Indigenous-Led Climate Adaptation Strategies: Integrating Landscape Condition, Monitoring, and Cultural Fire with the North Fork Mono Tribe

Indigenous peoples and nations are on the front lines of climate change impacts and are leading the way in innovative adaptation action, such as in the use of traditional burning. Traditional burning has been recognized as a robust adaptation strategy, increasing the resiliency of ecosystems and the local communities that depend on them for their economic and social well-being. Furthermore, implementing natural fire practices may help reduce the likelihood of catastrophic fires and increase ecosystem water holding capacity. Traditional burning may be applied singularly or as a complementary approach with other ecosystem restoration practices, such as thinning and prescribed burning. 

The overarching goal of this project is to understand and contribute to targeted decision-making that facilitates the application of Indigenous climate adaptation strategies, including, but not limited to, cultural burning. Focusing on collaboration with the North Fork Mono Tribe, researchers are engaging in a series of multi-stakeholder, hands-on traditional burning efforts accompanied by pre- and post-vegetation monitoring. They are also assessing the climate vulnerability of unique and under-resourced land classifications and participate in an inventory and planning effort with Indigenous agricultural producers to identify climate resilience needs. 

The products from this work include modeling tools to assess climate vulnerability of allotments, comprehensive lists of Indigenous producers across jurisdictions, and planning documents for Indigenous resiliency strategies to support Indigenous land managers in decision making. This project also advances partnerships between the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (SW CASC) and Tribal Nations and communities, particularly the North Fork Mono Tribe. The project also strengthens relationships between Tribal citizens, state and federal agencies in California and across the Southwest, in addition to the public in general.