Reports

This Cultural Practitioner Survey was developed to better understand the lived experiences, priorities, and challenges of Indigenous cultural practitioners engaged in land stewardship, agroforestry, and place-based cultural practices across the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

This survey was designed to elevate practitioner perspectives, identify gaps in support systems, and inform culturally grounded programming that complements technical capacity-building efforts underway through the Indigenous Agroforestry Network.

This report presents the findings from the 2025 Technology and Tools Needs Survey, designed to assess current technological capacities, data needs, and training priorities of tribal natural resource programs across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The survey was developed in close collaboration with members of the Indigenous Agroforestry Network, a regional initiative focused on fostering knowledge-sharing and collaboration among tribal agroforestry practitioners and allied organizations.

The motivation for the survey stemmed from calls from partners to better understand and address the persistent barriers Tribes face in accessing decision-support tools, forest data, and training opportunities. Despite their role in stewarding over 18 million acres of forestland nationwide, Tribes continue to face disproportionate funding and limited access to critical tools for forest management. This survey aims to ground future capacity-building efforts in the expressed needs of tribal staff.

This initiative, built on feedback from roundtables and webinars through the Pacific Northwest Tribal Agroforestry Project, aims to improve access to USDA resources and support for Indigenous agroforestry practitioners.

The survey, which closed in June 2024, gathered 195 responses from Indigenous respondents and those working with Indigenous communities. The report provides valuable insights into the current state of Indigenous agroforestry, highlighting successes, challenges, and key growth opportunities. It also offers recommendations for strengthening access to USDA programs and building a supportive network for Indigenous agroforestry in the Northwest.