Tommy is a Tribal member from the Bird Town Community, and is a senior employee to the newly evolved Agricultural & Natural Resource Department. He studied environmental & natural sciences at several higher education institutions before discovering his interest in forestry. During his completion of the forestry program at Haywood Community College in 2000, he was employed by the EBCI Environmental Department as an Air Quality Technician before advancing to the evolving Water Quality Program as the NonPoint Source Coordinator. There, he managed several projects on Tribal lands to minimize pollution in the Tribal watersheds. Tommy also served as the Tribal Environmental Planner, where he oversaw both the Air Quality Program and the Non-Point Source program.
As the Tribal Forest Resource Liaison, he is responsible for Forest Management Plan Development on the Trust Lands and on forested Tribal acres. Cabe serves as a liaison in the “agency to agency” relationships with the USFS and the NPS for collaboration on Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and traditional gathering of certain resources within these adjacent landscapes. He represents the Tribe locally and nationally on natural resource issues that impact Indian country both positive and negatively.
Tommy is an avid outdoorsman, who thoroughly enjoys hunting, fishing, and hiking. In doing so, he is constantly aware of traditional ceremonies that need to be practiced for a more definitive connection to the land. One of his favorite quotes is: “Bear in mind that every oak tree started out as a nut that stood its ground.”