SPOKANE — Collaboration and integration of Indigenous ecological knowledge were central themes in U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s speech to more than 1,000 wildlife professionals on Monday.
“By incorporating Indigenous knowledge into our work, and ensuring you’re leading with science-based decisions, we can restore balance to nature,” Haaland said in a prerecorded speech played at The Wildlife Society’s annual meeting in Spokane.
Haaland is the first Native American to lead a U.S. Cabinet department . During her 6-minute speech, she discussed the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and President Joe Biden’s America the Beautiful Initiative.
“Our world is facing a global climate crisis,” she said. “It’s the challenge of our lifetime, but the good news is that with great challenges come great opportunities.
“The work that the Wildlife Society has done for decades is a model of that collaborative conservation that America the Beautiful seeks to embrace.”
She highlighted new guidance from the Interior Department aimed at “strengthening the role of Tribal governments in federal land management.”
In June, the Department of the Interior transferred management of the Dworshak National Fish Hatchery to the Nez Perce Tribe, also known as the Nimipúu.
Haaland’s talk was preceded by Spokane Tribe of Indians Chairwoman Carol Evans, who had a similar message for the assembled biologists, students and managers. She told them how the Spokane Tribe tries to “never take too much” while respecting the land, fish and wildlife.
“This is how we need to go forward,” she said. “We have a world that is somewhat sick in those respects.”
She pointed to regional tribal efforts to restore salmon runs despite a daunting gantlet of dams up and down the Columbia River system.
“We will bring back salmon,” she said. … “The ancestors are waiting. The cool pools of water are waiting.”
Indigenous knowledge — and how to integrate it into current wildfire management — has been prominently displayed at the weeklong conference. On Tuesday, regional tribal biologists shared work they’ve done with lynx, cougars and fishers. On Wednesday, a session focused on weaving “both Indigenous Knowledge systems and Western Science” into research and management.
Gordon Batcheller, a retired New York state biologist and the president of the Wildlife Society, wrapped up the plenary session with a call for legislative action.
“We need to pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act,” he said to cheers.
The act, which passed the House and is in the Senate, would funnel $1.4 billion into fish and wildlife programs.
“The lame-duck session is where it’s going to happen or not,” he said.
“I’m not going to say it’s over forever if it doesn’t happen, but this is the time.”
