TCBP Grantee Profile: Esselen Tribe of Monterey County
Overview
Award Amount: $249,999.99
Region: Central Coast
Focus Areas:
- Affordable housing
- Cultural burning and biochar creation
- Invasive species removal
- Land stewardship
- Native plant propagation
- Watershed restoration
About the Tribe
The mission of the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County is to preserve and protect their cultural heritage and ancestral sacred sites located within sacred prehistoric and historic Tribal lands of Monterey County, California. The Tribe’s vision is to: 1) create a Tribal Climate Resilience Task Force to scale their capacity to take on more climate-resilient projects to respond to the Tribe’s historic territory being heavily impacted by habitat loss from overgrazing, urbanization, excessive road building, and multiple recent high intensity wildfires; 2) create a sustainable funding model to build capacity to pursue the many climate-related grants available to the Tribe and that is competitive, equitable, and conducted in a manner that is consistent with the Tribe’s values and governance structure; and 3) expand intertribal networking and resource sharing to expand peer learning opportunities for their Tribal members and those of other California Tribes, specifically in the areas of cultural fire and Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges (TREX) opportunities.
Project Plans
The Esselen Tribe of Monterey County is particularly interested in working with the Technical Assistance Provider provided by the Tribal Capacity Building Program to create an Action Plan that assesses the Tribe’s strengths and weaknesses and better organizes and prioritizes areas for capacity building throughout the grant term and beyond and to create a sustainable funding model to support their work. Through the Program, the Tribe indicates they will prioritize the following capacity building areas: creating grant proposals, grant tracking and reporting, program/project management, hiring an assistant for the Tribe’s Chairman, and creating land stewardship positions as the number of acres the Tribe owns and co-manages with their expanding network of partners continues to increase.
Site Visit
Esselen Tribe of Monterey County hosted a site visit in Carmel Valley, CA that included a tour around Rana Creek Preserve. The Tribe showcased their transformative land-back achievements and demonstrated how they directly enhance climate resilience through Indigenous stewardship. The Tribe is working on their climate adaptation strategy, which centers on traditional ecological knowledge, implementing cultural fire practices, riparian restoration, oak woodland regeneration, and Indigenous food sovereignty programs that have sustained their landscapes for over 6,000 years. The Tribe’s lands now serve as critical wildlife corridors protecting endangered species like California condors and red-legged frogs while safeguarding the Central Coast’s most important steelhead spawning streams. The Tribe shared, “By returning to ancestral land stewardship practices, we’re not only healing our cultural connection but creating climate-resilient ecosystems.”
The Tribal Capacity Building Program has significantly strengthened the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County’s internal capacity by helping us build clear departmental structure, governance systems, and professional workflows across our Natural Resources, Cultural Resources, and Human Resources programs. This support has allowed us to move from reactive operations to proactive, Tribally led planning that reflects both our cultural values and modern accountability requirements.
Contact Information
Jana Nason, Tribal Administrator & Publications Chair, Esselen Tribe of Monterey County
Learn more about Esselen Tribe of Monterey County.