Implementing the "Yurok Natural Resources Portal" as a decision support system to inform tribal resources management Grant uri icon

abstract

  • This project supports the Decision Making needs of the Natural Resources Division (NRD) of the Yurok Native American Tribal Government. The NRD has the responsibility to coordinate with other teams within the Yurok Tribe, with California state agencies and the federal government in the management of forests, carbon sequestration and natural resources within the Yurok Ancestral Territory. For example, one set of decisions is to determine where and when to harvest timber while maintaining forest health, animal habitat, access to cultural resources, and carbon sequestration objectives. The proposal responds to the solicitation sub-element of "Protected Area Management." The project builds on an existing collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Yurok Natural Resources Division which seeks to develop the "Yurok Natural Resources Portal" Decision Support System to achieve Application Readiness Level #9. The collaborators have already developed a prototype version of the Decision Support System that is currently at ARL #5. The Decision Support System uses NASA Earth Observation data including Landsat, VIIRS and GEDI data. In situ biological data is routinely collected by Yurok Natural Resources Division and included in the Decision Support Systems, such as geolocated tree species information and the boundaries between prairies and forest. The Decision Support System applied the EVDT (Environment-Vulnerability-Decision-Technology) Integrated Modeling Framework to form an original set of models that relate ecological status of trees (such as forest cover, NDVI mean anomaly and above ground biomass) to socioeconomic outcomes (such as tribal revenue from carbon offsets) and decision analysis. In addition, the project aims to contribute to the skills and experience of Yurok Tribal personnel in applying satellite remote sensing alongside the current methods used to collect in situ data. The project team is committed to pursuing the work in a manner that respects the traditions and cultural values of the Yurok Tribe and increases their tribal sovereignty over territory and environmental data.

date/time interval

  • December 2023 - November 2025