CEDAR BOX

Forests have many gifts including food, medicine, the oxygen we breathe, clean water, and storing carbon, which helps keep the climate in balance. A forest ecosystem includes the plants, animals, microbes, and all of the other organisms that depend on one another to thrive. Since time immemorial, Native American people have actively managed and maintained forest ecosystems or “food forests” by planting, pruning, using fire, and other methods. People have learned how to gather food from the forest and to give back in ways that support the life that is there through noticing seasonal patterns, recognizing relationships, and balancing their own needs with what the forest has to offer.