made up of members of Parks Canada and Deh Cho First Nations) to collect critical field-based wildlife information on grizzly bear, woodland caribou and Dall’s sheep to inform a proposal for park expansion.

Wolverine research and conservation planning in Ontario's northern boreal forests

Far northern Ontario has a long history of human occupancy
and is home today to 28 Cree and Ojibway communities, many of which are grappling with achieving a balance between the pursuit of economic opportunities and the maintenance of cultural and ecological integrity in traditional-use areas. These communities are leading land-use planning in some parts of the area.  WCS Canada is participating in the Northern Boreal Initiative (NBI) Protected Areas Working Group -- working with other conservation organizations, First Nations communities, and the Ontario government to develop protected-areas options for the NBI region.