Two-Eyed Seeing is a framework introduced by Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall. It means learning to see with one eye through the strengths of Indigenous knowledge and with the other through the strengths of Western science, and using both together. In the Tamarack Fire scar near Markleeville, this is how restoration is being done on Bureau of Land Management land. The Sugar Pine Foundation is partnering with the Washoe Tribe and the Alpine Watershed Group to restore Pinyon-Juniper woodland and Jeffrey pine forest. The fire’s loss of pinyon pines eliminated a traditional pine nut harvest that has long been the Washoe Tribe’s staple food.
We are grateful to Benjamin Fillmore, a Washoe elder and environmental technician with the Washoe Environmental Protection Department, for sharing his traditional ecological knowledge. His main goal is to propagate pinyon pine, one of the slowest-growing trees there is. “What we are doing now we probably won’t see the benefits of but our grandchildren, great grandchildren and all of our people will. We are in this together now and in the future so we’ve got to keep planting.”
The Tamarack Fire burned into the Washoe’s traditional pine nut hills, and with recent fires depleting pinyon groves, the Tribe declared a state of emergency for the species. Fire suppression has made the problem worse. Before contact, low-impact fires moved through the Sierra every 5 to 7 years, keeping the forest healthy and fires small. Today, overgrown land feeds hazardous, toxic fires. After a burn, invasive cheatgrass moves in quickly and crowds out native plants, so there is only a narrow window to plant natives that can outcompete it.
The Tribe’s propagation work has produced results. Seedlings are started in greenhouses, then moved to outdoor hoop houses to acclimate before transplanting to the burn scar. Success rates climbed to 92% after the soil mix was changed to include soil from beneath existing pinyon trees. That soil is full of the mycelium and microbes that grow there naturally, and seedlings grew taller, greener, and more branched. The Tribe is also propagating junipers from cuttings, and early success means junipers can return to the landscape too.
Planting technique draws on protocols shared by earlier planters. Seedlings go on the north-facing side of a sagebrush or other companion plant, tucked in so they stay covered, which helps them last longer. The roots are delicate, and bending one during planting can kill the seedling quickly, so planters handle each one with care. Benjamin also talks and sings to them, because “plants are very receptive to our energy.”
Care for the trees is part of a longer relationship. Before harvesting, the Washoe would plant pinyon seeds and say a prayer for the next year’s harvest. They also leave some nuts scattered so that birds and squirrels, especially the pinyon jay, can do their share of the planting. “We weren’t stewards of the land, we were part of the land,” Benjamin explains.
The Washoe are a small tribe, and as one of Benjamin’s teachers used to say, the way to be small but mighty is to have allies. With active, collaborative restoration, there is strong optimism that a century from now the landscape will regain its strength, with thriving pinyon pines and native plants restored.
