Collaborative and Community-Based Stewardship of Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands in the Great Basin

Pinyon-juniper woodlands cover vast areas of the southwestern United States and provide important ecosystem services to landscapes and communities, including Indigenous traditional foods, silvopasture for livestock grazing, recreation opportunities and fuelwood. Yet these woodlands are undergoing transformation due to climate change. Increasingly intense droughts are causing widespread tree mortality and large-scale wildfires are transforming woodland ecosystems with the expansion of invasive annual grasses. These changes are impacting the ability of forests to regenerate after disturbance with major consequences for people who depend on them. Pinyon-juniper ecosystems are also central to the worldviews, social identities, and cultural practices of many Indigenous peoples, including Nüümü (Northern Paiute) and Wašišiw (Washoe) peoples in California’s eastern Sierra Nevada region. Pinyon pine seeds are a critical Indigenous traditional food and environmental changes are already having an impact on their availability to communities. This panel shares the work of Tribal Nations, researchers, and land managers in the western Great Basin to improve the climate resilience of woodlands through community-based stewardship and collaboration. Participants in the Masonic Mountain Shared Stewardship Project and Pinyon Community Climate Action Project will share their contributions to improving woodland health and the important cultural values these ecosystems provide to Indigenous peoples and local communities in the region.