Sustainable forest management (SFM) has become a prominent goal of current forest management approaches within the Unites States. A growing body of literature offers support for incorporating traditional and local knowledge (TEK) with current SFM methods in an effort to improve management planning and policies (Gadgil et al., 1993; DeWalt, 1994; Kimmerer, 2000). By seeking Native American perspectives and incorporating traditional knowledge into current forest management methods, U.S. forest managers have the potential to increase their understanding of relationships between human, non-human, and the physical environment, thereby increasing their ability to manage our nation's forests more effectively for all stakeholders involved (Berkes, 1993; DeWalt, 1994; Kloppenburg, 1991; Murdoch and Clark, 1994; Emery, 2001).

This study examines the absent perspectives of Native American voices in the dialogue on sustainable forest management and argues that bringing Native American viewpoints into sustainable forest management will add diversity and key missing perspectives to the national and perhaps global discussion. Using qualitative in-depth interviews and focus groups, twenty-two individuals from Leech Lake and White Earth Indian Reservations were included in this study.

Results suggest that maintaining and managing natural resources is central to the survival of Native American communities, their spiritual beliefs, and their cultural practices. Implicit in progress toward SFM on reservation land is transparency between governmental agencies tribal governments, and private landowners. The results of this study and current literature support that the human element in ecosystem function is an essential factor in sustainable forest management from a Native American perspective.