Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources

Happy Camp, California, 96039 United States

Mission Statement

The Mission of the Karuk Department of Natural Resources is to protect, enhance and restore the cultural/natural resources and ecological processes upon which Karuk people depend. Natural Resources staff ensure that the integrity of natural ecosystem processes and traditional values are incorporated into resource management strategies.

About This Cause

As guardians of our ancestral land, we are obligated to support practices that emphasize the interrelationships between the cultural and biophysical dimensions of ecosystems. The relationships we have with the land are guided by our elaborate religious traditional foundation. For thousands of years, we have continued to perform religious observances that help ensure the appropriate relationship between people, plants, the land, and the spirit world. We share our existence with plants, animals, fish, insects, and the land and waters. We are responsible for their well-being. Our ancestral landscapes overflow with stories and expressions from the past, which remind us of who we are and direct us to implement sound traditional management practices in a traditional and contemporary context. This fund is dedicated to program support for Tribal partnerships focusing on eco-cultural revitalization activities. Its focus is to reconnect the hearts, hands, and minds of people to the natural environment. The cultural relationships of indigenous peoples with their ancestral homeland environments are becoming more imperiled with each generation. Indigenous knowledge is founded in practice and belief; without being a component of ecosystem process, the functional role of humans is removed from our landscapes. Traditional Ecological Knowledge, practice, and belief systems can be revitalized, and it may be our best chance at learning to live with fire in our rural communities once again. It is with great hope this fund will grow to support our work in the western Klamath Mountains and beyond. When you think of water, fish, wildlife, plants, and people in partnership with ecosystem processes and functions, please support our efforts. The Karuk Department of Natural Resources (DNR or Department) is a Tribal department that has seen exceptional growth since it was established in 1989. Founded with a single employee after Congressional appropriations were allocated to support fisheries management and the restoration efforts of the Tribe, DNR has grown into a multi-program department that has included over one hundred (100) employees during fire events – all sharing the common mission of protecting, promoting and preserving the cultural/natural resources and ecological processes upon which the Karuk depend. The Endowment for Eco-Cultural Revitalization fund has been established with the long-term goal of providing the Karuk Department of Natural Resources with a flexible Non-federal source of funding that will cover at least 20% of DNR's budgetary needs. Unless otherwise specified by donor(s), a minimum of 50% of donations received through Benevity Causes Portal will invested in the Endowment for Eco-Cultural Revitalization Fund.

Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources
64236 2Nd Avenue Po Box 1600
Happy Camp, California 96039
United States
Phone (530) 627-3446
Unique Identifier BSV_GOV_EIN_942746458_0001