Adaptation Plans

Tribes throughout the United States are developing and implementing tribal climate change adaptation plans and climate vulnerability assessments. Search this list for examples of tribal climate change adaptation plans, as well as other plans and planning resources that may be useful reference guides.

Title Year Description Geography Website
Makah National Fish Hatchery Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment 2019

This final report analyzes the sensitivity, exposure, impact, adaptive capacity, and vulnerability of Makah National Fish Hatchery. Some of the fish broodstock programs include Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and winter steelhead trout. The US Fish and Wildlife Service conducted these surveys to assess the vulnerability of these hatcheries in response to the changing climate. To download a PDF of the report, click here.

Categories: vulnerability assessment, natural resources, climate change

Makah Link
Vulnerabilities of Navajo Nation Forests to Climate Change 2019

"What are the vulnerabilities of our forests to climate change?"- It is crucial for the future of forest management on the Navajo Nation that this question be addressed. This report derives from a collaborative, multi-faceted effort to identify and describe the vulnerabilities of Navajo forests to climate change. By providing place-based ecological data, this report can aid in developing priorities for forest management. Through the implementation of adaptive, science-based management, the Navajo forests can become more resilient to the effects of climate change.

Categories: vulnerability assessment, BIA TRP, forest management, place-based, implementation, climate change impacts

Southwestern United States Link
Clearwater River Subbasin Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2014

In an effort to prepare for changes to their homelands’ ecology, the Nez Perce Tribe’s Water Resources Division created a climate change adaptation plan for the Clearwater River Subbasin in 2011. The plan focuses on climate impacts to water and forestry resources, two areas of natural resource management that are both culturally and economically important to the Nez Perce Tribe. The adaptation plan includes an assessment of existing conditions in the subbasin, and data on how changes in climate may impact forests, waters, and the local economy. This profile highlights the efforts of the Nez Perce Tribe to increase awareness of climate change issues in their region through this plan, as well as their strategies for integrating adaptation into existing and future management plans. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan, Water Resources

Northwest Link
Climate Change in Nuiqsut, Alaska: Strategies for Community Health 2014

Assessment of climate change related health effects in Nuiqsut, Alaska a traditional Inupiat community located on the West bank of the Colville River, 18 miles south from the inlet to the Beaufort Sea. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, 2014. 

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan, Tribal Health, Community Health, climate change

Alaska Link
Climate Change in Pilot Point, Alaska: Strategies for Community Health 2013

Aassessment of climate change related health effects in Pilot Point, Alaska. Pilot Point is mostly Alaska Native People of Alutiiq and Yup'ik Eskimo decent, averaging about 64 to 100 residents. Pilot Point is located on the Northern coast of the Alaska Peninsula, on the east shore of Ugashik Bay. 2013.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan, Tribal Health, Community Health

Alaska, Coastal Link
Climate Adaptation and Action Plan, Ocean and Coastal Management Plan for the Norton Bay Watershed, Alaska 2021, 2013

Adaption plan for the Norton Bay Watershed is the result of a year of community team effort, bringing in an array of stakeholders and expertise, building partnerships, extensive information gathering, critical thinking, and engaged planning. Norton Bay Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, 2013. Download a PDF of the plan by clicking here.More recently in 2021, Norton Bay Watershed came out with the Ocean and Coastal Management Plan (NBWOCMP): Protecting the Watershed's Subsistence Culture & Resources. Download a PDF of the plan by clicking here.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan, Ocean and Coastal Management Plan

Alaska Link
City of Kwethluk, Alaska: Local Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan 2009

Plan for these natural hazards : flooding, erosion, severe weather, and earthquake. Includes information to assist the city government and residents with planning to avoid potential future disaster losses. To download the City of Kwethluk, Alaska Local Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan, click here.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan, Hazard Mitigation Plan

Alaska Link
Climate Change in Selawik, Alaska: Strategies for Community Health 2012

Assessment of climate change related health effects in Selawik, Alaska. Selawik is an Inupiat community of approximately 829 residents, located on the Selawik River, about four miles north of the Arctic Circle and 70 miles east of Kotzebue. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, 2012. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan, Community Health, Tribal Health

Alaska Link
Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe-Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan 2013

In order to promote climate resilience in their community, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe has developed a Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan. Drawing on an Environmental Protection Agency Indian General Assistance Program (IGAP) grant, and in collaboration with Adaptation International and Washington Sea Grant, the Tribe developed a plan that addresses sea level rise, ocean acidification, salmon health, natural disasters and shifts in species ranges. The plan drew on input from tribal leaders, elders and technical staff to ensure that tribal concerns were considered. The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe sees climate adaptation as a process, not an outcome; this plan is part of an ongoing effort by the Tribe to prepare for climate impacts on their community. Additional plan resources are available as listed below.To download a PDF of the 2013 Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan, click here.To download a PDF of the 2013 Climate Action Plan Key Area of Concern, click here.To download a PDF of the 2013 Adaptation Plan Addendum: Two Additional Key Areas of Concern, click here.To download a PDF of the 2013 Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan Appendices, click here.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan, Climate Change, Vulnerability Assessment

Northwest Link
Climate Change Adaptation Plan for Akwesasne 2013

Adaptation plan for the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe in New York. Structured around the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address. 2013. Download a PDF of the Adaptation Plan by clicking here.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan

Northeast Link
Climate Change in Atqasuk, Alaska: Strategies for Community Health 2014

Assessment of climate change related health effects in Atqasuk, Alaska, a traditional Inupiat community located on the west bank of the Meade River, 60 miles south of Barrow. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, 2014. Downlaod a PDF of the plan by clicking here.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan

Alaska Link
Climate Change in Kiana, Alaska Strategies for Community Health 2011

Assessment of climate change related health effects in Kiana, Alaska. Kiana is an Inupiat community of approximately 361 residents, located on the Kobuk River, about 60 miles east of Kotzebue. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, 2011. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan

Alaska Link
Climate Change in Wainwright, Alaska: Strategies for Community Health 2014

Assessment of climate change related health effects in Wainwright a traditional Inupiat community located on the Chukchi Sea coast. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, June 2014. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan

Alaska, Northwest Link
Navajo Nation Climate-Change Vulnerability Assessment for Priority Wildlife Species 2013

Vulnerability assessment for priority wildlife and plant species and habitats on the Navajo landscape. Golden Eagle, Mule Deer, Desert Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Lion, and American Black Bear. Pinyon Pine, Yucca spp., Mesa Verde Cactus, Navajo Sage, and Salt Cedar (Tamarisk). Navajo Nation Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, 2013To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan

Southwest, Arizona, United States Link
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes - Climate Change Strategic Plan 2016

In response to growing concerns about the impacts of climate change on tribal members and on their homelands, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have developed a Climate Change Strategic Plan. The Tribes worked with several partners, including Salish-Pend d’Oreille Culture Committee, Kootenai Culture Committee, Next Seven Group LLC, the Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC), the Kresge Foundation, and the Roundtable of the Crown Continent Adaptive Management Initiative, to develop a plan to inform the tribal policy and actions moving forward. This plan brings together the knowledge of elders with scientific observations to document existing impacts and prepare for future changes. The original 2013 Strategic Plan was updated in 2016. To download a PDF of the most recent version, click here.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan

Northwest, Montana Link
Relocation Report: Newtok to Mertarvik 2011

Strategic Management Planfor the relocation of the village of Newtok to a new site at Mertarvik. Newtok is a growing 350-person coastal village fronting on the Ninglick River in western Alaska. The Ninglick River is rapidly eroding and consuming community land and facilities as it advances. 2011. To download a PDF of the report, click here.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan

Alaska, Coastal Link
Shaktoolik, Alaska: Climate Change Adaptation for an At-Risk Community 2014

Adaptation plan outlines next steps for the community of Shaktoolik, AK, as it responds to threats, primarily erosion and flooding. 2014. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan

Alaska Link
Swinomish Climate Change Initiative: Climate Adaptation Action Plan 2010

Adaptation plan for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community in northwest Washington. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan

Northwest, Washington Link
Swinomish Climate Change Initiative: Impact Assessment Technical Report 2009

Impact  assessment report for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community in northwest Washington. To download a PDF of the report, click here.

Categories: Tribal, Adaptation Plan

Northwest, Washington Link
Upper Snake River Tribes Foundation Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment 2017

The Upper Snake River Watershed has been home to humans for more than 10,000 years. Many of their ancestors still reside on the landscape and are members of the Burns Paiute Tribe, Fort McDermitt PaiuteShoshone Tribe, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation, and Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation. Together, these four member tribes comprise the Upper Snake River Tribes (USRT) Foundation. 1 The climate around the Upper Snake River is changing. USRT member tribes have already noticed shifts in species and habitats driven by increasing temperatures and changing precipitation patterns. Such changes in temperature and precipitation have resulted in drying sagebrush steppe habitat, extended wildfire seasons, less winter precipitation falling as snow, earlier spring run-off, low summer river flows, higher water temperatures, reduced flow from springs/seeps, proliferation of invasive weeds, and the decreasing productivity of rangelands. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: Tribal Vulnerability Assessment, planning, adaptation, climate change, increasing temperatures, precipitation

Upper Snake River Watershed, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada Link
Climate Change in Nondalton, Alaska; Strategies for Community Health 2013

Climate change refers to change over time due to natural variability or as a result of human activity (IPCC, 2008). Alaska is experiencing a wide range of impacts from climate change and communities seek adaptive strategies that encourage wellness and sustainability. This report documents climate change impacts as described by local people and climate change effects or potential effects as interpreted through the lens of public health. It is the seventh report in a series describing climate change across Alaska, and the second report to focus on the Bristol Bay region, the first being in the community of Pilot Point. To download a copy of the plan, click here.

Categories: Tribal Health, community, climate change, sustainability

Alaska Link
Climate Change in Noatak, Alaska; Strategies for Community Health 2011

This report documents climate change impacts as described by the local people and interpreted through the lens of public health. It is the third report in a series describing climate change in Northwestern Alaska. The first two reports focused on the coastal whaling communities of Point Hope and Kivalina. This is the first to look at an upriver community characterized by a different climate, environment, and cultural practices. It was prepared by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Center for Climate and Health in partnership with the Maniilaq Association, the Northwest Arctic Borough and the Noatak Traditional Council. Funding was provided by the United States Indian Health Service. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: Tribal Health, community health, climate change, disease, food security

Alaska Link
Climate Change in Point Hope, Alaska: Strategies for Community Health 2010

Today with the added pressure of climate change, Point Hope continues its struggle with increased urgency; against erosion and against other new emerging challenges to the community, the culture, and to public health. Assessment of climate change related health effects in Point Hope, Alaska. Point Hope is an Inupiat community of approximately 700 residents, located in Northwestern Alaska on the Chukchi Sea. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, 2010. 

Categories: Tribal Health, climate change, strategies, adaptation

Alaska Link
Mitigi idash Nibi: A Climate Adaptation Plan for the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians 2014

In 2014, the Model Forest Policy Program (MFPP), Climate Solutions University (CSU), and the Red Lake Department of Natural Resources (RLDNR) came together to create a climate adaptation plan for the forest and water systems of the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota. Development of the plan came about because all parties, led by MFPP, recognized the critical need for local community resilience against the impacts of climate change by protecting forest and water resources. This climate adaptation plan for the Red Lake Reservation presents the results of a team effort, deep and broad information gathering, critical analysis and thoughtful planning. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: Tribal Adaptation Plan, forests, water, development, resilience, climate change, adaptation

Minnesota Link
Metlakatla Indian Community Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2017

The Metlakatla Indian Community Climate Change Adaptation Plan was composed to provide support to the Metlakatla Indian Community as they are impacted by a changing climate on the Annette Islands Reserve (AIR). Throughout this document the Metlakatla Indian Community will be referred to as “the Tribe”, this term will be used to describe the entire Metlakatla Indian Community. The Tribe acknowledges the changing climate and advocates addressing the potential effects through the integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and scientific evidence. This document will include the background on the AIR, local interviews on TEK, resource analysis, vulnerability assessment, and potential adaptation strategies to assist the Tribe in preparation for a changing climate. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: Tribal Adaptation Plan, climate change, TEK, vulnerability assessment, adaptation

Alaska (Southeast) Link
Karuk Climate Adaptation Plan 2019

"Within Karuk Aboriginal Territory on the mid Klamath, the effects of climate change including changes in precipitation patterns, decreased snowpack increasing droughts, increasing frequency and severity of wildfires, and disease and pest outbreaks are immediate and occuring now." To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: tribal adaptation plan, climate change, management, restoration, traditional knowledges

Northern California Link
Blackfeet Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2018

Through climate adaptation planning the Blackfeet Nation leadership is actively seeking to protect our communities and diverse ecosystems from the impacts of a rapidly changing climate. This plan is the result of the unique holistic Blackfeet Nation planning process that includes all parts of tribal government, while respectfully considering traditional values and a collective community vision for our future. Underlying the plan is the Blackfeet understanding that people and nature are one and that people can only be healthy if we ensure the health of the environment we are part of. The process and production of this climate plan has been a timely effort that is informing the Blackfeet Agricultural Resource Management Plan which is being developed concurrently. Both plans will then inform the Integrated Resource Management Plan which will be carried out over the next two years. To download a copy of the Adaptation Plan, click here.

Categories: Tribal Adaptation Plan, climate change, adaptation, TEK, community health, ecosystem health

Montana Link
Fort Belknap Indian Community Climate Change Adaptation Plan

Fort Belknap Indian Community is home to the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes (the Aaniiih and Nakoda Nations). The Gros Ventre call themselves “AH-AH-NE-NIN” meaning the White Clay People, and
the Assiniboine refer to themselves as “Nakoda” meaning the generous ones. For the purpose of this plan, we will be referring to the community as Fort Belknap Indian Community, or FBIC for short. The
Gros Ventre and Assiniboine peoples were nomadic hunters and warriors who followed the buffalo which provided them all the necessities of life.2 The reservation is located 43 miles south of the
Canadian Border and 20 miles north of the Missouri River, which is on the route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Categories: tribal adaptation plan, climate change

Montana Link
Nooksack Indian Tribe Natural Resources Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment 2017

The climate of the Nooksack River watershed is changing, and is projected to continue to change throughout the 21st century. In addition to rising temperatures and exaggerated patterns of seasonal precipitation, the watershed is likely to experience greater wildfire risk, more severe winter flooding, rising sea levels, and increasing ocean acidification. These changes will have profound impacts on the watershed’s plants, animals, and ecosystems, including changes in species distributions, abundances, and productivity; shifts in the timing of life cycle events such as flowering, breeding, and migration; and changes in the distribution and composition of ecological communities. Understanding which species and habitats are expected to be vulnerable to climate change, and why, is a critical first step toward identifying strategies and actions for maintaining priority species and habitats in the face of change. The University of Washington Climate Impacts Group worked collaboratively with the Nooksack Indian Tribe’s Natural Resource Department to evaluate the climate change vulnerability of priority species and habitats for the Tribe. This report describes the approach taken to assess vulnerability and summarizes key findings from the assessment’s results. The report also includes an appendix of fact sheets describing individual assessment details for each of the species and habitat types evaluated; these fact sheets highlight each species’ key climate sensitivities as well as data gaps of importance for understanding their vulnerability. Together, the information provided in this assessment offers a rigorous foundation for future climate adaptation efforts aimed at addressing climate risks to the Nooksack Tribe’s priority species and habitats.To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: tribal adaptation plan, assessment, climate change, flooding, rising sea levels, rising temperatures, ecosystems

Washington Link
Susanville Indian Rancheria: Integrated Resource Management Plan 2014

This IRMP is a strategic, vision-based, long-range management plan based on Tribal member’s interests, needs, and concerns for their lands and natural resources. It provides guidelines for strategic resource management in order to restore, preserve, and manage these resources for future generations. To download a PDF of the plan, click here.

Categories: resources, management, climate change, adaptation

California Link