This is a proposal for a three year FY22 FY24 pacific northwest ethnobotany native plant seed collection and tribal conservation corps ecocultural restoration project the project will be led by the…

This is a proposal for a three year FY22 FY24 pacific northwest ethnobotany native plant seed collection and tribal conservation corps ecocultural restoration project the project will be led by the oregon state university OSU college of forestry COF working in partnership with western oregon tribal nations via mous , the institute for applied ecology IAE , and other project partners, we propose to implement the national seed strategy and plant conservation and restoration program pcrp by following seeds of success SOS protocols to help ensure a stable and economical supply of native plant materials for restoration and rehabilitation efforts on public lands and contribute to the national seed strategy our work will take place in southwest oregon s dry forests mixed evergreen and mixed conifer forest types , on bureau of land management BLM oand c lands and to a limited extent on tribal lands if requested by tribal nations primary activities will consist of establishing assessment, inventory, and monitoring aim current vegetation survey CVS plots and making SOS collections of native seeds within a 200 m radius of those plots additional activities will include ethnobotany and soils sampling, and pollinator, fire ecology, and wildlife surveys in FY22 we will focus on scoping and research design expected outcomes and deliverables in FY23 and FY24 include at least 20 collections of 10,000 native seeds per year, 20 aim CVS plots sampled on BLM land per year, with nested sampling in aim CVS plots for soils, pollinators, fire ecology, and wildlife sampling will take place on tribal land as requested by tribal nations, enabled by mous between the OSU COF and each tribal nation in FY24, with tribal guidance, including from elders, we will produce a draft ecocultural restoration plan based on traditional ecological knowledge TEK and ethnobotany we will provide jobs for 45 native americans, who are oregon tribal nation members, by implementing a tribal conservation corps SOS initiative this will include creating entry level field technician summer jobs for 35 promising, but at risk tribal youth annually they will receive training in SOS, aim, and CVS protocols, as well as in soils, pollinator, silviculture, fire ecology, and wildlife sampling methods these jobs will help encourage tribal youth to go to post secondary school, obtain federal agency jobs, and become leaders in plant and forest conservation our project will also support multiple native american graduate students in natural resources in the OSU COF additional project deliverables will include peer reviewed publications, conference presentations, and outreach about inter cultural partnerships collectively, all of the above elements of our project will create a stronger BLM conservation stewardship legacy by expanding public land inter cultural collaboration in ecological restoration to build resiliency to climate change and improve pollinator and wildlife habitat our proposed work will help advance tribal CO management of public lands and awareness of how TEK can help increase ecological resiliency and sustainability of natural resources IT will further benefit the american public which includes native american people by raising awareness of tribal sovereignty and self determination and establishing guidelines for working with tribal nations in a fair, equitable, and just manner we will advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice deij by providing opportunities for underserved youth and their communities to benefit via stem education, jobs, and influx of resources subrecipients activities will be conducted by IAE and will consist of pollinator ecology surveys and CO advising graduate student s studying pollinator ecology at OSU in the COF