The new order comes from National Park Service Director Chuck Sams, who is Cayuse and Walla Walla, and the first Native American to lead the federal agency.
Sams said too often tribes experience a lack of collaboration, “where a federal agency just kind of tells you what's going to happen to a particular piece of land that they manage that tribes may have interest in. And this director's order actually brings much more meaningful discussion with tribes up front before all the decisions are made.”
That includes respecting that tribes see the plants and animals populating their lands as not only natural resources, but also as cultural resources. The order also calls for honoring tribes’ sovereignty and oral traditions.
Sams said some national parks already have strong relationships with tribal nations. As of September 2024, more than 100 parks have formal tribal co-stewardship agreements, with 40 more pending in conversation with tribes.
Yellowstone National Park, for example, has agreements with nine tribes and the Intertribal Buffalo Council to support bison restoration and management.
Co-stewardship activity is also happening at Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve in Idaho. Park staff worked with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes to create displays with Indigenous history and perspectives.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
