The Dakota way is to plan for the Seventh Generation, to make sure that resources will be available in the future to sustain life for seven generations to come. Conserving and protecting the earth today ensures that there will be food, trees, natural areas, traditional wild foods and medicines, cultural resources, and open spaces in the environment for coming generations to not only survive but also to thrive. It is important to the Dakota to be a good neighbor not only to nearby communities and governments but to the earth itself which sustains life. Unci Maka, the Dakota expression for earth, translates as "Grandmother Earth." This indicates a kinship relationship between the Dakota and the earth; so as a relative, the Dakota people are morally obligated to take care of the earth, just as they would an elder.

As a steward of the earth, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community is dedicated to protecting and preserving the earth's environment. A staff of biologists, water resource specialists, technicians, managers, and others in the Land and Natural Resources, Public Works, and Cultural Resources Departments fulfill that mission.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has a small land base located in one of the most rapidly urbanizing environments in the United States. The Community’s own population and that of its urban neighbors is growing rapidly. Past and current development activity has impacted natural resources. Over 70 percent of the region’s quarter-million acres have been converted from natural conditions to other land uses since European settlement of the area in the mid 1800s. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and its neighbors face hard choices between development and conservation of land and natural resources. The choices made by the SMSC and its neighbors have direct and indirect implications on the Tribe’s ability to provide for future generations.

The SMSC government is responsible for the care of its people, land, and resources. Conservation efforts are a response to subsistence needs, cultural imperatives, and a desire for self-sufficiency. No one solution to any problem is appropriate for all varied pressures on land and natural resources; the Community has responded with various solutions. For the Community, optimal solutions are culturally relevant, support sovereignty, and are sustainable. Once a solution is selected, resources are dedicated and the solution is implemented.

With vision and leadership based on traditional Dakota values, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has emerged as a leader in investing in water, energy, and land conservation stewardship projects. A conscious choice of sustainable options for resource needs is a strong exercise of sovereignty. These options not only ensure future resources but fuel self-sufficiency. The success of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community efforts has been evident in the restoration of prairies and wetlands, a net positive impact on water quality, increasing faunal diversity, the improved availability of culturally important plants to Community members, and sovereignty associated with wastewater treatment and energy production.

The success of Community conservation efforts is transferable and often at an affordable cost. For example, biodiesel infrastructure/technology is inexpensive,and staff time is minimal. Other affordable conservation techniques like composting can use existing land and infrastructure to create a usable product out of what was waste. The Community has the resources to invest in developing alternative, renewable technologies so that others may benefit from our successes without jeopardizing their own precious assets.

Today, land that was farmland is now a thriving prairie. A green roof is teeming with life instead of asphalt or gravel. Birds fly overhead, their calls heard on the wind. Grasses and wildflowers wave in the breeze. Water is clean. Maple syrup is made, berries harvested, wild rice grown, and medicines collected as the ancestors did for centuries. And Unci Maka (Grandmother Earth) is smiling in her heart.