Traditional Cultural Landscapes Assessment of the Southern Oregon Coast for Coastal Restoration, Development, and Marine Spatial Protections
The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI) have called the Central to Southern Oregon coastline home since time immemorial. Their home, however, has recently been identified by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) as a prime location for unprecedented offshore wind energy development. Two regions selected for initial development, one off the coast of Brookings, OR, and another just west of Coos Bay, OR are just offshore of historic Tribal lands and in historic fishing grounds. Furthermore, infrastructure for these offshore wind farms will extend directly through Ancestral lands and pass either through or between existing protected marine reserves. These development projects carry enormous risks for impact on natural and cultural resources, and it is imperative that these resources be protected throughout the planning, design, and construction phases of these projects. While the Tribe is federally recognized and has consultation authorities and protections, their existing technological and data infrastructure for consultation will not be sufficient to represent the extent of their Indigenous Knowledge (IK) or Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and include it into the consultation and decision-making processes.
To address this challenge, the project team plans to develop a Tribal Cultural Landscapes Assessment (TCLA) that: 1) collects data and IK from a variety of sources (e.g., oral histories, personal interviews, existing Tribal data sources, GIS databases), 2) connects that IK to corresponding geographies where relevant, and 3) can be accessed by the Tribe for ongoing consultation processes around a variety of development and conservation actions in the region. The TCLA will cover ocean and coastal areas within the Tribe’s ancestral lands and will be used to integrate IK into consultation and decision-making processes with federal and state agency staff around offshore wind development siting, corresponding terrestrial energy infrastructure siting, and possible port expansion and development in Coos Bay. In addition to representing and including IK collected in the TCLA through existing consultation processes, the Tribe will also generate various communications products to create broader awareness of the TCLA, explain the methodology behind its creation, and offer clear paths for communication and engagement with the Tribe so agencies can incorporate IK into their decision-making.
Project Team
- Ashley Russell – Interim Director of Natural Resources and Culture, CTCLUSI
- Courtney Krossman, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, CTCLUSI
- Jesse Beers, Cultural Stewardship Manager, CTCLUSI
- Amanda Craig, CTCLUSI Contractor
