Gov. Noem shows up uninvited to Pe Sla meeting

RAPID CITY – The U.S. Forest Service hosted the Pe Sla Sacred Sites quarterly meeting in Rapid City on March 28 -29 to discuss co-stewardship of the forest. Those in attendance were to be the Tribes and the forest service only, but Governor Kristi Noem came, uninvited. It wasn’t known if she was there as a private citizen or in her official capacity as Governor, but Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman Ryman LeBeau publicly announced on his Facebook page that the Tribal leaders “told the organizers to recognize her but not to stray from the meeting agenda. Gov Noem asked USDA a couple of questions. She said nothing more than that. We shook hands. No discussion of anything.”

For her part Governor Noem posted on Facebook that “We solve problems by talking to each other.” Representative Shawn Bordeaux said they weren’t aware of any efforts by her to solve problems.

During her tenure as Governor Noem has done little to reach out to South Dakota’s nine tribes. The past year Noem has done anything but “solve problems” and “talk to” leaders, antagonizing an already strained relationship after accusing the reservations, members and leaders of trafficking drugs with the Mexican cartel. She has since ignored requests for apologies. Noem’s continued disrespectful behavior didn’t go over well at the meeting. Bordeaux described in a Facebook post that she “pushed her way into the meeting with the tribes to steal the spotlight and leave little shade behind as well.”

The co-stewardship plan has been under discussion for a number of years and got a boost with President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to fund projects that focus on forest and grassland restoration, following the Forest Service’s release of “Strengthening Tribal Consultations and Nation-to-Nation Relationships: A USDA Forest Service Action Plan.”

At the meeting, Noem asked questions about what would happen to the residents who live within forest boundaries.

KOTA TV reported that Noem wasn’t concerned with co-stewardship as much as she was with the meaning of the word going forward, saying “We don’t know what co-stewardship means. “

However, it is explained in the Action Plan appendix where a glossary of terms can be found including the meaning of co-stewardship: “Co-stewardship of USDA Forest Service lands with Tribal Nations and qualifying Tribal organizations is currently available using a range of agency authorities. Guidance is found in multiple Forest Service Manual and Handbook sections, departmental directives, Executive orders, and Presidential memoranda, and most recently in Joint Secretarial Order 3403 on “Fulfilling the Trust Responsibility to Indian Tribes in the Stewardship of Federal Lands and Waters” between the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior (November 2021). Existing policies and authorities also fully support most of the desired considerations consistently expressed by Tribes and inherent in fulfilment of Federal trust responsibility. Namely, to inform management of forests and grasslands in a manner that honors treaty and other reserved rights on ceded homelands, incorporates traditional ecological knowledge, and protects Tribal communities and their cultural and other trust assets on the lands managed by the Forest Service.”

The Forest Service said that the tribal Action Plan is the product of a diverse study at every level as the agency recognizes its shared stewardship of the lands, water and wildlife with tribal nations. The Plan provides a framework for advancing existing laws, regulations and policies as well as instruction on how to use existing programs. It doesn’t establish any new policy or directive.

There are four areas of focus in the Action Plan which are designed to address barriers identified during tribal consultations specifically the USDA consultations on equity in 2021 and 2022 and the Forest Service consultation on climbing, timber management, monitoring, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, climate adaptation plan, restoration agreements, and this Action Plan.

The first area of focus, Strengthen Relationships Between Indian Tribes and the USDA Forest Service. This also includes enhancing consultation, coordination and collaboration by honoring the existing 120-day consultation period, clarifying the process, and improving transparency. Communication is critical. The Forest Service would develop communication strategies to improve internal coordination across multiple agencies. There would also be an update of USDA forest service policies and processes.

The second area of focus would be fulfilling trust and treaty obligations. This section includes advancing protection of treaty rights and reserved rights, as well as expanding the application of Indigenous Knowledge in coordination with the Interagency Indigenous Knowledge Working Group. Because this information is owned by Tribes, special safeguards and permissions are required. The Forest Service is developing the Indigenous Knowledge Implementation Team to put together a plan to assist agency land management. Also included in the second area of focus natural and cultural resources as well as improving protection of and access to sacred sites through enhanced and improved interdepartmental coordination, collaboration and action.

Co-stewardship is identified as the third area of focus, in support of healthy and resilient forests and grasslands that protect tribal rights and interests on lands managed by the Forest Service and benefit tribal communities.

Number four would advance tribal relations within the USDA Forest Service. The agency said to meet the Federal trust responsibilities, it must continuously improve how the agency creates, maintains and improves Tribal relations.

There are two projects to have been chosen in South Dakota. The Black Hills National Forest and the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Rosebud Sioux Tribe and Standing Rock will build capacity and work toward co-stewardship goals by conducting forest treatments on lands that fall within treaty territories. The other project is restoring degraded prairie and riparian habitats, a collaboration between the Fort Pierre National Grasslands and the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe.

(Contact Marnie Cook at staffwriter@nativesunnews.today)

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