10th Annual "To Bridge A Gap" Conference

What is "To Bridge a Gap"

The tenth annual "To Bridge a Gap" conference will be conducted April 4 – 7, 2011, at the Riverwind Hotel in Norman, Okla.

 

The four-day conference is designed to strengthen government-to-government relationships between the United States Department of Agriculture-Forest Service and federally recognized tribal governments. The Chickasaw Nation, in collaboration with the National Forest Service Ozark-St. Francis and Ouachita National Forests, is hosting the conference.

 

The conference will include presentations and question-and-answer sessions including "Building a Cooperative Bridge," "We are Distinctly Unique People and Culture," "Building Awareness through Education" and many more.

 

The event will also include a banquet with keynote speaker Janie Hipp, Senior Advisor for Tribal Affairs to the Secretary of Agriculture Director Office of Tribal Relations, USDA.

 

This year's conference is also supported by the Georgia Department of Transportation.

 

Register now for the conference!

 

About To Bridge A Gap (TBAG)

To Bridge A Gap (TBAG) is a joint partnership between the National Forest Service and federally recognized tribal governments, with an aim to protect and manage important cultural and natural resources. Each year, federal, state and tribal officials get together to learn, share and discuss tribal relations, preservation issues, managing archaeological, natural or cultural resources, use of forest products, restoration of ecosystems, fire management, sacred sites, and many more. The 2011 conference is adding the participation of several state historic preservation officers, who play an important role in the preservation process.

 

TBAG began as a local meeting in 2001 with National Forests in Oklahoma and Arkansas (Ouachita and Ozark-St. Francis National Forests) and the tribes. The meeting expanded to a conference in 2002 and was hosted by the Choctaw Nation in Durant, Okla.

The Caddo Nation, Choctaw Nation, Absentee-Shawnee Tribe, Muscogee Creek, Chickasaw Nation, and the Forest Service have co-hosted the 2003-2010 conferences.

 

More than 300 representatives from tribes in Oklahoma, California, South Dakota, Arizona, Idaho, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico and Texas, as well as National Forests across the nation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Oklahoma Archaeological Survey, Oklahoma Historical Preservation Office, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests, Ouachita National Forest, and many more, attended the 2010 Conference in Tulsa, Okla.

 

The conference provides a forum for the tribes to meet directly with policy planners and project managers as well as serves as a gateway for more specific consultations about land and resource management practices.

 

Planning for the next year's conference begins at the close of the current session, with tribal and Forest Service representatives working closely throughout the year. Conference topics and agenda are jointly decided by tribes and Forest Service.

 

Over the years, many federal, state, and local agencies as well as academic institutions and private firms have participated in the conference. Tribes have found this conference to be a central forum to meet directly with agencies that manage lands and care for those cultural and natural resources where their forebearers lived. This relationship provides important ways for the tribes, federal, state and private entities to work together to protect the past for future generations.