The vast, semi-arid Navajo Nation is home to the largest Native American population in the US and in-cludes over 5.4 million acres of forest and woodland, larger than any National Forest across the conter-minous states. These forests provide essential ecosystem services for the Diné, including drinking water and stable soil, and provide the means for a multitude of traditional practices. People have occupied and used Navajo forests for thousands of years, including as the primary timber source for construction of the iconic great houses in Chaco Canyon. Now, climate change poses a considerable challenge to these forests, along with their ecosystem services and lifeways. The effects of climate change are be-ing seen across the region as increasing drought-related tree die-offs and hot-ter, more severe wildfires are leading to major forest losses in some areas. Climate projections reveal that average conditions for forests in the next sev-eral decades could be as bad as the worst drought episodes of the last millen-nium. Tasked with managing for resilience and sustainability, the Navajo Forestry Department has partnered with us to assess the vulnerabilities of their forests. We have begun by collecting forest structure and tree-ring data across the Chuska Mountains and Defiance Plateau, a combined 600,000 ac ponderosa pine-dominated landscape. Our collaborations seek to understand the environmental and human history of the forest – through the lenses of fire regimes, growth and mortality, and tree sensitivity to climate variation – in order to elucidate patterns of change. These data will be incorporated into NFD decision making and management plans by providing perspective on how increasing temperatures leading to longer, deeper, and more frequent droughts might be manifested across this large, heterogeneous, and vital landscape.

William G. McGinnies Annual Lecture

with 2015 McGinnies Scholar Christopher Guiterman

School of Natural Resources and the Environment | snre.arizona.edu

Fire, People, and Forest Resilience on the Navajo Nation

Date: Wednesday, May 4th,

2016

Time: 3:00—4:00 PM

Location: ENR2, S107

Photo Credit: Dan Ferguson