Tribal stewardship, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and cultural burning are often marginalized or engaged too late in land-management decisions, despite their importance for climate adaptation and fire resilience. Infrastructure deficits and siloed Tribal economic development further constrain Tribes’ ability to implement coordinated stewardship, sustainable agriculture, and landscape restoration aligned with Tribal priorities.

• Illustrative example: In San Diego County, Tribal enterprises face basic infrastructure gaps—such as limited water and water-system capacity—that restrict the expansion of sustainable agriculture and land stewardship. At the same time, economic development efforts across the region’s 13 Tribal bands remain siloed, limiting coordination and shared investment in landscape-scale resilience and restoration efforts.