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Cie’na Schlaefli is the Range Conservation Manager for the Tohono O’odham Nation’s Department of Natural Resources, overseeing the Range Conservation and Management Program. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from New Mexico State University and a Master’s in Natural Resource Studies from the University of Arizona.
Cie’na’s career spans more than 20 years in agriculture and natural resource management throughout the desert Southwest. She has contributed to community‑based food and land stewardship initiatives across the region, beginning with her work in Southern New Mexico on a small organic farm and moving to Tucson on 2007 to work for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, where she helped develop a ten-acre educational demonstration farm in Marana. She later spent seven years with the San Xavier Cooperative Farm, learning and implementing traditional Tohono O’odham food production practices.
Her work continued with the San Xavier District Natural Resources Department as a Natural Resources Specialist, where she supported range conservation activities, water rights initiatives, and mine reclamation activities—furthering her expertise in the intersection of cultural resources, environmental protection, and community needs.
Grounded in decades of experience working with both people and landscapes, Cie’na brings a deep commitment to collaborative conservation. Her professional foundation is built on fostering sustainable relationships between communities and the land they steward to support long‑term ecological health and cultural resilience.
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