Indigenous forestry in the United States and Canada has several unique aspects (Bengston 2004). This has often led to distinct forest and wildlife management goals, institutions, and practices (Trosper 2007, Dockry 2012, Reo and Whyte 2012). Although commercial and ecological forestry best-practices are utilized in tribal forestry programs, indigenous communities’ own knowledge systems and values have a strong influence. Indigenous peoples in Wisconsin manage forestlands and wildlife by merging professional standards of forestry and wildlife practice with their own culturally specific traditional ecological knowledge and land-based values. However, beyond a handful of studies looking at biodiversity and land use change, few researchers have looked at the broader ecological outcomes of indigenous land tenure. 2014) and lower rates of deforestation (Nolte et al. Indigenous lands often support higher native and rare species richness (Redford and Stearman 1993, Peres 1994, Arcese et al. The relationships between indigenous land tenure and biological diversity is a challenging area of research, but several studies suggest that indigenous peoples’ place-based values, institutions, and practices help promote biodiversity. Indigenous peoples make up over 5% of the world’s population, their territories comprise at least 20% of the land area of the planet, and these lands host an estimated 80% of the world’s biodiversity (Stevens 2014). Key words: carbon storage deer browse impacts forest management indigenous land tenure indigenous values tree regeneration INTRODUCTION Lessons from tribal forestlands could help improve the sustainable management of nontribal public forestlands. Ensuing shifts in forest composition and wildlife populations have jeopardized the ability of managers to sustain wildlife and meet certification standards on nontribal forestlands. In contrast, nontribal forestlands lost appreciable plant diversity in the 20th century and have failed to regenerate tree species sensitive to deer herbivory. Their forests are often more mature with higher tree volume, higher rates of tree regeneration, more plant diversity, and fewer invasive species than nearby nontribal forestlands. These indigenous peoples seek to manage forests for mature conditions, accommodate wolves and other predators, and hunt deer to sustain traditional livelihood values. To evaluate ecological outcomes from these differences, we compared the structure, composition, and diversity of Ojibwe and Menominee tribal forests to nearby nontribal forestlands in northern Wisconsin. Indigenous peoples manage forestlands and wildlife differently than public and private forestland managers.
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