Brief Description: Rather than serving purely as a constraint on economic development, many tribes and Native communities have incorporated natural resource conservation and management strategies into their economic development plans as a source of potential revenue, a method of reducing the vulnerability of the community, and a demonstration of their view that their unspoiled lands and ecosystems have value that exceeds the benefits provided by potential development or exploitation.

This session will address how natural resource conservation and management and environmental adaptation and resilience strategies that guide community economic development activities enable tribes and Native communities to examine economic development through the lens of sustainability and cultural appropriateness.