Bakers Lake Public Lands Project Internship, The Conservation Fund

This Fall 2022 Charles Jordan Memorial Internship project is “Bakers Lake Public Lands Project.” The Bakers Lake Public Lands project internship is designed to help further The Conservation Fund’s knowledge of and outreach to Indian Tribes as it relates to land activities, from cultural heritage interpretation to land exchanges and usage agreements, to direct sales. The Bakers Lake project has provided significant opportunity to engage with the Waccamaw Siouan, a state-recognized tribe in North Carolina. The Conservation Fund now owns what was once the largest privately-owned Carolina Bay (Bakers Lake) and will ultimately convey the property to the state to make public lands. While it is too late in this process to engage with the tribe on acquisition, opportunities still exist for collaboration on the project. This collaboration, as well as research of best practices and experiences of TCF staff on previous projects, will inform the development of a framework for engaging state and federally recognized American Indian tribes in future acquisitions projects.