As aboriginal stewards of the land IT is the responsibility of the washoe tribe to protect maintain and enhance the natural resources along with wildlife and wildlife habitat on tribal land

The Washoe Tribe of Nevada & California received a $200,000 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service under the Tribal Wildlife Grants program (CFDA 15.639), effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2027. The award supports the continued operations and expansion of the Washoe Resilience Garden, a native and cultural plant nursery established in 2021 to conserve and propagate the single leaf pinyon pine—an important cultural food source for the tribe. The nursery will produce native plants for wildlife habitat restoration and land recovery efforts on tribal territories impacted by wildfire and climate change.

In addition to nursery operations, the project deliverables include the development of a multispecies management plan focusing on pinyon jay, rabbit species, and native bee populations as indicators of habitat health and restoration success. The Washoe Environmental Protection Department will conduct expanded monitoring of pinyon jay populations using standards established by the Great Basin Bird Observatory to contribute to broader data collection efforts. All project activities will incorporate education, training, and outreach programs serving the four Washoe communities across Nevada and California, while fostering collaborative partnerships with other agencies to advance environmental conservation, stewardship, and sustainability objectives on tribal lands.

The washoe environmental protection department proposes to strengthen these resources and restore crucial habitat that has been devastated by wildfire and climate change. The washoe environmental protection department seeks funding to support continued operations of the washoe resilience garden which is a native and cultural plant nursery started in 2021 to conserve the single leaf pinyon pine an important cultural food source to the washoe tribe. The resilience garden will also propagate other culturally significant native plants to be used in wildlife habitat restoration and to support land recovery. This project also proposes to provide a multispecies management plan with focus on pinyon JAY and two species of rabbit as well as native BEE species as indicators of habitat health and restoration success. Wepd has increased monitoring of pinyon JAY as they are the primary seed disperser of pine nuts and due to loss of habitat and other factors are on the verge of extinction. The monitoring for pinyon JAY will follow standards set by great basin bird observatory to record populations and add to a larger data set. The washoe tribe has recently declared a state of emergency for pinyon pine as we are quickly losing this cultural resource and its main seed distributer which is the pinyon JAY. All tasks will provide education training and outreach to the four washoe communities in nevada and california. The project will also increase tribal involvement in the restoration of tribal lands both directly and through working collaboratively with other agencies in the common goal of environmental conservation stewardship and sustainability.