Tribal and Indigenous Land Access and Return Series

Partnerships for Indigenous Land Access and Return: A Summary of Legal and Relational Pathways provides a summary of the various approaches that land trusts and Indigenous tribes and communities can leverage for land access and return. This two-part webinar series will highlight best practices and reflections from the report authors, and will dive deep into partnership examples from two different regions.

We encourage participants to review the following resources ahead of or following the webinars to complement the information that will be shared by presenters:

• Indian Country 101

• Partnerships for Indigenous Land Access and Return: A Summary of Legal and Relational Pathways

Part I: Approaches to Land Access and Return: Land Acquisition

June 16, 2026: 2:00-3:30 p.m. Eastern

Join Lisa Wilson and Forrest King-Cortes, two of the co-authors of Partnerships for Land Access and Return: A Summary of Legal and Relational Pathways to learn about the key considerations and a spectrum of approaches for land trusts and Tribes or Indigenous communities who are seeking to work in partnership on land return. Then, dive deep into a partnership example featuring Trust for Public Land and the Penobscot Nation. Together, the partners are returning 31,000 acres, the largest land return of its kind, without a conservation easement. You’ll hear directly from partners about the path to building trust, the future of their work together and the lessons learned along the way.

Learning objectives:

• Introduce land trust partnerships with Tribes and Indigenous communities as a viable method for land access and return.

• Introduce high level considerations for partners seeking to engage in land return.

• Deep dive into a partnership case study that exemplifies best practices for land return partnerships.

Host: Forrest King-Cortes, Land Trust Alliance

Presenters:

• Lisa Wilson, Old Growth Solutions

• Dr. Darren Ranco, Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship

• Chuck Loring, Penobscot Nation

• Betsy Cook, Trust for Public Land

Part II: Approaches to Land Access and Return: Cultural Respect Easements

June 24, 2026: 2-3:30 p.m. Eastern

Join Lisa Wilson, Dr. Diana Ruiz and Forrest King-Cortes, the co-authors of Partnerships for Land Access and Return: A Summary of Legal and Relational Pathways to learn about the key considerations and a spectrum of approaches for land trusts and Tribes or Indigenous communities who are seeking to work in partnership on land access. Dr. Ruiz will introduce cultural respect easements as a tool for ensuring long term access to land for Tribes and Indigenous communities and provide examples of how the Native Land Conservancy is working with partners to put these agreements into place.

Learning objectives:

• Introduce high level considerations for partners seeking to facilitate land access.

• Introduce cultural respect easements as a tool to facilitate long-term access.

• Compare and contrast cultural respect easements with traditional conservation easements.

• Dive deep into examples of how cultural respect easements are developed between partners.

Presenters:

• Lisa Wilson, Old Growth Solutions

• Dr. Diana Ruiz, Native Land Conservancy

• Leeza Barstein, Dennis Conservation Land Trust