Pinyon-juniper woodlands cover nearly 4 million acres in California, and are being severely impacted by drought and wildfire.
Pinyon-juniper woodlands are ecologically, socially, and culturally critical to the Eastern Sierra. They provide important ecosystem services, including Indigenous traditional foods, silvopasture for livestock grazing, recreational opportunities, and wood harvest. The woodlands also provide important wildlife habitat for many species, including the Pinyon Jay.
Pinyon-juniper woodlands are central to the worldviews, social identities, and cultural practices of many Indigenous peoples.
These ecosystems are home to many Tribal Nations in California, whose cultural practices and social identities are closely tied to these ancestral lands.
Pinyon pine seeds, or pine nuts, are among the most culturally significant food resources in the United States, and they remain central to the resilience of Indigenous communities. In many areas, pine nuts also provide a critical income stream for Tribal communities, which is jeopardized by unprecedented pinyon pine mortality and limited regeneration.
Recent hot droughts and wildfires have caused millions of pinyon pines to die. The same environmental challenges that have killed adult pinyon trees also limit the potential for reproduction via diminishing seed production and seedling survival, and the enduring effects of Indigenous land dispossession and ongoing settler colonization impact Tribal Nations’ ability to steward these lands and mitigate the effects of climate change on these ecosystems.
The Pinyon Community Climate Action project is an interdisciplinary and community-based research effort that brings together natural resource agencies, Tribal Nations, local organizations, and university researchers to help improve the climate resilience of pinyon-juniper woodlands, an important dryland ecosystem of California.