2025 Shared Horizons Alaska

First Nations’ Stewarding Native Lands program was established in 2020 to provide financial and technical assistance to tribes and Native-led nonprofits working to protect, restore, or improve access to ancestral lands and resources. Over the past three years – under Stewarding Native Lands’ Woven Lands Initiative – grant funding, legal technical assistance, webinars, publications, and other resources have been cultivated and distributed to inform and grow the field of tribal co-stewardship and co-management. An important part of the work is convening tribes on this topic to inspire and grow the field.  

In November 2024, the Stewarding Native Lands team hosted the Shared Horizons: Navigating Tribal Co-Stewardship and Co-Management Opportunities Conference (Shared Horizons Conference), a co-learning event centered on trainings, sharing ideas and work, and networking opportunities to grow the field of tribal co-stewardship and co-management. This unique event brought together over 150 people representing 48 different tribes and 15 Native-led nonprofit organizations. The Shared Horizons Conference was hosted at a critical time, providing the space to bring together tribal and federal representatives, and other thought leaders to discuss and develop new strategies to advance co-stewardship and co-management.  

In response to feedback given during the Shared Horizons Conference and direct feedback from Alaska Tribes, in October 2025 First Nations hosted Shared Horizons Alaska – an Alaska-based co-management and co-stewardship convening. Alaska is home to 229 federally recognized tribes and contains over 200 million acres of public lands. Further, Alaska Natives have strong legal groundings through legislated authorities for subsistence (Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act) and co-management (Marine Mammal Protection Act). This convening brought together tribal leaders and legal and policy experts to explore and uplift co-stewardship and co-management approaches that are unique to Alaska. We hope this convening facilitated peer-learning and networking opportunities to support strategies that will protect Native lifeways strongly tied to the land and sea, and amplify climate adaptation.  

Direct financial support and tailored technical assistance for this work is ongoing under our Woven Lands Initiative.