Friends Participates in Oregon Land Justice Project

The Oregon Land Justice Project is a program of the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts (COLT) that seeks to expand Indigenous access, ownership, and stewardship of the land in Oregon. Since 2020, Friends has been participating in the learning phase of the project with land trusts all over Oregon and under COLT leadership.

The learning phase wrapped up in August 2022 with a very positive trip to the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians. In November 2022, Friends staff attended a gathering of all participating land trusts at the University of Oregon Many Nations Long House to discuss the action phase of the project. The outcome was the formation of a council comprised of 14 land trusts that decided to commit to the project in the future. 

Committed land trusts and Friends have been taking steps to integrate Indigenous rights into the fabric of our organizations’ operations by updating our bylaws and contributing to a fund to assist with tribal access projects. The council will continue to work together to continue learning as organizations, increase Indigenous access on land trust lands in Oregon, and strengthen relationships between land trusts and tribes.

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Additional Reading:

• Centering Conservation Through Tribal Perspectives