THE ANCESTRAL LANDS MODEL IS ROOTED IN THE CULTURE AND HERITAGE OF LOCAL TRIBAL COMMUNITIES. The power and impact of Ancestral Lands programming is due to the community investment and support for each program tribally and lo-cally, combined with the network of operational support from Conservation Legacy. To date there are 17 different Ancestral Lands programs operating both nationally and on the local level.

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OF THE OVER 200 JOBS CREATED, 33 WERE THE DIRECT RESULT OF FUNDING PROVIDED FROM THE BIA NAVAJO AGENCY, A PILLAR OF THE OVERALL ANCESTRAL LANDS PROGRAM. Collectively, in 2015, corpsmembers and interns of the Ancestral Lands program provided over 50,000 hours of project work ranging from trail work at the Grand Canyon, restoration of ruins at Petrified Forest, invento-rying and mapping invasive vegetation within the Navajo Nation and restoration of washes by eradicating invasive Russian olive and Tamarisk throughout the Southwest.

In total, the program improved over 600 acres and 600 miles of washes, rivers, roads, and trails on public and tribal lands. SCC, in collaboration with our federal part-ners, served young adults ages 18-30 and youth ages 7-15 in eight Native American Communities and provided over 2,500 hours of Youth Play Learn Serve hours with the Na-tional Park Service at five tribal communities. 225 Native American school-aged kids were introduced to nearby National Parks and the great outdoors.

IN 2015, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY (NAU) AND NEW MEXICO YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS (NMYCC), THE ANCESTRAL LANDS CONSERVATION CORPS WORKED WITH TRIBAL COMMUNITIES TO PROVIDE OVER 200 JOBS FOR NATIVE AMERICAN YOUTH.

INTER-TRIBAL YOUTH CLIMATE LEADERSHIP CONGRESS (ITYCLC) 25 high school students were recruited for and attended the ITYCLC. Ancestral Lands recruited 25% of the total number of conference participants. BIA, in partnership with Fish and Wild-life Service funded 80% of these participants.

“The ITYCLC opportunity helped me develop spiritually and professionally through a variety of life altering experiences. I am going to be a part of the generation that is going to restore the balance to Mother Nature—I am a part of the 7th Generation. From the bottom of my heart I’d like to thank you for allowing me this great privilege of expanding my knowledge on climate change. Taa’ yisi ahe hee’.”

-Alisha Curley, Navajo Nation

SOCIETY OF AMERICAN INDIAN GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES ANNUAL CONFERENCE (SAIGE) Eight representatives from the Ancestral Lands Career Institute attended the annual conference. The interns had the opportuni-ty to connect and network with mentors, and professionals from around the country. It provided an excellent opportunity to make connections to support their conservation goals for their local communities.

ANCESTRAL LANDS HAS RECEIVED OVER $39,000 IN FINANCIAL AND

IN-KIND SUPPORT FROM KEEN® FOOTWEAR AND THE NORTH FACE®

OVERVIEW

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

TESTIMONIALS

MEMBER EXPERIENCE

ACOMA TRADITIONAL FARM PROGRAM: IN ACOMA PUEBLO, THE NEAREST GROCERY STORE IS 45 MILES AWAY—IT IS A VIRTUAL FOOD DESERT.

In partnership with the Pueblo, and with support from NMYCC, SCC has established a traditional farm program. 16 youth/young adults using seeds passed down for generations, planted, cultivated, and harvested several thousand pounds of produce for the Pueblo to be donated to the Senior Citizens Center, Acoma Head Start and families throughout the Pueblo. The program blends the teaching of traditional and modern agricultural techniques with teachings about language, culture and heritage. Participants have also constructed traditional Boawishtani ovens for the Senior center. All these activities provided opportunity for Acoma elders to pass down traditional knowledge to the next generation.

CALVERT CURLEYNATURAL RESOURCE MANAGER, FORT DEFIANCE AGENCY “Fort Defiance Agency Branch of Natural Resources has been working with the Southwest Conservation Corps Ancestral Lands program for the past couple of years. The work that Southwest Conservation Corps has provided to our Agency has been very successful. The Agency has received comments from the Navajo Nation Council indicating that these summer youth positions are important as the youth become involved with the Conservation and Natural Resources projects.”

ANDREA ALBERTKINDAHLICHII WEED INVENTORY CREW “Our biggest accomplishment as a crew was completing our GIS mapping tasks. We were able to complete a total of 148 miles of surveys. Although the terrain was tough and physically challenging, we encouraged each other through the challenges. Once we had seen that the partners were impressed and surprised with how much work we had completed, it encouraged us to continue to achieve our goals. I am very proud of the work that we have completed and was inspired by my crew mates. I am proud of how I have grown as a person.”

JAMES HIMNPS CAREER INSTITUTE INTERN “I hope to bring the Southwest Conservation Corps to my community to begin implementing conservation work and get our community in a better state. I am glad to be a part of SCC.”

SHARON PINTOREGIONAL DIRECTOR, NAVAJO REGION “The SCC crew has been very beneficial to our BIA natural resource conservation projects which are implemented across the Navajo Nation. The SCC has employed many Navajo youths to gain experience, land stewardship, valuable “hands-on” job training, and helping to maintain the traditional Navajo ecologi-cal knowledge. For instance, the conservation crew has suc-cessfully completed approximately 15 miles of fencing for the western portion of the Navajo Nation boundary. This included disassembling the existing fence line and constructing a new wildlife friendly fence. The SCC, now known as Conservation Legacy, has served as a valuable resource in bridging communi-ty involvement by recruiting local Navajo youth on BIA Natural Resource conservation projects. This is very beneficial by allow-ing the native youth to gain higher quality job skills and making them competitive in the job market.”

LA PLAZITA INSTITUTE (LPI): SOUTH VALLEY, ALBUQUERQUE, NM

Continuing the success of 2014, Ancestral Lands again partnered with La Plazita Institute and Petroglyph National Monument. Crews, made up of urban Indian populations of multiple tribes, often with histories of multi-generational legacies of poverty, completed projects in the park and worked in the Urban community garden providing affordable produce to families throughout the South Valley. While serving in the corps and after service, LPI creates an emotionally, physically, and spiritually safe refuge for these young men and women.

LOOKING TO 2016 AND BEYOND

ON THE HORIZON

WITH THE SUPPORT OF OUR PARTNERS AND COMMUNITIES, ANCESTRAL LANDS WILL CONTINUE TO GROW AND CULTIVATE POSITIVE IMPACT IN INDIVIDUALS, COMMUNITIES AND ECOSYSTEMS.

IN 2016 ANCESTRAL LANDS WILL work with Bureau of Reclamation on the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, expand our invasive vegetation monitoring program on Navajo Nation to three 20 week crews, and continue to complete wash and river restoration projects on Navajo Nation. We plan to complete projects in three urban areas in Tucson, Minneapolis, Albuquerque and 8 National Parks throughout the country, and will continue The Traditional Farming program at Acoma and Hubble Trading Post.

Ancestral Lands is exploring a partnership to create a Restoration Institute with NAU professor Kevin Grady to provide restoration certificates to our members for successful completion of course work and the program. We are hoping to pilot the project in 2016.

Conservation Legacy applied for an AmeriCorps Opportuni-ty Youth Service Initiative grant to support Ancestral Lands programs. This will create the opportunity for us to pilot a program that will work with local businesses, agencies, and colleges to provide certifications in areas such as GIS, Wildland Fire, Chainsaw, and Herbicide Application for 20 participants. If successful, Conservation Legacy will expand the program to allow for more opportunities in 2016.

We are currently working with the Navajo Nation on a pilot program to enrich the experience for Navajo Corpsmembers by working with Elders to create a language and cultural immersion program. The project, which requires crews to spend up to 10 days in the backcountry, provides the perfect environment for such activities.

Ancestral Lands, building on the success of Zuni NPS Career Institute Interns in 2015, will pilot a community program with Zuni Pueblo and NPS to provide jobs for a minimum of 25 young adults working on traditional farming and natural resource projects throughout the pueblo and surrounding areas.

Ancestral Lands is currently supporting last year’s ITYCLC participants in writing grants for their community projects and assisting BIA/FWS with recruiting high school students for the Congress in 2016.

ANCESTRAL LANDS CONTINUES TO EXPLORE WAYS TO SUPPORT TRIBAL COMMUNITIES. WE ARE EXPLORING FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES IN: • GULF STATES, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE BIA AND LOCAL TRIBES • CROW NATION • ARAPAHO NATION • UTE MOUNTAIN UTE TRIBE • OGLALA LAKOTA