COnfederated salish & kootenai tribes Reforestation

Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes - Flathead Valley, MT
For many tribes, reforestation means reconnecting to history and culture. Tribal nations have been tending North America’s forests, prairies and wetlands for millennia. Now, amid climate change, habitat loss, droughts and wildfires, some tribes are taking the lead in growing the trees, wild foods and pollinator species that have become scarce on the landscape. “Everything we plant right now is for our grandkids,” said ShiNaasha Pete, reforestation forester with CSKT. While many tribes are reasserting practices such as cultural burning to restore health to forests, some are emphasizing the cultivation of the plant species that are struggling to regenerate on their own. CSKT has a large nursery operation where all of the trees planted in its restoration efforts are grown. Watershed Restoration Group has had a longstanding relationship with the CSKT nursery, also procuring many of our plants for other projects there.

For a number of years we have carried out post-fire plantings of lodgepole, ponderosa, and some white-bark pine. Projects range annually between 80,000 and 100,000 seedlings. Our crews, carefully yet efficiently, seek the best micro-sites most likely to provide the necessary conditions that will yield the highest rates of survival, for each individual tree. We maintain a place of high regard with CSKT by upholding our reputation for the best possible results, with high quality plantings.