Adaptation Plans

Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska Climate Change Adaptation Plan. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (Tlingit & Haida) is a federally recognized Indian Tribe that serves 20 villages and communities stretching over 43,000 square miles within the Alaska Panhandle. The Tlingit and Haida membership is among the largest, most isolated, and most geographically dispersed of Native or Tribal populations nationwide. The region encompasses a 525-mile strip of coastline and interior waterways, bordered by Canada on the north, south, and east, with the Gulf of Alaska on the west. To download a copy of the Adaptation Plan, click here.

Categories: adaptation plan

The information in this Climate Action Plan represents an important step in protecting the health and livelihoods of the community members in the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. The Tribe collaborated with Colorado State University and recieved funding from the BIA to develop the Climate Action Plan. An Adaption Planning Working Group was formed and focused on six planning areas including health and livelihoods, water resources, water ecosystems, rangelands and forests, terrestrial and aquatic wildlife, and energy. The plan proposes specific actions and funding sources for each area. This information is located in Section 5. The Climate Action Plan work is a testament to the determination of the Tribe to work towards climate resiliency. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: Adaptation plan, Human Health and Livelihoods, Tourism, Agriculture, Food Security, Air Quality, Water Resources, Riparian and Wetland Systems, Rangelands, Forest Health, Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife, Energy, Greenhouse Gas Reduction

This report describes an assessment of the climate change vulnerability of priority species and habitats for the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians. In addition to describing our approach and resulting sensitivity scores and vulnerability rankings, we provide an appendix of quick reference fact sheets for each of the assessed species and habitat types, highlighting their primary climate sensitivities and research needs. These estimates of climate vulnerability, underlying climate sensitivities, and key information gaps should help lay the foundation for the Tribe’s future climate adaptation and research efforts. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: Adaptation Plan, natural resources, climate change

This Seventh Generation Climate Monitoring Plan (the Plan) was developed by the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians (the Tribe) to detect potential climate change impacts to the ecosystems and natural resources found on the Bad River Indian Reservation (the Reservation). The purpose of the Plan is to monitor for what can sometimes be subtle changes associated with climate change that can occur over many years. To download the Project Summary, click here. To download a copy of the Climate Moderating Plan, click here.

Categories: adaptation, development, climate change impacts, natural resources, cultural resources

The Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, along with Adaptation International, created the Tribal Climate Adaptation Guidebook, which provides a framework for climate change adaptation planning in the context of existing tribal priorities. The Guidebook builds on the on-going climate-related work in tribal communities, directly considers the unique issues facing Indigenous communities, and identifies opportunities and guidance for incorporating Traditional Knowledges based on the Climate and Traditional Knowledges Workgroup’s Guidelines for Considering Traditional Knowledges (TKs) in Climate Change Initiatives. The Tribal Climate Adaptation Guidebook is designed to be useful for tribes at any stage of adaptation planning and with varying degrees of funding and staff capacity. The Guidebook is designed so that tribes can work through any applicable section and skip sections that are not applicable. The development of the guidebook was overseen by a group of advisors who supported the writing staff by refining the goals and objectives for the Guidebook and by providing regular reviews throughout the development process. The project was funded by a grant from the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative and received supplemental funding from the Pacific Northwest Climate Impacts Research Consortium and the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute.

Categories: adaptation, planning, resource, climate change

To look at slides from the 2017 Makah Tribe’s Climate Resilience, Adaptation, and Mitigation Planning presentation, click here.To look at slides from the 2018 Makah Tribe’s Climate Adaptation & Outreach Efforts presentation, click here.

Categories: adaptation, resilience, mitigation, assessment, funding, climate change

Ongoing and future ecological outcomes of climate change in the Mid Klamath region of California include changes in precipitation patterns, increasing droughts, increasing frequency and severity of wildfires, and more significant disease and pest outbreaks (Butz et al. 2015, Garfin et al. 2014, Mote et al. 2014). Among the most pressing of the local dimensions of climate change taking place within Karuk ancestral territory is the increased risk of high severity fire (Lenihan et al. 2008). For the last thousand years, forested areas have become adapted to frequent occurrence of relatively low intensity fire from human and natural ignitions (Perry et al. 2011). These fire adapted forests burned in smaller overall areas in mosaic patterns that contained patches of high intensity fire (Mohr et al. 2000, Skinner et al. 2006, Perry et al. 2011).To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: adaption plan, Klamath, droughts, wildfire

The Disaster Mitigation Act (DMA; Public Law 106-390) is the latest federal legislation enacted to encourage and promote proactive, pre-disaster planning as a condition of receiving financial assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Act. The DMA emphasizes planning for disasters before they occur. Under the DMA, a pre-disaster hazard mitigation program and new requirements for the national post-disaster hazard mitigation grant program were established.

Categories: adaption, management, mitigation

The Nisqually River Basin is a vital part of the Washington landscape. Nestled between Tacoma and Olympia, it is the traditional home of the Nisqually Indian Tribe, and contains the small towns of Ashford, Elbe, Mineral, Eatonville, Yelm, Roy and McKenna. Despite close proximity to urban centers, the watershed remains in good environmental condition. Nearly 80% of the Nisqually River’s riparian areas are under permanent protection. It is also the only river in the United States to have its headwaters protected by a national park (Mount Rainier National Park) and its estuary protected by a national wildlife refuge (Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge). Community members place a strong priority on protecting valuable natural resources as shown by continued native salmon runs, 300,000 acres of forestland and high quality water. To dowload a PDF of the plan, click here.To read about and download a PDF of the 2020 third update of The Nisqually Watershed Stewardship Plan, click here.

Categories: adaption, watershed, mitigation, river, basin, wildlife, stewardship

The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe initiated a pilot study to assess the impacts of anticipated climate changes to both tribal infrastructure and the Sauk river ecosystem that supports fish and wildlife critical to the tribe. The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe’s homeland encompasses a broad area including the Sauk and Cascade River watersheds in northwestern Washington. The Tribe wanted to know whether the warming climate could worsen flood and erosion risks, and whether changes could adversely impact salmon habitat. This report focuses on flood an erosion risks and how they may be impacted by climate change. The objectives of this report are to: (1) describe the hydrology and geomorphology the Sauk River near the reservation, (2) evaluate available information on potential for climate change to affect future flood flows in the Sauk River basin, (2) document historical changes in river channel and floodplain characteristics of the Sauk-Suiattle Reach, and (3) evaluate the near-term and future threats to tribal infrastructure posed by Sauk River streambank erosion and flooding. To download a PDF of the 2014 Flood and Erosion Hazard Assessment for the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe Phase 1 Report for the Sauk River Climate Impacts Study, click here.To download a PDF of the 2020 Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe Hazard Mitigation Plan Update, click here.

Categories: Assessment, climate change, planning, infrastructure, erosion, flood, habitat, hazard mitigation

The Climate Adaptation Plan (CAP) was reviewed by the CTUIR Board of Trustees (BOT) and a vote to formally adopted this document into CTUIR department and program work plans with Resolution 22-103, passed on December 19th, 2022. Links and resources related to the CAP include:Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation Climate Adaptation Plan: https://ctuir.org/departments/natural-resources/climate-adaptation/ctui… Climate Adaptation - YouTube CTUIR Webinar series archive: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjN61eROflvHaI9dSVl4VEA CTUIR - Climate Adaptation Plan Webinar Archive: https://ctuir.org/departments/natural-resources/climate-adaptation/clim…

Categories: Climate Adaptation Plan, Umatilla, Oregon

To build this plan, the Rosebud Sioux assessed the climate crisis and its impacts on their community by incorporating the knowledge of elders, traditional knowledge, and climate data. This knowledge was used to identify priority actions the community can take, which fell into three categories: protecting the Oyate (community) by establishing a permanent tribal department and enhancing tribal capacity to protect life and property; protecting and wisely using water by adopting and implementing new adaptation and mitigation plans; and protecting the land and living relatives by establishing a Sicangu Climate Center to hold and manage knowledge about the Oyate, their relatives, and the changing climate, and use this knowledge to support the Oyate.

Categories: climate adaptation, resilience, water, mitigation, community, habitat management

A collaborative effort by the communities of Lower Kalskag, Upper Kalskag, Aniak, Chuathbaluk, Napaimute, Crooked Creek, Georgetown, Red Devil, Sleetmute, and Stony River. This document includes the collaboration from Middle Kuskokwim residents on vulnerability assessments and adaptation plans. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) was contracted to complete this document after the completion of the Georgetown Vulnerability Assessment, which was made possible from a Bureau of Indian Affairs Tribal Resiliency Program Grant. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: climate assessment, climate change, adaptation, vulnerability assessment

From 2015 to 2016, the Puyallup Tribe worked with Cascadia Consulting Group to conduct a Climate Change Impact Assessment and identify options for adaptation. The assessment aimed to help Tribal staff and members better understand and prepare to proactively manage climate risks to ensure that Tribal customs and the Tribal community can thrive for many generations to come, despite a changing climate. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: climate change adaptation plan

To the Ojibwe, natural resources are cultural resources. There is no separation between how the bands manage and interact with a resource and how their culture endures: one is dependent on the other. Climate change, however, is threatening the very viability of many natural resources important to the Ojibwe. Warmer winters, increasing fall precipitation, increasing extreme precipitation events, more occurrences of drought, and earlier ice out dates across the 1854 Ceded Territory already are affecting flora and fauna that are imperative to the culture, history, well-being, and life-ways of the Ojibwe people. Through this project, the Bois Forte Band, Fond du Lac Band, Grand Portage Band, and 1854 Treaty Authority partnered with Adaptation International, and the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessment Center at the University of Michigan. The purpose of the project was to investigate how changing climate conditions already are and could continue to affect the landscape and species within the 1854 Ceded Territory and the respective reservations. In addition to assessing changes, the partners also identified climate-related vulnerabilities and identified actions that could be taken to create more climate resilient systems.To download the PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: climate change adaptation plan

The Nome Eskimo Community (NEC), in collaboration with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP), developed a climate adaptation plan with the Nome-based tribes. This includes tribal members of NEC, Village of Solomon, Native Village of Council, and King Island Native Community. The project goals were to familiarize tribal members with climate science and local knowledge, provide an opportunity to identify and discuss climate impacts and adaptation strategies, develop a plan, and share information with other rural Alaska and Native communities. This project was funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Community values for the Nome-based tribes, which provided a basis for the climate adaptation strategies, centered on maintaining cultural activities, fostering community and relationships, and ensuring healthy people and ecosystems. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: climate change adaptation plan

"The National Inuit Climate Change Strategy identifiesthe coordinated actionsthat are necessary within five priority areas to meet our adaptation, mitigation and resilience-building needs in the face of rapid climate change, and a quickly evolving climate policy environment. The Strategy lays out practical objectives to advance Inuit-driven climate actions, and guidance on how to work with us to protect our way of life and support the sustainability of our communities in the face of our changing climate reality. Case studies illustrating the kinds of Inuit-led climate initiatives and partnerships we are seeking are highlighted throughout the Strategy." To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: climate change adaptation, mitigation, resilience, sustainability, community

The people of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) have a long history of living in the southern portion of the Columbia Plateau. The area has a diverse array of natural resources and the Tribes’ connection with those resources can be seen through their on‐going connection with their First Foods. Water, salmon, game (deer and elk), roots (cous), and berries (huckleberry) are not just food sources, but are integral to the cultural, spiritual, and community identity of the Tribes. These foods depend on healthy and vibrant landscapes to thrive and those landscapes are changing as the climate of the region shifts. CTUIR is already experiencing some of those changes. In order to respond to and better plan for the future, the CTUIR took action to assess the climate related vulnerability of key resources and assets that are important to tribal life. The results of this work are summarized in this report. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: climate change adaptation, strategies, assessment, first foods, agriculture, forest health

This report captures the key outcomes from the Menominee Reservation Resilience Dialogues process, which took place between May 15 and May 26, 2017. The resilience Dialogues partners with communities to explore their risks from climate variability and change. Using a professionally facilitated, online process to connect community leaders to a network of vetted national experts, the Resilience Dialogues helps them work together to understand risks and lay the groundwork for long-term resilience. The service connects communities with the most appropriate resources, whether from federal agencies, regional networks, or the private sector. To download a PDF of the report, click here.

Categories: climate change impacts, cultural resources, forest management, adaptation, development

The purpose of the Fond Du Lac Band's Integrated Resource Management Plan is to manage the Band's resources effectively for future generations. The Integrated Resource Management Plan will be used to address current and future management options of the Band. The Integrated Resource Management Plan has been developed by a group of people dedicated to the protection, enhancement, and management of Fond Du Lac's resources. To download a PDF of the most recent Intigrated Resource Management Plan, click here.

Categories: climate change impacts, natural resources, adaptation, management

This climate change vulnerability assessment documents climate change impacts and trends that have been observed along the Kuskokwim River. It was commissioned by the Georgetown Tribal Council to help inform their efforts to re-settle the Native Village of Georgetown, and to provide a starting place for working with neighboring communities to plan for climate change. Information was collected through a variety of methods, including interviews with elders and the collection of Traditional Knowledge, mapping and graphing of environmental data, review of published literature, and interviews with local scientists and natural resource managers. This climate change vulnerability assessment was created to inform future development of the Native Village of Georgetown. Much of the information contained in this report, as well as the companion Climate Science Primer 1 specific to the area, can be used to inform efforts to prepare for climate impacts in neighboring villages and throughout the region. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: climate change vulnerability assessment, adaptation

The Navajo Nation Department of Fish and Wildlife created the Climate Change Program to spread awareness to the Navajo people including the impacts and adaptive solutions for climate change. After a series of workshops, the Climate Adaptation Plan was drafted to summarize the most pressing natural resources concerns and vulnerabilities. More information on specific natural resource adaptation plans, reports, and strategies can be found here.To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: climate change, adaptation plan, natural resources

This is the next major step in preparing for climate change after the completion of the 2016 Climate Vulnerability Assessment. The plan lists 190 actions that will help protect and adapt the habitat and species important to the Stillaguamish Tribe. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: climate change, adaptation plan, natural resources

It is increasingly apparent that the global climate is rapidly changing and that these changes will affect the people, ecosystems, economy, and culture of the North Olympic Peninsula. The most noticeable impacts will likely include:
• A diminishing snowpack lowering the region’s summer river flow and extending the summer drought season;
• Shifts in the timing and type of precipitation, creating rain on snow events and unseasonably high stream flows that scour river bottoms and flood low-land areas;
• Ongoing sea level rise driving coastal flooding, saltwater inundation, and enhanced shoreline erosion;
• Extended warm temperatures which result in increased river water temperatures, enhanced wildfire risk, decreased soil moisture, and stressed forests through disease and insect outbreaks; and
• Increasingly corrosive ocean waters (i.e. ocean acidification) from the ongoing absorption of human emissions of CO2.
This project synthesized the best available climate change projections with local stakeholder expertise of vulnerable sectors to ultimately develop climate change preparation strategies for the North Olympic Peninsula. The outputs of this effort are compiled in this Preparedness Plan and include a regional Vulnerability Assessment (Section I & II) and Adaptation Plan (Section II). With this project and other similar efforts, the region has a unique opportunity to promote collaboration on climate change adaptation between federal, state, local, and tribal governments, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, and private businesses. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: climate change, adaptation strategies, infrastructure, ecosystems, water supplies

"The purpose of the Lummi Nation Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Plan: 2016-2026 (CCMAP) is to evaluate the potential impacts of anthropogenic climate change on the Lummi Indian Reservation (Reservation), Lummi Usual and Accustomed Grounds and Stations (U&A), and Lummi Traditional Territories and to present both mitigation strategies that may reduce the causes of climate change and adaptation strategies that may minimize climate change impacts that cannot be avoided." To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: climate change, adaptation, mitigation

The Shinnecock Environmental Department and the Natural Resource Committee had begun researching climate change, and particularly the impacts on surface water and ocean acidification, because of tribal shellfish cultivation. The next large concern was the increasing shoreline erosion, which is contributing to the loss of trees. The staff began researching other climate change issues that were impacting the region as well. Climate change is included in the Shinnecock Nation’s strategic plan.To download a PDF of the most recent, 2019, Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Action Plan, click here.To download a PDF of the 2013 Shinnecock Indian Nation Climate Change Adaptation Plan, click here.

Categories: climate change, adaptation, mitigation, TEK, tradition, resources, marine resources, conservation, management, planning, policy, vulnerability assessment, action plan

Tribal Adaptation Menu Team. 2019. Dibaginjigaadeg Anishinaabe Ezhitwaad: A Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu. Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, Odanah, Wisconsin. 54 p

Climate change has impacted and will continue to impact indigenous peoples, their lifeways and culture, and the natural world upon which they rely, in unpredictable and potentially devastating ways. Many climate adaptation planning tools fail to address the unique needs, values and cultures of indigenous communities. This Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu, which was developed by a diverse group of collaborators representing tribal, academic, intertribal and government entities in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, provides a framework to integrate indigenous and traditional knowledge, culture, language and history into
the climate adaptation planning process. Developed as part of the Climate Change Response Framework, the Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu is designed to work with the Northern Institute of Applied Climate
Science (NIACS) Adaptation Workbook, and as a stand-alone resource. The Menu is an extensive collection of climate change adaptation actions for natural resource management, organized into tiers of general and
more specific ideas. It also includes a companion Guiding Principles document, which describes detailed considerations for working with tribal communities. While this first version of the Menu was created based
on Ojibwe and Menominee perspectives, languages, concepts and values, it was intentionally designed to be adaptable to other indigenous communities, allowing for the incorporation of their language, knowledge
and culture. Primarily developed for the use of indigenous communities, tribal natural resource agencies and their non-indigenous partners, this Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu may be useful in bridging
communication barriers for non-tribal persons or organizations interested in indigenous approaches to climate adaptation and the needs and values of tribal communities.

Categories: climate change, adaptation, planning

The Yakama Nation Tribal Council directs all of our community and natural resource programs to carefully assess the vulnerabilities and risks identified in this Climate Adaptation Plan over the next year. In many cases, these considerations will go beyond our reservation lands and necessitate an evaluation of resources throughout the territories of the Yakama Nation. We also direct our programs to prepare and present recommendations for addressing the vulnerabilities and risks—actions that will rebuild resilience and durability within these resources for generations to come. These assessments and recommendations are not intended to be comprehensive, but they represent a substantial beginning on a long path forward. Download a link to the PDF by clicking here.Additionally, the Climate Action Plan for the Territories of the Yakama Nation of 2019 is available to download as a PDF here.

Categories: climate change, adaptation, planning, action

The path towards creating a Regional Plan for Sustainable Development began with leaders of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in March 2011 passing Resolution 11-26XB, to promote and protect the health, welfare and culture of the Tribe. They affirmed all participants in the Oyate Omniciyé | Oglala Lakota planning process will be working toward cultural preservation, sustainable development, enhancement of environmental programs, etc., including climate change adaptation to maintain Tribal lifeways. This journey continues as the planning team hosts community meetings and interviews with program directors and other stakeholders. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: climate change, adaptation, traditional knowledges, cultural preservation, sustainable development

The Bear River stretches 73 miles long and is in need to stewardship and restoration planning. The Sierra Streams Institute put forth its final restoration plan in 2018. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: climate change, mitigation, adaptation, action, plan, vulnerabilities