Parks Stewardship Forum

This essay argues that the future of place‑based conservation in the United States depends on re‑centering Indigenous stewardship as a governing framework rather than treating it as an exception to federal land management. Drawing on Indigenous epistemologies, federal Indian law, and contemporary examples of Tribal co‑management, it reframes current public land instability, notably during the Trump administration, as a predictable outcome of conservation systems rooted in control rather than responsibility. Tribal co‑management offers a practical, bipartisan pathway forward that strengthens ecosystems, restores accountability, and reconnects Tribal Nations to their homelands.