By: katelyn Welsh, kwelsh@tahoedailytribune.com
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Two members of the Washoe Tribe sat at the spotlit table in the school theater during the opening night of the Sierra Nevada Alliance Conservation Conference on Nov. 7.
The conference, held at Lake Tahoe Community College on Nov. 7-8, brought together Washoe Tribe members Lydell Wyatt, and Thurman Roberts, along with Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe vice chair, Pamela Cubbler, to discuss workforce development in natural and working lands during the conference’s opening night.
The three member panel delved into barriers and challenges Tribal communities face while advancing workforce development on natural and working lands.
“For us, some of the barriers were just being able to pay a wage,” Cubbler said. “So funding was one of our main barriers because you just can’t get a big group of people out, even if they have an interest, [if] they have jobs or need jobs.”
Funding has also been an issue for the Washoe Tribe, but so has capacity, Wyatt said. “We’re 1,100 strong for over 6 million acres of traditional land to cover.” Although, there are opportunities with the Forest Service, partnership agreements, good neighbor agreements, and memorandums of understanding, he explained, “…there’s not enough of us to do all the work that needs to be done.”
He said another barrier is getting caught up on practices that they had previously done for thousands of years. “The capacity and years it will take to get it back to where we’re working one with it again is something in the future we’re looking towards and what we’re planning now.”
Wyatt also shared his experience on challenges related to Tribal access to fires. “It’s hard for us to be recognized as our own stewards without having our own agency, if you will.” He explained, unless a Tribe has their own fire agency, members have to work for the Forest Service, BLM or CalFire.
“Sure, they’ll get you your red card, they’ll get you your badge or give you your boots, but,” he said, “Tribes want to do it ourselves because we have a certain practice and a way of doing it, too.”
“Because to me,” he added, “it’s more than just putting the fire out when you’re out there.”
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