Dennis Martinez was a practitioner and leader in the field of ecological restoration, who brought together ecological restoration with Indigenous cultural revitalization. Martinez was of O'odham/Chicano/Anglo heritage, born in the San Joaquin Valley, in the Central Valley of California. Dennis was raised on a ranch where he embraced the richness of subsistence living. His early experiences laid the foundation for a lifelong commitment to the principles of ecological restoration and the revitalization of the cultural heritage of Indigenous communities.
Over the course of more than 40 years, Dennis Martinez made significant contributions to ecological restoration at local, national, and international levels. He was a community organizer, educator, and author, and played a pivotal role in bridging the gap between Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Western scientific understanding. Martinez was co-director of the Takelma Intertribal Project in southern Oregon, along with Agnes “Grandma Aggie” Pilgrim (1924 – 2019). Together, they helped to resurrect the Salmon Thanksgiving Ceremony in 1994, after a 150-year absence. Their collective vision extended to the restoration of thousands of acres of the Takelma/Da-du-be-de-te cultural landscape, particularly the oak savanna.
Martinez served as a board member for the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) representing the Pacific Northwest from 1991 to 1997. He served as co-chair of SER's Science and Policy Committee from 1995 to 2001 during which time he co-developed the still-in-use definition of restoration for SER. He was insistent on there being a powerful recognition of cultural identity and engagement in the SER International Primer on Ecological Restoration. This came out in the definition in the humble acknowledgement that restoration is “the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed” and in the important language in the preamble. In 2007 he served as an advisor to “Principles and Guidelines for Ecological Restoration in Canada’s Protected Areas,” the first national guidelines in the world. Dennis also helped to found the Indigenous Peoples’ Restoration Network (IPRN). The IPRN was a significant program of SER, leading to regular conference sessions and workshops that brought diverse knowledge keepers together.
In recognition of his substantial contributions to the field of ecological restoration, Dennis received the John Rieger Service Award from the Society for Ecological Restoration in 1997. In 2001, he was honored as a finalist for the Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award in Conservation, received a Bioneers award, and was recognized as an Honoree of the 2001 Buffett Award for Indigenous Leadership.