Source: COLLEGE OF MENOMINEE NATION submitted to
MEASURING PULSE OF THE FOREST: ASSESSING ADAPTATION AND MITIGATION OF TRIBAL SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY AND COMMUNITIES TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0230110
Grant No.
2012-38424-19874
Project No.
WISW-2012-02335
Proposal No.
2012-02335
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
ZY
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2012
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2015
Grant Year
2012
Project Director
Caldwell, C. M.
Recipient Organization
COLLEGE OF MENOMINEE NATION
PO BOX 179, N172 HWY 47/55
KESHENA,WI 54135
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
This project essentially has three components. The components are related, but not necessarily integrated. The first is geared toward scientific protocols of gathering and collecting ecological data. The second is a series of short courses taught in the classroom. The third involves a methodology for gathering, sorting, and storing Indigenous knowledge so that it can be managed as an evolving body of knowledge. All three components are educationally oriented using different media; physical (fieldwork), academic (classroom), social (oral).
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
20%
Applied
60%
Developmental
20%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1230613107025%
1230613207025%
1230613302050%
Goals / Objectives
The survival of Indigenous communities in a changing climate will thus require knowledge and technology transfer between scientists and Native communities. Our project forms a unique partnership to bring together researchers and students from land grant institutions to work with scientists and scholars to collect and analyze climate and environmental data, generate new forest ecosystem climate information, and develop a community-driven inventory of Indigenous knowledge and understanding. We seek to evaluate how sustainable forest management paradigms affect the resiliency of forests to anticipated variations and changes to climate.
Project Methods
Working with tribal communities via land grant institutions/tribal colleges, we will establish monitoring plots on the Menominee Nation's forest lands to collect and analyze critical information on biological, physical, cultural, and social dynamics and relationships in forest systems.

Progress 09/01/14 to 08/31/15

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience included: April 29, 2015 site visit by Smithsonian Institution representaties and MTE Forestry committe members and MTE Forestry staff to review the two monitoring plots installed on sustained yields lands. April 30, 2015 met with SI representative and staff from Stockbridge Munsee Tribes Forestry and Natural Resources staff to discuss possible project. June 2014: Provided MTP interns with opportunity to participate in the SDI led Indigenous Planning Summer Institute. The SDI staff provide all participating interns (13) with an overview of all the projects, including the MTP project. July 29: Provide a full day of reporting on the MTP project for Menominee community members and student interns. July 30: Provided a short overview in the morning to Menominee community members and student interns. Menominee Nation News article is still pending. Changes/Problems:This reporting period did not have as many problem as the first year or the second year. However, we did run into an issue in regards to staffing which impacted some of our project efforts, especially as it related to our other projects. Low student enrollment has slowly resulted in reduced budgets, and in February 2015 CMN had to make staffing cuts and work week reductions across the board. This meant SDI lost its Multi-Media & Outreach Specialist as well as having remaining staff brought to 32 hour work weeks. This has continued on through to the present. Remaining staff have adjusted their time and effort committments and balanced committments to other projects, but this has resulted in uneven effort throughout this reporting period. In addition, the knowledge lost through the loss of the Multi-media positon was relatedf to further dissemination efforts related to our website and other online materials. Some of these tasks were assigned to existing staff, but results have been slowed due to the loss of technical capacity as well as general staff time. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? MSU NAI continued to provide training to SDI staff and student interns for conducting the individual and focus group interviews. MSU NAI helped train SDI staff and student intern on the coding and analysis of the interview in NVivo. A summer 2015 Eco Data Collection crew was trained by CFAF Director who has become knowledgeable in the implementation of our adjusted Condit protocol. All of our interns participated in the 2015 Indigenous Planning Summer Institute. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The target audience included: April 29, 2015 site visit by Smithsonian Institution representaties and MTE Forestry committe members and MTE Forestry staff to review the two monitoring plots installed on sustained yields lands. April 30, 2015 met with SI representative and staff from Stockbridge Munsee Tribes Forestry and Natural Resources staff to discuss possible project. June 2014: Provided MTP interns with opportunity to participate in the SDI led Indigenous Planning Summer Institute. The SDI staff provide all participating interns (13) with an overview of all the projects, including the MTP project. July 29: Provide a full day of reporting on the MTP project for Menominee community members and student interns. July 30: Provided a short overview in the morning to Menominee community members and student interns. Menominee Nation News article is still pending. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Close out the grant. Determine how to continue this work here at Menominee and/or with other interested Tribes.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? College of Menominee Nation and its Sustainable Development Institute serve the Menominee community through engagement in areas of research interest and concern specific to human and environment relationships. The issue of climate change and its increasingly researched and documented impacts on a variety of human environment relationships means this is a primary area of focus for CMN academic and SDI non-academic programming. In addition, SDI is an institute founded on the Menominee peoples long history and relationship with their environment, and more specifically on the sustainable forest management history that the Menominee have become known for. To that end, SDI has focused its efforts on exploring the impacts of climate change on the world renowned forests of Menominee and how this may impact the relationships between the forest and the people. Prior efforts for this project were focused on just opening channels of communication between the scientists and Menominee community members who were working on the project or interested in the project. This reporting period included a shift from focusing purely on the ecological data collection effort to focusing on the cultural relationship assessment. Establish three, one-hectare monitoring plots to census tree species and collect othe core forest data; and This summer was spent adjusting some of the protocols we used in prior measurements, including the removal of some of the tags from plot areas that were scheduled to be harvested. MTE Forestry felt this was a safety issue, and rather than not address, we erred on the side of caution and removed the tags, making an effort to identify plots through tree orientation. Develop methods for assessing and monitoring the nature and meaning of cultural relationships between indigenous and local peoples and their forest lands; and MSU NAI worked with CMN SDI staff and interns in the initial development of a semi-structured interview guide. The purpose of the guide was to provide something that Menominee community members could review, and determine whether it made sense to them as a community member, then offer suggestions on how to word some of the questions or whether some of the questions were necessary. The refinement process was started during last reporting period community workshop, and continued into the fall with snowball sampling methods. The individual interviews then led to focus group sessions, which included an Elder's group, a Students group, a CMN employee group, and a Forest Workers group. All together we collected over 52 interviews. Some of the interviewees were followed up with if they had more to say than the alloted one hour time slots. MSU NAI has been working on the final report based on CMN SDI interviews and analysis. Offer student research experiences designed to connect tribal college students with forest scientists; and We recruited for and hosted a Cultural Relationship Assessment intern for most of the interviews and coding. There were four different students associated with the Eco-Data collection efforts, but also in the development of content and materials to continue dissemination of the information developed from the MTP project. This will be a part of the CMN Demo Forest area located on the Keshena campus. Engage tribal stakeholders in regional change in forest products and in identifying techniques for increasing resiliency and mitigating the effects of global change. Community members were engaged through the July 2015 workshops. MTE Forestry committee members were engaged through the April 2015 site visit. An article on the project and the July 2015 workshop are pending. A story about the July 2015 workshop has been posted to the SDI website.

Publications


    Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/15

    Outputs
    Target Audience:The audiences addressed during the course of this project included numerous tribal nations and student interns from different backgrounds and institutions. The first tribal nation, was of course, the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and included the entities who were part of the project (Menominee Tribal Enterprises - Forestry staff and Board of Directors members) as well as members of the Menominee community who were interested in the community report workshops (August 2014 and July 2015), and/or participated as interviewees for the cultural services inventory, or in general who attended any public meeting held as part of the project. The second tribal nation that we reached out to included members of the Stockbridge Munsee Nation's environmental and forestry program who attended a short presentation between CMN SDI and our partners from Smithsonian Institution to discuss the possibility of developing a project for Stockbridge Munsee Nation. Both of these efforts to report out to tribal communities were also intended to create further interest in either continuing this project on the Menominee lands or creating similar projects on other tribal lands. However, we also reached out to a larger audience through the 2014 Shifting Seasons: Building Tribal Capacity for Climate Change Adaptation Summit" which was hosted by CMNSDI in Keshena, Wisconsin. On, October 14th, 2014 a community forestry tour of the Menominee reservation was framed by the CMNSDI theoretical model of sustainability, and focused on the Measuring the Pulse of the Forest project. Although the project was in progress we used it as a backdrop for discussion on the question of "How can TCU's work together to address local climate change challenges?" The intent was to introduce participants to an existing research project led by a Tribal College/University (TCU), in this case College of Menominee Nation, and how it connected outside resources/partners to issues of tribal community interest and worked to address those issues. Participants who registered for this tour included tribal representatives from nineteen different tribal nations primarily in the Northeast region (Department of Interior - NE Climate Science Center boundaries), but also included tribal participation from across the United States. In addition, there were representatives from numerous federal, academic and non-profit organizations focused on climate change initiatives. Our project partners from Smithsonian Institution were scheduled to participate in this tour, but unfortunately, weather delays prevented us from capitalizing on this opportunity. The tour included presentations at CMN campus and site visits to different community areas of interest, including a visit to "Plot A" which was the pre-harvest site for one of the monitoring plots on Menominee sustained yield lands. During the course of the tour, questions were posed at each spot that were relevant to different components of a tribal college led research project. Over the course of the project, we also offered various student internships and created two crew leader type positions to assist students in learning more about climate change, indigenous peoples, and methodologies related to climate modeling, and data collection. These methods included the Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) methods for the forest cultural relationship assessment and the Condit Protocol used for the ecological data collection component. Over the course of the project, we brought on a total of 8 different student interns, including 2 crew leaders, to work on various aspects of the project under the forest cultural relationship assessment (2 interns) and the ecological data collection effort (6 interns and 2 crew leaders). Changes/Problems:It became evident during the first year of this project that there would need to be serious reconsideration on the scope and intent of this project. The initial proposal was overly ambitious regarding many of the scientific variables related to the monitoring protocols being measured in relation to the corresponding resources available. More specifically, the expertise and access to advanced data protocols and field equipment were significantly misaligned within the capacity of this project and estimated budget, and largely unnecessary to achieve the desired outcomes. Part of this was likely due to it being tied closely to the concurrent development of a larger multi-year project. These issues might have been able to be overcome, however, at the same time CMN had to fill the position of SDI Director who was named as PI of this project as well as another key personnel position. This meant there was not only a delay for project implementation, but also the connections, original intent, and momentum for linking the smaller project and larger project was missing. Based on these issues, in January 2014 we requested and received approval to scale back substantially on the monitoring protocols that would be implemented to gather and track forest field data. We still conducted a full tree census in each of the forest plots using the intended protocol, monitoring tree growth, measuring variables related to tree growth, and factoring in understory plant community distribution. But, we viewed the entire project now more as an educational and capacity building effort, rather than a true research project. Another large issue that came to light early on were issues identified by Menominee Tribal Enterprises (MTE). There were concerns related to how their Continuous Forest Inventory (CFI) data would be utilized for many of the modeling and simulation scenarios; and, who would have final say over how this data were interpreted. In fact, MTE is justifiably very protective of this proprietary data and has much stricter conditions for the use of this data than originally anticipated, particularly regarding data manipulation and publication. The concern was not only the possibility that someone with limited on-the-ground experience would be making data interpretations that were not consistent with staff who had worked this forest for decades. This concern was not only in regards to internal MTE decision-making, but also how community members might view these results. In addition, the concern was also how interpretations of models and scenarios based on the CFI data might conflict with the trust responsibility obligations of the federal government, as they also use the CFI data as verification they are meeting their trust responsibility to the Menominee people and their forest. Although none of these issues have been realized, the concern on the part of MTE was that we could not work out a mutually beneficial agreement between MTE, CMNSDI, and our collaborators, namely Smithsonian Institution to ensure collaborators are meeting their own objectives. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? MSU NAI provided initial training for CBPR interview methodologies and data analysis, which included the student intern throughout fall 2014 and into the spring 2015 semester. SERC provided initial training at their research site in Maryland in spring 204 for the two crew leaders. Follow up training was provided to the crew leaders and also for the student interns during the summer of 2014. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As mentioned previously, we have presented this information to the Menominee community through various events (Earth Day, MTE Forestry committee meeting, 2 Community workshops), and also to a larger audience (50% tribal and 50% non-tribal) through the 2014 Shifting Seasons Summit. Although the project has ended, we plan to continue to develop educational and learning opportunities for visitors through the one-hectare training monitoring plot still maintained on CMN campus lands. This is currently connected throughout the larger network of outdoor learning environment areas maintained by CMN SDI through connections with the Learning Path. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? The initial grant proposal was not within the capacity of the timing or resources associated with the funding (see challenges/obstacles). A modification was requested and approved in January 2014. While the initial goal statement is still reflective of this project, the goal is more focused on the re-building and development of our capacity to carry this out as future research as originally proposed. This project is of interest for many tribal nations that we have come in contact with through this project and other climate change and indigenous peoples issues, specifically our work with the Department of Interior - Northeast Climate Science Center. Build research capacity primarily through establishing forest monitoring plots: This included working with Menominee Tribal Enterprises (MTE) to clarify this project goals as opposed to the goals related to development of a larger, multi-year project. The initial confusion existed for both MTE Forestry staff and Forestry Committee. However, CMNSDI project staff, Dean Fellman CFAF Director and SDI Director Chris Caldwell were able to make the distinctions, which included limiting requested access to MTE Continuous Forest Inventory (CFI) data. Once clarified MTE approved the installation of two one-hectare monitoring plots on sustained yields lands. These plots were selected by MTE Forest Inventory Forester Paul Crocker and Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) Senior Scientist Sean McMahon. The sites were representative of northern hardwoods, and included one pre-harvest site and one post-harvest site. We also obtained approval to install one monitoring plot on CMN Keshena campus for training and research. In total we established 3 long-term forest monitoring plots. Each plot is 100 meters square, and is subdivided into 25-20 meter square subplots called quadrants. We followed the Condit protocol for conducting tree census as our primary data collection mechanism. Once the base layer of data was collected, we continued using the plots to develop experiments to monitor various aspects of climate change, including updating the tree data (re-census) at periodic intervals. The initial ecological data collection was carried out by 2 Crew Leaders and 4 student intern/technicians. In spring 2014 both crew leaders traveled to SERC in Maryland to learn protocol techniques and application. Upon returning from SERC, the Crew Leaders used the CMN training plot to practice by completing the census on 8 ? 20m quads, which alos included 4 full?time and one part?time student technicians. There were some variations between SERC and CMN protocols, including: minimum diameter ? SERC 1cm, CMN 2.5cm, tagging height ? SERC DBH, CMN .3m, spatial unit of measure - SERC 10m, CMN 20m, as examples. During the summer of 2014 the census on the two plots in the Menominee Forest (labeled plots A & B) began. This work was completed on August 1, 2014. During this time, (mid?July) Sean McMahon and Jessica Shue visited CMN to discuss our progress and view the plot sites. Also during the summer of 2014, CMN/SDI retained a local botanist (Richard Annamitta) familiar with the plant species to conduct a representative survey of the plants within and between the plots. The procedure included an assessment of the entire plot and then 5 quads were selected for a plant survey. The intention was to provide a representative sampling of plants reflective of the communities and characteristics of the site(s), not to necessarily conduct a comprehensive survey of every plant present. Develop methods for assessing and monitoring cultural relationships: CMN has its own Institutional Review Board (IRB) and therefore, we worked through the CMN IRB obtain approval for the FCRA work. We worked with Michigan State University's (MSU) Native American Institute (NAI) to provide guidance and training in the development of methodologies that could be used for the assessment. Initially we were scheduled to work with the National Museum of American Indians (NMAI) to develop and implement a full ethnographic study. But, as the initial project discussions started in 2012/2013 it became apparent that this project was being reduced and not connected larger project development. NMAI did not see this as a role they would necessarily need to be directly involved in. CMN SDI and MSU NAI worked on a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach guided by the proposal and a research agreement between CMN and MSU. Dr. John Norder led the MSU efforts, which included assistance with a semi-structured interview guide drafted with CMNSDI (SDI Director Chris Caldwell and Sustainability Coordinator Rebecca Edler). CMN SDI project staff learned to conduct the interviews as well as participate as interviewees, which helped revise the guide. In addition, further revisions were developed during the August 2014 community workshop at the Menominee Conference Center, and at the teaching plot behind CMN campus. The overarching questions explored for the FCRA: 1) what is the relationship of the Menominee people to the forest? (What do they know, how did they learn it); 2) How do they use the forest resources? (What types, how much, how often); 3) How do they perceive changes in the forest ecology and environment; 4) What are the challenges that the Menominee people believe face them in access to and management of forest resources on the reservation? MSU NAI also provided training to CMNSDI staff on qualitative survey design (individual interview and focus group surveys), participant recruitment methods, interview and focus group protocols, and base data entry and coding of collected data using the nVivo 10 software package. MSU NAI staff made regular on-site visits to provide continued training throughout the process and to consult on issues related to the project as they came up. CMN SDI staff conducted 22 individual interviews with peoples all over the age of 18 (10 men and 12 women). The focus groups were designed to reach out to people groups not considered to be contacted through the initial snowball sampling methods, these included; elders (55+), CMN students, and current MTE forestry workers (technician level). An additional focus group (traditional knowledge holders-all ages) was added during the interviews based on our FCRA intern Angela Hernandez' observation. She noted that the traditional knowledge regarding Menominee culture and the Menominee forest was not restricted to any one age category when it came to the difference between traditional knowledge that was held versus knowledge that was applied to daily living. Overall, the participants were recruited from peoples familiar with SDI and reached out to others based on references. However, this was limited in terms of how many interviews that could be conducted due to timing and resources. Deliver student learning/research experiences: In addition to the research experience, we provided opportunities for students to present during the community workshops. Students also participated in much of the same training made available to CMN SDI project staff. In addition, students were part of the final development of permanent educational fixtures on our Learning Path that will be used for on-the-ground dissemination of project results. Engage tribal stakeholders: This was carried out through different opportunities, including short reports during the 2014 and 2015 Earth Day events coordinated by CMN SDI and hosted on the CMN campus; during project meetings and during our 2014 Shifting Seasons Summit.

    Publications

    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Under Review Year Published: 2015 Citation: 2014 Shifting Seasons: Building Tribal Capacity for Climate Change Adaptation Summit. Final summit proceedings. College of Menominee Nation Sustainable Development Institute


    Progress 09/01/13 to 08/31/14

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Target audiences included: Students: During recruitment for the SDI internships we provided short presentations during student recruitment events such as our Earth Day 2013 event held at College of Menominee Nation campus. We also sent out informational e-mails across our networks for tribal students both at College of Menominee Nation, at other Tribal Colleges, and to tribal students attending institutions of higher education elsewhere. Menominee Community: We provided a short presentation on the Measuring the Pulse of the Forest project to community members from Menominee and surrounding communities who were attending our Earth Day event held in April 2013. This event had approximately 115 attendees signed in, however we did not make any distinction between children vs. adults (18 and over), or tribal and non-tribal members. All who attended were introduced to the project. We held a specific community workshop August 5 and 6, 2014. This event reported on all components of the MTP project, and also provided a session that was dedicated to working with Menominee tribal members on refining the semi-structured interview guide that would be used for the cultural relationship assessment. There were approximately 60 attendees, with 12 identified Menominee tribal members who stayed and participated in the cultural relationships session. A presentation on the overall project efforts of the project was given by the SDI Director and CFAF Director. The Ecological Data Collection crew that spent the summer working on the plots also gave a presentation on their work. Changes/Problems:It became evident during the first year of this project that there would need to be serioues reconsideration on the scope and intent of this project. The initial proposal was overly ambitious regarding many of the scientific variables related to the monitoring protocols being measured in relation to the corresponding resources available. More specifically, the expertise and access to advanced data protocols and field equipment were significantly misaligned within the capacity of this project and estimated budget, and largely unnecessary to achieve the desired outcomes. A second misassumption was related to the condition that Menominee Tribal Enterprises (MTE) would allow their Continuous Forest Inventory (CFI) data to be utilized for many of the modeling and simulation scenarios referenced. In fact, MTE is justifiably very protective of this proprietary data and has much stricter conditions for the use of this data than originally anticipated, particularly regarding data manipulation and publication. Based on that reasoning, in January 2014 we requested and received approval to scale back substantially on the monitoring protocols that would be implemented to gather and track forest field data. We still conducted a full tree census in each of the forest plots using the intended protocol, monitoring tree growth, measuring variables related to tree growth, and factoring in understory plant community distribution. But, we viewed the entire project now more as an educational and capacity building effort, rather than a true research project. -------------------------------------- Going through the implementation of this project has helped us better understand the logistics associated with developing a relationship between MTE and SI, and also noted some of the logistical issues of utilizing the Condit protocol on a managed land base vs. a research oriented land base. A primary example included placement heights called for under the Condit protocol calls for placement of aluminum tags at a height that coincides with the height that MTE loggers are encouraged to cut trees at. Although the thought is that the aluminum would not affect things too much, safety for both the sawyer cutting the tree down and possibly downstream during processing at the mill could become an issue. Therefore, we have discussed adjustments to how we identify trees that have been censused, and maintain a clear identifcation for future measurement purposes. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training opportunities: May 2014: Eco-Data Crew Leaders attend SERC training for two days. June 2014: Eco-Data Crew leaders and CFAF Director provide plot training for undergraduate interns. June-August 2014: Menominee Ethnobotanist provides basic tree and plant species identification for the crew August 2014: MSU NAI begins working with SDI staff to learn more about NVivo use, and to develop interview protocols for cultural relationship assessment. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?For community: We hosted the Earth Day 2014 event in April that provided a short introduction to the project. We hosted the August 2014 community workshop that specifically presented on the project, and included a session on further development of the semi-structured interview guide. This occured both at the Menominee Convention Center and on the CMN teaching plot. A summary article on the MTP project and the workshop was reported in the Menominee Nation News in September 2014. For students: We provided a description of the project within the initial posting for internship positions. The Earth Day event was also open to CMN and other students. Over the course of summer 2014, the Eco-data interns learned about the project, but we also included interns from our other projects in cross-training opportunities. This included site visits and other short presentations that allowed students to interact with MTP project partners, scientists and other crew members. For Menominee Tribal Enterprises We provided a follow up presentation to the MTE Forestry committee to discuss what we found in the field in trying to implement the Condit protocol on a working forest. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The primary goal for the final year of the project is to focus on the forest cultural relationship asessment portion. We will also look to incorporate another opportunity to collect measurements for the plots. We will offer a final community workshop/report out session.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? College of Menominee Nation and its Sustainable Development Institute serve the Menominee community through engagement in areas of research interest and concern specific to human and environment relationships. The issue of climate change and its increasingly researched and documented impacts on a variety of human environment relationships means this is a primary area of focus for CMN academic and SDI non-acadmeic programming. In addition, SDI is an institute founded on the Menominee peoples long history and relationship with their environment, and more specifically on the sustainable forest management history that the Menominee have become known for. To that end, SDI has focused its efforts on exploring the ecological impacts of climate change on the forests of Menominee, impacts to its management, and overall the relationships between the Menominee people and the forest. During the current reporting period, there was more significant work accomplished as current SDI staff became better acquainted with the goals, objectives, partners, and issues related to the project. Different adjustments were made in terms of who would be more visible as our partners in the work, and also how we went about carrying out the work. Overall this meant that we, SDI, realized the current project would not be considered a pure research effort as originally proposed. There was a need to build knowledge on both ends: educating the scientists on the decision-making capacity and concerns on the tribal side and providing more specific information for the tribal decision-makers based on the skills and experience from the scientists side. This brokering of knowledge exchange was slow but necessary for the development of the current project and in with an eye toward continued work either with Menominee or working as a liaison on behlaf of Tribes interested in pursuing similar project work for their land and their communities. The following were significant steps forward in overcoming obstacles and adjusting to the realities of this project that were reported in the previous progress report (9/1/2012-8/31/2013). They are broken down by the original goals an dobjectives: Establish three, one-hectare ecological monitoring forest plots to census tree species and collect other core forest data; and Based on the initial effort in 2013 to install a one-hectare teaching plot on CMN campus lands, SDI staff were able to re-census this plot to gain a better understanding of the costs, time and interns needed to survey, install, and measure two, one-hecate plots on sustained yield forest. During this reporting period, SDI staff were able to better engage and clarify the project objectives with MTE Forestry staff and the MTE Forestry committee. This led to a request for and approval to install the two, one-hectarte monitoring plots on sustained yield lands which are manageed by MTE under the authority of the Tribe's Constitution. MTE Forestry committee discussed and submitted their recommendation to the full Board of Directors to approve this demonstration project without inclusion of the use of CFI data. However, the monitoring plots for this project were overlaid on existing CFI plots in case MTE decided to pursue this initiative at a later date. SDI staff facilitated meetings with Smithsonian Institution staff and MTE Forestry staff to identify possible sites for the installation of two forest monitoring plots on sustained yield lands; one plot on a recently harvested site, and the other on a site that would be harvested in the near future. The two sustained yield sites were selected and surveyed and pipes installed for survey efforts in summer 2014. During the summer 2014 measurement of the two sustained yield plots, we encountered issues with the the use of the Condit protocol. Develop methods for assessing and monitoring the nature and meaning of cultural relationships between indigenous and local peoples and their forest lands; and Initial work on this part of the project was slow to move forward as different issues were being addressed both internally for Menominee, but also in regards to a transition from NMAI being the lead participant to Michigan State University's (MSU) Native American Institute (NAI) providing assistance. The withdrawal of NMAI from this piece of the project is linked to the disintegration of efforts to develop a large more long term effort, but also a change from the full ethnographic piece that was being proposed to the semi-structured community guided interview protocol that was slowly being developed by CMN SDI and MSU NAI. Once MSU NAI transitioned to a new Director, we were able to revise the timeline for this component and develop materials for submission to College of Menominee Nation's (CMN) Institutional Review Board (IRB) in addition to submitting to the MSU IRB. CMN IRB finally approved the methodology proposed and these project activities were assigned to another SDI staff member to help lead. In addition, the SDI Director was required to complete IRB training for the MSU IRB Offer student research experiences designed to connect tribal college students with forest scientists; and Based on our experience in installing the teaching plot in the summer of 2013, we decided to hire two crew leader positions to lead our undergraduate interns. For CMN this is more difficult than other institutions. We primarily work with undergaduate level students and do not have as much access to or experience working with graduate level students. However, we decided to use this as an opportunity recruit two graduate level crew leader positions with supplemental funding from the SI NMAI. We had difficulty generating interest and ended up hiring two temporary employee positions to serve as the crew leaders. While neither had a specific background in forestry, they did have enough experience to lead a crew of undergraduate students. One of the hires is a member of the Menominee community. Both of the crew leaders attended an orientation at Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Maryland to learn more about the Condit protocol from SI scientists. The crew leaders then spent spring 2013 preparing to teach these new skills to the undergaduate interns on the CMN teaching plot. We were able to bring on two more student interns under this grant along with two other students paid for under the SI supplemental funding and another USDA grant titled Walking the Path. This group formed our Eco-Data Collection crew that were able to not only learn and carry out the Condit protocol, but also interact with MTE Foresters and also visiting SI scientists who reviewed the work and gave guidance on questions and corrections. In addition, we supplemented this crew with assistance from a local ethno-botanist who has spent years working the Menominee forest to help the crew learn common tree and plant species, as well as identify lesser known species. Engage tribal stakeholders in assessing regional change in forest products and in identifying techniques for increasing ecosystem resiliency and mitigating the effects of global change. SDI hosted a community workshop specifically to introduce the MTP project, but also gather input into further development of a semi-structured interview guide for the forest cultural relationship assessment.

    Publications

    • Type: Websites Status: Submitted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Final Report to Smithsonian Institution - National Museum of American Indians: Forest Stocks and Fluxes Across a Management Gradient in Northern Wisconsin. 2014.


    Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13

    Outputs
    Target Audience:The primary target audiences listed for the initial grant are scientists and Native communities (in this case the Menominee people). In addition there was a component for student research experience. The primary audience of focus reached during this reporting period consisted of an initial November 2012 meeting between project partners from the Smithsonian Institution (National Museum of American Indian, Environmental Researc Center, and Conservation Biology Center), Menominee Tribal Enterprises (Board of Directors and Forestry Department), College of Menominee Nation (President's office and SDI), University of Wisconsin Green Bay, and a collaborator from the State University of New York (SUNY) Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). The groups represented both scientists, native community members, and specifically Menominee community members. SDI facilitaed this meeting and reported on the specifics of the project as a means to start the USDA NIFA funded project, but there was also a prior agreement to discuss a larger proposal that would be based off of the work of this currently funded project. There were no specific community report outs at this time. As for outreach for students, an Ecological Data Collection and Cultural Resources internship were offered for the summer months of 2013. Both of these were disseminated throughout College of Menominee Nation and other SDI networks for student outreach to be filled. The internship announcements provided a description of the overall MTP project, as well as a general outline of the activities associated with the internships. The students who were selected and participated evntually provided presentations and wrote short blogs on their experiences. Changes/Problems:There were a few large issues that needed to be addressed in regards to starting this project. SDI leadership (DIrector and Sustainability Coordinator positions) for this project left employment with CMN SDI prior to the funding being received and set up. This left a gap in the leadership between mid-2012 and October 2012 when a new SDI Director was hired. Also, while the SDI Director positiono was addressed in October 2012, there were a mutlitude of changes in other personnel positions which meant roles and responsibilities were constantly shifting as we sorted recruited and filled these positions. In addition, prior to the new SDI Director stareting there was an effort to tie this current project into a larger, multi-year project proposal between multiple outside (non-tribal) institutions, with College of Menominee Nation being the primary awardee. An early November 2012 meeting brought out many unresolved issues, mainly from the tribal side of the discussions. The initial proposal to utilize Continuous Forest Inventory (CFI) data was not as clear to Menominee Tribal Enterprises as some may have thought, and there was concern over its release and use in research efforts. Also, MTE was concerned in regards to the publication of any findings that might come from the limited amount of the initial monitoring plots (three, one-hectare plots for the entire reservation). There had been prior precedent by outside researchers that published without consultation with MTE and this led to erroneous assumptions on the part of the researchers. While MTE understood the need for the scientists in this project to publish, there was not realy consensus on whether a process could be developed that allowed review of research papers prior to publication. This led to a concern on the scientists side because of the possibility that a graduate student researcher might not be able to pbulish and complete thier academic requriements. A combinatinon of totally new personnel not being a part of the project development, and the concerns of MTE led this project to stall at its most base understandings. In addition, trying to tie in the development to a larger proposal based on this project which had not even started made the tribal stakehodlers more wary in terms of agreement. From then (November 2012) through the rest of the year, SDI was engaged in both trying to prepare to meeting the four objectives during the summer of 2013 while trying to develop basic understanding and agreement between project partners on the existing grant. This meant any discussion on the larger multi-yar grant was put aside and the focus was on only the current grant, which proved difficult because of the personnel transitions. The repurcussions from November 2012 meeting also led to less involvement by some partners because participation in the current USDA NIFA funded grant was somewhat contingent on the larger proposal being developed. This meant our partners for the ecological data collection component and the cultural relationship assessment were not as involved. This was also due to the fact that CMN/SDI was working with Menominee Tribal Enterprises on clarifiying the project. This meant that spring/summer 2013 was spent by SDI staff in learning and preparing to implement the ecological data collection protocol on our own. We did this by installing one of the one-hectare monitoring plots behind CMN Keshena campus. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This was a primary part of this project due to several personnel transitions during the early part of this project. SDI staff assigned to this project needed to be brought up to speed on the project and assigned tasks that were no longer being covered due to staff transition. More specifics are included in the changes/problems section. However, we were also able to specifically learn the Condit protocl in-house. One of our staff members (CFAF Director) was able to contact and meet up with the UWGB Wabikon crew to learn some basics. Althought the Wabikon was doing a re-census rather than a full installation which is where CMN/SDI was at with our project. The CFAF Director also was able to train our crew of interns for the ecologoical data collection efforts (with assistance from the Cultural Services intern). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We worked under objective 4 (engage tribal stakeholders) primarily through our November 2012 meeting with all of the project partners and also through subsuquent follow up meetings with Menominee Tribal Enterprises. In regards to objective 3 (student research experience), SDI developed, disseminated, and recruited for two internship positions related to this project for the summer of 2013. There was one specific Ecological Data Collection crew member and a Cultural Services internship. The overall project was included as part of the internship description. Both students selected were from other institutions of higher education, with one being a tribal member from Menominee. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Several issues came up from the start of this project, which prevented a timely start. This was mainly an issue of personnel including the transition of the two primary leadership positions for SDI and prior to this project starting. The focus for the next fiscal year will be to fully implement the project, with a specific focus on installation of the plots on sustained yield lands and approval and development of the cultural relationship assessment.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? College of Menominee Nation and its Sustainable Development Institute serve the Menominee community through engagement in areas of research interest and concern specific to human and environment relationships. The issue of climate change and its increasingly researched and documented impacts on a variety of human environment relationships means this is a primary area of focus for CMN academic and SDI non-acadmeic programming. In addition, SDI is an institute founded on the Menominee peoples long history and relationship with their environment, and more specifically on the sustainable forest management history that the Menominee have become known for. To that end, SDI has focused its efforts on exploring the impacts of climate change on the world renowned forests of Menominee and how this may impact the relationships between the forest and the people. This project started with 4 primary objectives: Establish three, one-hectare ecological monitoring plots to census tree species and collect other core forest data; and Develop methods for assessing and monitoring the nature and meaning of cultural relationships between indigenous and local peoples and their forestlands; and Offer student research experiences designed to connect tribal college students with forest scientists; and Engage tribal stakeholders in assessing regional change in forest products and in identifying techniques for increasing ecosystem resiliency and mitigating the effects of global change.

    Publications