Rose ClementsEditor’s Note: For the crew mentioned in this article, the word ‘women’ is spelled with an x, to be inclusive of individuals identifying as trans, nonbinary, and/or genderfluid. Currently, Conservation Legacy does not use one specific term to refer to these types of affinity crews—language is alive and constantly in flux. Affinity crews are given the opportunity to self-identify and collectively choose the term they feel most comfortable with and represented by. Similarly, future use of other DEI-related terms may change. As these terms continue to shift in their meaning and application, we recognize the need to continually revisit the way we use them.
Many people think of the outdoors as a naturally welcoming place for all. Just go outside! It’s that simple. There are no barriers to lacing up your boots and hitting the trail. Nature is neutral ground, free from the structure and rigidity of society—”the great equalizer”. Right?
In truth, there can be significant barriers for many people both to access nature and to feel safe and welcome there —particularly for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and people who identify as LGBTQ2S. The systemic inequity and racism that often deters or altogether prevents BIPOC communities from visiting public lands is often the same reason the outdoor industry workforce has minimal representation from these groups. If we want to diversify the outdoors and the outdoor industry, we need to establish safe and intentional points of entry for individuals who feel excluded from these spaces.
Conservation Legacy operates ‘affinity crews’ within each of its seven crew-based programs across the country, in an effort to advance representation for marginalized communities in the outdoors. Affinity crews present opportunities for members to gain hands-on experience, training, and professional development in the conservation world—an industry that has been dominated by white men both historically and contemporarily. We can’t hope to achieve diversification within our industry without first creating an equitable and inclusive space where individuals from different backgrounds feel welcome, and affinity crews are one step on the journey towards making the outdoors and public lands feel safe and welcoming for all.
Conservation Legacy has operated affinity crews since 2017, beginning with Southwest Conservation Corps’ Wyoming Women’s Fire Corps: a crew for women, trans, and femme identifying people. With this crew, Conservation Legacy sought to address the significant gender disparity in wildland firefighting. In 2020, we operated five affinity crews created for these communities throughout our corps programs across the country—one of which was the Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps’ Native Womxn’s Crew that was created specifically for Indigenous women, trans, and femme people.
“When I was starting out in conservation work, I saw how few women there were,” explains Shandiin Nez, a Diné Asdzáán (Navajo woman) and the Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps Diné Program Manager.
“One of the main reasons I felt comfortable to apply for the position I’m in now was because I saw there was one other woman on staff. I thought, ‘if she can do it, I can do it. We’ll be in it together.’”
The camaraderie Shandiin felt is commonly experienced between individuals who have a shared identity—such as being Indigenous and identifying as a woman or non-cisgendered man. Knowing you won’t be navigating an intimidating situation on your own makes it that much easier to take the first step. Shandiin noticed the lack of women, trans and femme people in conservation, but even more glaring was the lack of Native people in the industry with those identities. She realized she could create a crew specifically to help diversify the conservation industry. “It makes a world of difference when you see yourself represented—it’s really powerful,” she emphasizes. After significant planning, outreach, and collaboration with other Ancestral Lands staff, the first Native Womxn’s crew rigged-up on September 2nd, 2020.
“It makes a world of difference when you see yourself represented—it’s really powerful.
“When I heard about the Native Womxn’s Crew, I was immediately interested,” remembers Kayla Begay, a 23-year-old from New Mexico. Kayla remembers starting off the season as a shy person who was scared to open up, but says she quickly learned how rewarding it could be to make deeper friendships. “My experience went way beyond what I thought would happen. It was so welcoming. I felt like I could share my feelings and ask for help more often than I would with a group of guys.”
Kayla and the other Native Womxn’s Crew members experienced a variety of conservation work during their season: from restoring waterways to historic preservation of sacred sites, to planting trees and removing invasive species.
The crew toured the Southwest throughout the summer and fall, completing projects in Joshua Tree National Park, Chiricahua National Monument, and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. For many members, it was the first time they had visited the public lands they worked on. The projects were challenging, but rewarding. Living and working with a close-knit group of people for up to eight days at a time (the average length of one ‘hitch’ or project) can spell conflict or closeness depending on the group. The womxn’s crew clicked right off the bat, but “our backcountry hitch in Escalante really brought us together,” Kayla recalls. “We were restoring a riverbank, cutting Russian Olive. It was hard work, and we had a seven-mile hike out—really steep, like a 45-degree angle. We were all dying by the end of it, but we were encouraging each other the whole way up. I haven’t really made friends that easily in my whole life. Falling in so easily with a group of women was a new experience for me…And a welcome one.”
Justina Thomas, age 28, served as the leader of the Womxn’s Crew, drawing on her 13 years of experience working on conservation corps crews across the country—she first swung a pick on a Southwest Conservation Corps youth crew at age 15. When she was 25, Justina served on the Wyoming Women’s Fire Corps—Conservation Legacy’s first affinity crew mentioned earlier in this article. She was excited when Shandiin reached out to ask if she would lead the Native Womxn’s Crew for Ancestral Lands—Shandiin was a leader on one of Justina’s very first crews, and inspired her as an Indigenous woman in a leadership role. “It was cool to see this domino effect,” Shandiin recalls. She had been motivated to step into a leadership position because of the female representation she saw at the staff level, and Justina was in turn empowered to lead because of Shandiin’s encouragement. The scarcity of Native women, trans, and femme people in physical jobs may—at least in part—stem from a cultural barrier, according to Shandiin. “Many women in tribal communities have families and responsibilities at home,” she explains, “and manual labor is seen as something that’s done by men. That’s patriarchy cloaking itself in tradition.”
While employees of the National Park Service have been predominantly white and male in the agency’s past, the workforce is gradually becoming more inclusive and gender-balanced. Many of the park staff the crew worked with also identified as female, and were thrilled about the opportunity to work together. Crew Leader Justina emphasizes that one of the best parts of the season was the networking they were able to do with the public lands staff they worked alongside at each park. “They gave us so much information on how to break into National Park Service positions,” she explains. “They treated us like VIP’s, showing us behind the scenes, and giving us their contact information so we could reach out for support and references after our season. They really showed us that being a park ranger isn’t just wearing a badge.” According to Justina, each of the members of the Native Womxn’s Crew began researching and exploring park ranger positions within the national parks they worked in. These positive experiences with park staff are a good step towards building trust, a key ingredient for promoting diversity, as well as expanding access to these highly desirable yet competitive positions.
As we look ahead to an uncertain future navigating a changing climate, who better to connect to careers in conservation than the communities with the most experience stewarding the land? “We hold a lot of strength in our experience,” says Shandiin. There’s a quote she returns to often from a poem by Tasha Spillett, an Indigenous educator, author, and speaker: “One of the most healing things in the world is an Indigenous woman’s laughter.” The inaugural Native Womxn’s Crew was a success, and Ancestral Lands plans to run more crews like it in the future, continuing to expand access to public lands and careers in the outdoor industry for underrepresented members of tribal communities.
Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps has a brand new website! Check it out and learn more about this incredible corps program HERE.