Adaptation Plans

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.

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.

Adaptation plan developed by the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho, focused on water and forest resources. 2011

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.

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

Rural Arctic communities are vulnerable to climate change and seek adaptation strategies that will protect health and health infrastructure. This report describes climate change impacts on Kivalina, a small Inupiat Eskimo community located on the coast of the Chukchi Sea. Data sources included the observations of local residents, reports from local and regional government officials and health professionals, and scientific evidence gathered from published sources.

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 community
residents 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 in communities
across Alaska, and the third report to focus on the Bristol Bay region.

Assessment of climate change related health effects in Noatak, Alaska. Noatak is an Inupiat community of approximately 500 residents, located on the west bank of the Noatak River, about 55 miles north of Kotzebue. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, 2011

Assessment of climate change related health effects in Nondalton, Alaska. Nondalton is mostly Alaska Native People of Dena'ina decent, averaging about 169 residents. Nondalton is located on the west shore of Six Mile Lake, between Lake Clark and Iliamna Lake. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, 2013.

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.

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

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, 2014

Bear River of the Rohnerville Rancheria (BRBRR or “the Rancheria”) seeks to take a proactive position in planning for climate change impacts. In 2016 the BRBRR Tribal Council approved its first plan known as “the Climate Action Plan,” which describes climate change and some of the vulnerabilities the Rancheria faces. The Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Plan is intended to build upon the Climate Action Plan. This plan describes the risks and vulnerabilities to BRBRR resources as well as recommends specific steps the Rancheria can take to mitigate and adapt to the climate change impacts affecting tribal trust and fee lands.

Recently the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) Climate Change Program published Version 1 of our Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for the Ceded Territories in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. This assessment integrates scientific knowledge from climate models and species vulnerability data with traditional ecological knowledge in an attempt to make climate change information more accessible and culturally relevant for our member tribes and partner agencies. Version 1 contains detailed pages for eleven different beings (species) identified as culturally important by tribal knowledge holders.