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PROJECTS
[Film]
WÁŠÍ∙ŠIW ʔITDÉʔ
In an exploration of traditional Washoe (Wašíw) lands and culture, this film offers a glimpse into the Indigenous roots of the Tahoe region: a world-famed site of natural beauty that continues to grapple with legacies of colonization, including in its ongoing development. As the Washoe recount efforts to revitalize cultural practices, language, and ways of life, we are brought on a visceral journey of identity and community – and left with a potent sense of how listening, respect, and reciprocity are central to connecting with and protecting the places we love, and our planet at large, for generations to come.
SCALING NATIVE TREE REFORESTATION
Reforestation efforts – including those in burned landscapes – face a critical bottleneck: a lack of tree seedlings. Tree seedling nurseries – particularly for unique species, including the species of Tahoe's native tree populations – are underfunded and relatively few in number. The University of Nevada Reno and the Washoe Tribe currently grow native tree seedlings, such as single-leaf pinyon pine, for research and planting schemes. However, this is not enough. Together with an array of academic, tribal, government, nonprofit, and private sector partners, we are developing a strategy to scale the local cultivation of native tree seedlings.
Our legal systems define what is right, what is wrong, and what is allowable under the law. Can we think beyond human communities and bestow rights upon natural entities – saying that a river, for example, has a right to be clean? In recent years, natural entities across the world have been granted legal personhood – for example, Mount Taranaki and the Whanganui River in New Zealand, the Atrato River in Colombia, and the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers in India. Establishing these legal rights can open up new opportunities for protections for both natural features and the ecosystems and communities that depend on them. What would it take to legally recognize the rights of Lake Tahoe? We're drawing together some key legal scholars and environmental leaders to dig into this question.
LEGAL STANDING FOR LAKE TAHOE
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"Biocultural stewardship" is a concept that recognizes the important role that culture plays in environmental stewardship: the traditional knowledge, cultural practices, stories, and values that inform relationships to place. Human communities are an important part of the environments in which they're embedded. In the Tahoe region, how can we support people – residents and visitors alike – in recognizing that they're part of a broader ecosystem? That "taking care of a place" means not just keeping it clean, but building a relationship with it? Through collaboration with local outdoor industry partners, environmental leaders, and tribal community members, we are identifying opportunities to build deeper connections to place through integrated cultural and outdoor experiences – sparking people to feel like they belong to something larger than themselves.
BIOCULTURAL STEWARDSHIP
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