The First Nations Development Institute has appointed Shaun Grassel as Director of Programs — Stewarding Native Lands.
The Longmont-based nonprofit, which assists Native American tribes, communities and Native nonprofits in economic development, announced the appointment on Thursday.
Grassel, a wildlife biologist and enrolled member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, will lead the organization’s work in supporting Native ecological stewardship and improving Native control of ancestral lands and resources, according to a release.
Grassel also will further efforts to formalize the launch of First Nations’ Tribal Lands Conservation Fund, a culture and people centered Native approach to environmental conservation and ecological stewardship. The program aims to combine traditional ecological knowledge, tribal sovereign jurisdiction and Native genius and practice.
“When we launched the Stewarding Native Lands program in 2020, we knew there was an inherent and immediate need to invest in the traditional stewards of our lands, not just to promote the well-being of Native communities, but also to protect the planet for everyone,” First Nations President and CEO Michael Roberts said. “From our years of working with Dr. Grassel, we know his experience and knowledge make him ideally positioned to advance ecological stewardship in Native communities and to identify strategies to increase control of land stewardship by Native people.”
As a wildlife biologist for the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Recreation for the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, Grassel has collaborated with First Nations since 2015 as a multi-year grantee of the organization’s Tribal Stewardship in the Northern Great Plains project.
For the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, Grassel created and led projects for grassland restoration and rotational grazing, along with the reintroduction of wild turkey, black-footed ferrets and swift fox.
Grassel also has held positions as project leader and biologist with the production and watershed divisions of the Nez Perce Tribe Department of Fisheries and Resources Management.
Grassel’s selection comes after a year-long search to fill the position, Roberts added.
“First Nations is becoming increasingly recognized for our work in educating funders and allies about the power of traditional ecological knowledge,” Roberts said. “As climate change continues to threaten our world, the leadership and experience of Dr. Grassel will be essential in mitigating this risk and investing in the original stewards of the land.”
