Trees, Water & People knows that there is work in bridging the gaps in forest restoration.
The organization, who is a Chamber member, spent two weeks in October, where an all-Indigenous crew planted nearly 6,000 trees within the Cerro Pelado burn scar of the Jemez Mountains.
The planting was the first stage of a two-year effort to plant 45,000 trees in the area, begin restoring broader ecosystem health, and provide young Native people a connection to their lands through hands-on training and employment.
“With federal capacity at an all-time low, land management agencies are turning to nonprofit partners like Trees, Water & People to do planning, design, implementation, and monitoring. Organizations like ours build trust and relationships with communities, opening doors to rekindle healthy relationships for ancestral lands protection,” said James Calabaza, TWP Indigenous Lands Program director.
For most of the 21 Native youth employed through the tree planting crew, this was the first time they had connected to their ancestral lands of the Jemez Mountains.
The Chamber celebrates the work of Trees, Water & People and its work in helping make New Mexico a better place to live and work.