Menominee tribal forestry endures struggles, invests future in youth

Frank Vaisvilas

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

USA TODAY NETWORK – WISCONSIN

MENOMINEE RESERVATION – John Awonohopay understands that sometimes young people need to leave the reservation for a while to appreciate what they have.

That was his experience when he left the Menominee Reservation to serve four years in the U.S. Air Force.

Indigenous people serve in the U.S. military at higher rates than any other group, mostly because they want to leave their reservation and see the world, as well as serve their country with a warrior spirit. That’s still the reason why many people leave the Menominee Reservation, along with going away for college, jobs or housing opportunities.

But Awonohopay, sales manager for the tribe’s lumber operation, said those who leave eventually come to appreciate what they had on the reservation − not just being part of the community and culture, but also the Menominee Forest.

'Everyone from Menominee tends to take (the forest) for granted,' he said.

Tribal leaders hope that if more young people learn about the forest and sustainable forest management, more of them will become involved in the tribe’s forest work, helping carry the operation forward and keep it thriving for generations to come.

The Menominee Forest is often touted as the largest single tract of virgin, native timberland in the Great Lakes region, able to sustain a diverse ecosystem of rare native plants and animals not found in most non-tribally managed forests, according to a 2018 UW and Dartmouth study. Its natural resources provide a trove of benefits to Wisconsin. And it’s seen as an example of how a forest should be managed.

But it’s not this way because it’s untouched by man. The forest’s 220,000 acres within the reservation in northeast Wisconsin is carefully tended by the tribe, especially as it’s surrounded by farmland and large areas of non-native plant species from Europe.

'People don’t understand the forest just doesn’t grow on its own,' Awonohopay said. 'It has to be managed.'

Forest thrives through tribal management

For the last 25 years, Awonohopay has worked for Menominee Tribal Enterprises, the tribe’s sustainable lumber operation.

About 15 million board feet of lumber is produced from the forest every year, while still maintaining one of the healthiest forests in the Midwest. Menominee lumber has been used in high-profile places, including the Milwaukee Bucks’ basketball court at Fiserv Forum and the Native Truths hall at the Field Museum in Chicago.

About 150 people work for the tribe’s lumber operation, not including independent contractors. But attracting the next generation has been a challenge, Awonohopay said, as many young people initially look to leave the reservation.

Some of the jobs at the lumber operation involve hard labor and quite a bit of upper body strength — such as sawyers who manually cut down trees carefully selected for harvesting into lumber.

Awonohopay noted that many jobs at aren’t physically demanding but instead require scientific training, such as in arborology, much of which is offered locally at the College of Menominee Nation and its Sustainable Development Institute.

Modern day challenges

About 200 years ago, Menominee Chief Oshkosh emphasized the importance of preserving forest health while also earning money in Western society through lumber harvesting. At that time, large swaths of forests in Wisconsin were being clear-cut by lumber companies, forever damaging the native ecosystem.

Today the tribes lumber operation is struggling to turn a profit due to a lack of capital investment in new equipment.

'Everything is going automated (in the lumber industry) and we’re still in the 1960s,' Awonohopay said.

But the tribe recently won a $5 million federal grant for a new automated lumber stacker machine. When its fully operational in summer 2026, it will reduce a full day’s production of lumber to just one hour.

Executives with the lumber operation are looking at other ways to expand operations, including producing and selling maple syrup.

Awonohopay and others at the lumber operation are hoping Menominee youth will be part of that future in forest operations.

Cultivating tradition from seed

Tribal teachers are trying to prepare youth for a future on the reservation to take care of one of the tribe’s most precious resources − its forest.

Education about the forest starts well before college for Menominee youth. From wild ricing to maple syrup tapping and foraging, forestry is ingrained in the tribe’s culture. Families either venture into the forest on their own, following trails that are thousands of years old, or teachers − from elementary to high school − take their students on learning excursions into the woods next to the school.

This year, teachers are focusing on medicinal uses of plants and heirloom agriculture, which is the process of cultivating plants passed down through generations, said Christine Fossen-Rades, who teaches integrated sciences to sophomore students at Menominee High School.

Students cultivate a campus garden with plants traditionally used for medicine and ceremonies, including mullein, sage, lavender, cedar, tobacco, wild strawberries, mint, stevia, and sweetgrass. Many of these native plants also grow in the surrounding forest.

Fossen-Rades teaches the students how their ancestors were scientists who recognized the many uses of the plants.

'It’s refreshing to be able to have the freedom to integrate culture with science,' she said.

Ben Grignon, who also teaches at the high school, said forced assimilation into colonizers’ culture led to a loss of traditional knowledge about forest medicines. Still, he noted, some community members preserved that knowledge and passed it down through generations.

Grignon said many Menominee are relearning about plants that nourish, heal and even provide colors for art and clothing. He said the Menominee community not only includes the people, but everything in the forest.

'We have to have that healthy relationship with the forest,' Grignon said. 'It takes care of us and we take care of it.'