Eric Quaempts
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Biographical Sketch: Professional Experience and Interests Eric Quaempts has served as the Director for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation’s (CTUIR) Department of Natural Resources (DNR) since 2004, where he implemented the First Foods management approach. Previously, Eric spent eight years as a Wildlife Biologist in the CTUIR DNR’s Wildlife Program, and 8 years for the Umatilla National Forest where his career development included inter-disciplinary rotations in Forestry, Wildlife, Range, Reforestation, Fisheries, and Fire Management Programs on the Walla Walla Ranger District.
Eric’s primary professional interest is in relating the culture of the CTUIR to the ecology of the Columbia Basin landscape, and in so doing promote understanding of the Tribe’s culture, natural resource restoration goals, and Treaty Rights. To facilitate this, Eric draws on his personal, community and cultural experiences, and professional background.
Eric has presented the CTUIR’s First Foods management approach in a variety of forums, including State and National American Fisheries Society annual meetings, Society for Ecological Restoration and Ecological Society of America meetings, Society for Applied Anthropology National Conference, the National Water Quality Conference, at the Universidad de Concepcion in Chile, and to aboriginal communities and land managers in Australia.
Eric has served on the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board since 2009 and currently serves as co-chair. In 2011, he was awarded the Billy Frank Jr. Natural Resource Protection Award by the Potlatch Fund, and in 2014 was nominated for the EcoTrust Indigenous Leadership Award by the CTUIR’s Board-of-Trustees.
Education
Eric earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Wildlife Science from Oregon State University, and also completed graduate-level course work at Colorado State University in fire and land management as part of his professional development in the US Forest Service.
Personal
An enrolled member of the Yakama Indian Nation, Eric has spent most of his life living on the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and his professional career has been focused in working on the reservation and in the Ceded Lands of the CTUIR.
Eric’s personal interests include fly-fishing, photography, traveling, cooking, reading, and dining, fine or otherwise.
Papers:
158
First Foods and Climate Change: A collaborative Project of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Umatilla National Forest.