Monday, July 15th, 6:30 to 8:00 pm PT, Carpenter Hall (at OSF)

Special Guests:

Marko Bey – Founder & Executive Director Lomakatsi Restoration Project

Belinda Brown – Tribal Partnerships Director

Collaborative Forest Restoration: A Win-Win for People and Nature

In the face of climate change and the new reality of wildfire in the West, collaborative, community-based forest restoration is a proven solution to help protect communities and natural resources. Lomakatsi will share their model for leveraging federal and state agreements with local partnerships to build long-term, landscape-scale forest and watershed stewardship projects. These agreements can bring millions of federal dollars to help create fire-adapted ecosystems and communities, while supporting sustainable jobs and local economies. This hands-on stewardship approach enhances wildlife habitat and helps prepare the landscape for beneficial fire.

Elevating Tribal Nations in Restoration Initiatives

Lomakatsi will discuss the importance of meaningful engagement with Tribal Nations and tribal communities, and how ecological restoration—combined with indigenous fire knowledge—can help promote tribal sovereignty, support co-management, and protect cultural beneficial resources.

The presentation will include the screening of the 20-minute short film Tribal Hands on the Land, centered on Lomakatsi’s Tribal Youth Ecological Forestry Training Program. The film explores how collaboration with tribes and tribal communities is setting the stage for the return of cultural fire and building more resilient landscapes and communities.

About Lomakatsi

For nearly 30 years, Ashland-based nonprofit Lomakatsi Restoration Project has partnered with local, state, and federal agencies, Tribal Nations, nonprofits, and many others to restore thousands of acres of forests and miles of streams. Through this work, they advance social equity by layering in education, tribal partnerships, and workforce training programs while leading an all hands on deck approach to create more resilient ecosystems and communities.

It’s fire season.  

Be part of the solution.

Bring your friends and neighbors.

Partners:  Ashland.News, OSF and Ashland Together

We invite you to subscribe to Ashland.news to keep abreast of what’s happening in our town.