Research in the FlyForward region inevitably touches communities with their own authority over their land, water, and data — the Alta Springs Nation, the Cupan Rock Tribe, the Shoreline Band of Lake Noeta, the Fuente Workforce Alliance, and the High Desert settlements. This project establishes the agreements that govern how that research is conducted: what is collected, who holds it, how it is used, and who decides.
SNR is co-developing these data-governance and consent protocols with the communities themselves, not drafting them in-house and asking for a signature. The work treats data sovereignty as a starting condition rather than a courtesy: tribal nations own and control data gathered on or about them, and community partners set the terms of their own participation. The deliverable is a durable framework — agreements, governance structures, and review processes — that any Consortium research project in the region is expected to operate within.
For SNR, this is not a compliance exercise. Research conducted without genuine agreement is not just unethical; it is bad research, because the communities can withhold the access and knowledge the work actually depends on. Getting this right is a condition of getting anything else right.