Native America Calling: Dune Lankard recognized, a controversial path forward for chestnut trees, and bison for school lunches

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Native America Calling: Dune Lankard recognized, a controversial path forward for chestnut trees, and bison for school lunches

Monday, June 30, 2025

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The Menu: Dune Lankard recognized, a controversial path forward for chestnut trees, and bison for school lunches

Dune Lankard (Eyak Athabaskan), founder and president of Native Conservancy, has been working on land and habitat conservation since he witnessed the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. That, and his development of kelp as a sustainable source of food and economic development for Alaska Native residents, places him among the recipients of the inaugural James Beard Impact Award. [Press Release: The James Beard Foundation® Celebrates Inaugural Impact Award Honorees]

Dune Lankard receives the 2025 James Beard Impact Award in Chicago, Illinois, on June 14, 2025. Photo © Eliesa Johnson for James Beard Foundation

Tribes on the East Coast are weighing in on a plan to deregulate a genetically modified variety of the American chestnut tree, which was all but wiped out by blight. Some see the engineered variety as the way to bring back what was once an abundant wild food source. Others see the potential effects on the natural ecology as too great a risk.

Federal Register Notice

State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry; Availability of a Revised Petition, Draft Environmental Impact Statement, and Draft Plant Pest Risk Assessment for Determination of Nonregulated Status for Blight-Tolerant Darling 54 American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) Developed Using Genetic Engineering (June 6, 2025)

Experimental trials of American chestnut trees at the Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts. Photo: Daderot

Buffalo are more than food. They are a connection to culture and a symbol of survival. That’s why the Tanka Fund convened the Regional Buffalo to Schools Conference with Native ranchers, cultural educators, and school administrators to break down hurdles for getting buffalo into school lunches.

So much good happening at the first-ever Regional Buffalo to School Conference in Rapid City, SD!⁣ ⁣ We’ve been…
Posted by Tanka Fund on Tuesday, June 24, 2025