Tribal Stewards participants during the graduation celebration with the Burns Paiute Tribal Council and leadership from Lomakatsi and ONDA.

– Submitted photo

Hands-on workforce development and restoration education program serving young adults from the Burns Paiute Tribe and rural community

By Lomakatsi Restoration Project Staff

The Burns Paiute Tribe, Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA), Lomakatsi Restoration Project, and other partners collaborated again this year to operate the 2025 Tribal Stewards program, expanding opportunities for tribal and rural youth in Oregon’s high desert to gain valuable natural resource field experience as part of a growing restoration workforce in eastern Oregon. 

Lomakatsi a regional, tribally affiliated ecosystem restoration and workforce development nonprofit organization, employed seven tribal members of the Burns Paiute Tribe, Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of Duck Valley Indian Reservation, and two local rural residents over the course of a 12-week summer program to participate in natural resource stewardship projects on public and tribal trust lands, across the homelands of the Northern Paiute. 

Upon completion of the program Sept. 3, the Burns Paiute Tribe hosted Lomakatsi and partners for a graduation celebration at the Tribal Community Center, where the crew gave a presentation to the Tribal Council and partner leadership about their experiences in the summer program.

“I am extremely excited to see this opportunity for youth to work on our ancestral lands,” said Tracy Kennedy, Chair of the Burns Paiute Tribe. “This is a great partnership and program that serves our youth, who represent more than half of our current membership, and paves the way for future projects that we can co-manage with our federal, state, and local partners.”

Working under the guidance of Lomakatsi’s experienced workforce trainers and partner specialists, the crew contributed to a wide range of conservation activities on public and Tribal Trust lands of the Burns Paiute Tribe and Northern Paiute Gidutikad Band of the Fort Bidwell Indian Reservation, including fish and wildlife habitat restoration and monitoring on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Steens Mountain Wilderness, and native seed collection for the National Seed Strategy that supports post-fire restoration in places like the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

This year’s crew was led by former Tribal Council Chair Gabe First Raised, a citizen of the Burns Paiute Tribe, who serves as Tribal Workforce Development Manager with Lomakatsi.

“Lomakatsi is excited to be invited as a partner in implementing the Tribal Stewards program,” said First Raised. “It is inspiring to see the next generation of leaders pursuing natural resource careers and reconnecting with traditional lifeways, and we look forward to the future successes of our partnership and the youth through this program and beyond.”

Program activities included fence maintenance to improve habitat connectivity and reduce grazing impacts in sensitive native plant and wildlife habitat restoration areas; planting willows to enhance streamside habitat; collecting native shrubs, forbs, and bunchgrasses such as Great Basin wildrye, which is a tribal First Food that is used in restoration projects; and completing priority bird species surveys. The crew also supported and attended the ‘Return of the Boise Valley People’ gathering in Idaho hosted by several Shoshone, Bannock, and Paiute Tribes.

“Working with the Burns Paiute Tribe and all the partners to make the Tribal Stewards program a success is truly inspiring and an example of collective collaboration and active teamwork,” said Belinda Brown, Lomakatsi Tribal Partnerships Director and enrolled member of the Kosealekte Band of the Pit River Tribe and Northern Paiute descendant. “It has been a great season, and the participants have learned and grown throughout this outdoor classroom experiential learning experience.” 

This year’s program was extended by six weeks through August, through Lomakatsi’s Indian Youth Service Corps initiative with funding and in-kind support from the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Roundhouse Foundation, Think Wild, Friends of the Malheur, and Oregon State University-Cascades, with in-house contributions from ONDA and Lomakatsi.

“Our goal with the Tribal Stewards program is to provide paid opportunities for the next generation of leaders in natural resources stewardship to gain hands-on experience while completing meaningful ecological restoration projects,” said ONDA Stewardship Program Director Gena Goodman-Campbell. “These young people also bring valuable Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge to this work that contributes to restoring thriving ecosystems for generations to come.”

Participants worked closely with professional staff from Lomakatsi, ONDA, and the Burns Paiute Tribe, with guest presentations and trainings provided by agency and academic partners, local elders, and other Tribal leaders. 

“We’re excited about this stewardship-focused workforce that’s continuing to grow in Harney County, and all the education and training the youth have access to through this partnership,” said George Swartzlender, Lomakatsi Tribal Initiatives Project Manager and Harney County resident. “The youth spent the majority of their program putting hands on the land, doing really great work, and the end-of-program capstone workshop provided extra support to grow the professional skills that help guide participants in their careers. Bringing young adults back into nature and sharing with them the knowledge they need to restore ecosystems and help care for the health of the planet enriches and empowers their knowledge and understanding along with their skillsets. It also provides purpose and belonging as a crew culture is built and maintained through the season.”

By engaging in positive work experiences as a team, program participants cultivate a sense of responsibility and self-sufficiency, a long-term community service and stewardship ethic, knowledge of surrounding public lands, increased interest in natural resource academic study, and the ability to obtain future employment in natural resource management.

Instructors and guest speakers joined the 2025 program from the Burns Paiute Tribe Natural Resources Department, ONDA, Think Wild, National Park Service, Bird Alliance of Oregon, Friends of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, and Oregon State University-Cascades Campus and Department of Integrative Biology.

To learn more about tribal workforce training opportunities with Lomakatsi, visit https://lomakatsi.org/applyIYSC. To learn more about the Tribal Stewards program, visit https://onda.org/tribal-stewards/.