Forestry Department Director
Yurok Tribe
Dawn Blake is an enrolled Hoopa Tribal member and Yurok descendent. Blake is the Forestry Department Director for the Yurok Tribe and serves on the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. She has an MS in natural resources and 20 years of real-world experience in land administration, fire prevention, and forest restoration, ranging from wildlife research to cultural burning. Blake is well-versed in all aspects of traditional and western forest management. As the Yurok Forestry Director, she manages more than 70,000 acres of Yurok-owned forest. These forests are managed for maximum biological diversity, climate change resilience and for the benefit of current and future generations of Yurok people. Blake oversees the Tribe’s 15,000-acre Old-Growth Forest and Salmon Sanctuary on Blue Creek. The Tribe is restoring the forest surrounding this vital Klamath River tributary back into an uneven aged trajectory. Blake also administers sustainable and selective timber harvest and thinning operations on tribal lands.
Moving beyond "Traditional": Indigenizing Forestry at its Roots
Friday, October 27, 2023
2:00pm - 3:00pm PST