Choctaw Nation Forestry Program

04/27/2026

“Here comes Smokey!"

This past Friday, CNF participated in the Natural Resources Day proceedings at the historic Jones Academy campus (Est. 1891). The event was focused on educating American Indian students about careers in various Natural Resource Management settings. The event also gave us a fun opportunity to talk about several aspects of the work our team enjoys.

Our team set up multiple stations that highlighted invasive species management, fuels and wildland fire, remote aviation, archaeology, terrestrial LiDAR and GIS, and timber management. Of course, Smokey was present to help get the students oriented.

Yakoke to the Jones Academy staff and faculty for hosting us! We look forward to next year’s event!

04/24/2026

CNF had an excellent training session last Saturday with local firefighters that serve LeFlore County. 44 firefighters from 14 agencies participated, all contributing to on site training and taking away new skills that will allow us all to better serve local communities. We want to take this opportunity to thank the LeFlore County Firefighters Association for inviting us to participate. We look forward to future opportunities to collaborate!

04/14/2026

As April showers are taking place, be aware that more extreme forms of weather are possible. Especially if your work is largely in the field, it is important to maintain situational awareness of these less predictable conditions during the current season.

04/01/2026

As some of you might imagine, we have to rely on a lot of USGS maps to plan for and carry out our various land management treatments. That being said, these lunar maps are just plain interesting and fun! For those of you who plan on observing the "pink moon" tonight, you might enjoy using these maps to pick out spots that are interesting to you!

03/18/2026

Today and yesterday, CNF successfully burned 3,786 acres across Ti Valley Ranch, in Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma's prized hunting lands. These burns were planned to promote ecological cycles of growth and development, enriching both the timber stands and the amazing wildlife that lives in them. When so much of the year is spent planning burn treatments like these, we are overjoyed when they are carried out so successfully.

Additionally, we were joined by the National Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center's (NIPFTC) current students today, who all got to participate in this excellent training experience. The CNF team thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to bring its local fire knowledge to this promising group of students that hail from the American Southwest, Intermountain region, and beyond. Such "bridge building" experiences foster relationships between Choctaw Nation and federal agencies, and promote a unique learning opportunity for all parties involved. Yakoke! (Thank you!)

For more information about NIPFTC, consult their webpage:
https://www.nafri.gov/pftc/rx-fire-leadership-module

03/12/2026

CNF is now carrying out multiple select harvest treatments across Daisy Ranch. Select harvest treatments take place within long term planning periods that span decades of time, and occur with careful consideration of each stand as a whole. In the video below, Dave Hill (CNF Forestry Technician) explains what overarching goals these select harvests share, as well as how they actually promote healthier timber stands by preventing them from being overcrowded. Dave has been working with CNF for 7 years and has brought impressive experience and professionalism to the timber program. Of the many people each of you have met, there are probably very few that match Dave’s excitement about local forests.

In addition to the long-term planning that preceded these select harvest treatments being undertaken by the timber program, CNF’s other programs operate symbiotically to promote each other. For example, the prescribed burns that occur under our fuels program not only prevent wildfires, but also enhance the understories of Choctaw Nation’s rich timber stands. Additionally our integrated resource management program uses GIS to continually map the fluctuating areas that these prized timber stands cover, as well as the footprints of prescribed burn and wildfire areas. Altogether, these programs collectively pursue the stewardship of priceless resources across the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

As these treatments are being carried out, we will explore the timber program further with more details about how these projects benefit the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.



Video: brief interview with Dave Hill about the nature of his work and the goals of CNF's ongoing select harvest treatments in Choctaw Nation.

03/02/2026

At CNF, we strive to align our multifaceted skills and ongoing projects with overarching values of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma as a whole. We took initial strides in one such project last Friday, which is focused on collecting remote sensing and geophysical data from Wheelock Academy, in collaboration with Choctaw Nation's Historic Preservation Department and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Department. The goal of this project is to preserve what we can from the existing material remains of this critically important historic property, as well as collect information that will expand what we know about its history.

Why Wheelock Academy? Wheelock Academy was established as a mission day school in 1833, a mere 3 years after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was signed and the first waves of Choctaw Removal on the Trail(s) of Tears began. Its name was inspired by Eleazor Wheelock, the founder of another indian mission school (Moor's Indian School) that would become the prestigious institution known as Dartmouth College. Spearheaded by Christian missionaries, Alfred and Harriet Wright, Wheelock became the template for 35 subsequent academies and seminaries established among the Five Civilized Tribes; the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole. The school primarily hosted orphaned children, but also served local Choctaw families that had been recently removed to Indian Territory. It did this until its closing in 1955. In short, Wheelock is a place where the lives of many Choctaw ancestors became intertwined, and it occupied that place during a pivotal, 122-year chapter in United States History. Wheelock Academy is considered one of the most endangered sites on the National Register of Historic Places, and a cultural icon for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. For more information about Wheelock, please consult the following resources online:

https://www.choctawnation.com/news/iti-fabvssa/wheelock-academy/

https://www.choctawnation.com/news/iti-fabvssa/wheelock-church-a-brief-history/

https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/43be295d-7661-4681-9bb9-3bbb2f31a47f

Over the next few weeks, we will be collecting light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data with our drone to compliment ground penetrating radar (GPR) data being collected by the Historic Preservation Department. Additionally, the GIS Department will be assisting with the collection of orthomosaic and photogrammetric data with their own drone. Moreover, we will be joined by Shawn Lambert, Associate Professor and Research Associate at Mississippi State University, to further provide participants with opportunities to learn about these archaeological and geospatial techniques. Altogether, these techniques will provide three dimensional models of Wheelock's material remains both above and below the modern ground surface.



CNF crew members include Scott Hamlett, Kyle Winlock, and Grant Stauffer.

Images and footage provided courtesy of Grant Stauffer. Footage shows drone takeoff and landing in front of Pushamataha Hall, as well as a single image of data being downloaded from the drone's LiDAR scanner.

02/26/2026

From Wednesday afternoon into Thursday morning, CNF responded to the Dead Frog Fire (177 acres; currently 80% contained) and the Box Springs Road Fire (905 acres; currently 40% contained) alongside Oklahoma Forestry Services, in Latimer and Pushmataha counties. These wildfires occurred after the reported increase in fire weather concerns on Tuesday, which continue to be the case going into the weekend. Please be cautious of active wildfires in your area of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and continue to maintain awareness of elevated wildfire activity under current conditions.

Yakoke (thank you) and God bless!



Images and videos provided courtesy of Kyle Winlock and Rhett Hunter

02/22/2026

As we go into the work week, please be wary of elevated fire weather conditions being reported by the US National Weather Service Tulsa Oklahoma. Wildfires from this past week occurred sporatically and simultaneously, and CNF will continue to monitor conditions across the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Increasing south winds and warmer temperatures will result in elevated fire weather concerns across eastern Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas Tuesday afternoon.

02/22/2026

From Thursday afternoon into Friday morning, CNF successfully responded to the Poor Farm Fire alongside Oklahoma Forestry Services, containing wildfire that covered 9,565 acres of private land and 270 acres of trust land with . This was one of several wildfires that spontaneously occurred near the corners of Latimer, Pittsburg, and Pushmataha Counties this week. CNF has continued to remain on standby for more wildfires through the weekend and into the start of the work week.

While much of western Oklahoma has witnessed red flag conditions, these wildfires occurred in similar (dry, gusty) conditions without red flag warnings issued for Latimer, Pittsburg, and Pushmataha counties. Please be wary of changing weather conditions in your area and how they can affect fire behavior.



Video clips provided courtesy of Jackson Dugan.