Cherokee Nation shifts Wildland Fire program to Natural Resources; seed bank will use random draw to expand access

Secretary of Natural Resources Christine Justice told the Cherokee Nation Council that the Nation—s Wildland Fire program transferred from Career Services to the Natural Resources department effective Jan. 1 and that the program is prepared to assist a wildfire response in Los Angeles County if deployed through the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Justice said the Nation had informed the Bureau of Indian Affairs that it was "ready and willing and able to assist" and noted the scope of potential need: "there are about 28,000 Cherokee citizens in L. A. County, that potentially, you know, could be impacted by this fire." The deployment mechanism through the BIA means the Nation cannot self-deploy, she said.

The transfer folded the Wildland Fire program into Natural Resources from Career Services, a move Justice described as part of an administrative transition. She thanked Career Services staff for establishing and growing the program: "I want to send a huge thank you to Diane, Kelly, and Career Services and the outstanding work that that team has done," she said.

Justice also outlined upcoming changes to the Cherokee Nation seed bank distribution. Responding to council questions, she said the Nation will move from a first-come, first-served model to a random draw for individual seed packets. "So it'll be a draw type situation where it'll go through the Godogee portal. They will put in their requests, and then we will draw, randomly not us, but a third party will draw those names and then we will send those seeds out," Justice said.

She said the draw is intended to broaden access for people who have difficulty applying immediately when offerings open, such as elders with technological constraints. Some seed packets will still be set aside for community organizations and schools; those organizations will continue to follow the existing application process. Justice said additional expansion details are forthcoming but not yet public.

Councilman Lake asked whether community gardens and similar organizations must enter the draw or receive seeds automatically; Justice replied that "we set aside some specifically for organizations and they will just go through the normal process that they've done in the past" and that schools were included in those set-asides.

No votes or formal council actions were recorded on either the program transfer or the seed-bank changes during the report. Justice said staff would provide more information to council members as expansion details are finalized.

For further details, Justice directed council members to the Natural Resources office for follow-up questions and noted the Nation must await BIA authorization before deploying wildland crews outside Cherokee Nation jurisdiction.