Climate Programs

There are a growing number of tribal programs, government and non-government agencies and programs addressing climate change across the United States. This page includes tribal, federal and NGO climate change programs.

Title Sort ascending Organization Description Geography Website
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administation (NOAA) Climate Research NOAA

NOAA's research laboratories, Climate Program Office, and research partners conduct a wide range of research into complex climate systems and how they work. These scientists want to improve their ability to predict climate variation in both the shorter term, like cold spells or periods of drought, and over longer terms like centuries and beyond. NOAA researchers will continue their consistent and uninterrupted monitoring of the Earth's atmosphere that can give us clues about long-term changes in the global climate. The data collected worldwide by NOAA researchers aids our understanding of, and ability to forecast changes in, complex climatic systems.

Categories: Research

National Link
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administation (NOAA) Civil Rights Office American Indian Program NOAA

This initiative focuses on American Indians and Alaskan Natives who have origins in any of the original people of North America, and who maintain cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition. Program Managers provide advice and guidance on matters affecting the employment, advancement, retention and external participation of Native American in all NOAA programs and activities. Outreach efforts for employment and to community organizations must be specific and designed around equal trust, commitment and collective communication with tribal government officials.

Categories: Administration

National Link
National Ocean Service NOAA

The National Ocean Service (NOS) translates science, tools, and services into action, to address threats to coastal areas such as climate change, population growth, port congestion, and contaminants in the environment, all working towards healthy coasts and healthy economies.

Categories: Coastal, Management

National Link
National Marine Sanctuaries NOAA

The mission of NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries is to serve as the trustee for the nation's system of marine protected areas, to conserve, protect, and enhance their biodiversity, ecological integrity and cultural legacy.

Categories: Coastal, Conservation

National Link
National Invasive Species Information Center (NISIC) USDA

Gateway to invasive species information; covering Federal, State, local, and international sources.

Categories: invasive species, adaptation, planning, research

National Link
National Integrated Heat Health Information System National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention

The NIHHIS is an integrated system that builds understanding of the problem of extreme heat, defines demand for climate services that enhance societal resilience, develops science-based products and services from a sustained climate science research program, and improves capacity, communication, and societal understanding of the problem in order to reduce morbidity and mortality due to extreme heat.

Categories: extreme heat, climate services, resilience, health, capacity building, communication

National Link
National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Four Corners Tribal Lands Project NIDIS

Up-to-date information and research on drought in the Four Corners area is available through NIDIS.

Categories: Emergency Response, Research, Education

National Link
National Drought Mitigation Center Drought Planning Resources

The National Drought Mitigation Center hosts a website which includes a wide variety of drought planning resources, including a page dedicated to tribal drought planning.

Categories: Drought, Planning, Tribal Planning Resources

National Link
National Agricultural Library Natural Resources and Environment Resource Guide USDA

The National Agricultural Library has compiled a set of resources and information pretaining the natural resource and environmental issues.

Categories: Natural Resources

National Link
NASA GISS: Record Global Temperatures in 2015. NASA

NOAA Scientists confirmed 2015 to be the warmest year on record, according to this press release:"During 2015, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.62°F (0.90°C) above the 20th century average. This was the highest among all years in the 1880-2015 record, surpassing the previous record set last year by 0.29°F (0.16°C). This is also the largest margin by which the annual global temperature record has been broken. Ten months had record high temperatures for their respective months during the year. The five highest monthly departures from average
for any month on record all occurred during 2015. Since 1997, which at the time was the warmest year on record, 16 of the subsequent 18 years have been warmer than that year."

Categories: Temperature, Global Climate Change, Temperature Increases

National, International Link
NASA Applied Sciences Program NASA Earth Science

The Program manages three specific activities to improve skills and capabilities in the US and developing countries on how to access and apply NASA Earth science – DEVELOP, SERVIR, and Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET). In addition, the Program is actively involved in the international Group on Earth Observation (GEO), and the GEO activities support the overall capacity-building efforts.

Categories: applied sciences, earth science, training, capacity-building, observation

National Link
Mohawk Seedkeepers

Mohawk Seedkeepers is carrying on the tradition of Indigenous gardening and seed saving. Terrylynn Brant a Mohawk of Six Nations supports gardening initiatives and shares traditional seedkeeping knowledge.

Categories: traditional seedkeeping, sustainable living, traditional knowledge

Six Nations Indian Reserve, Canada Link
Model Forest Policy Program

The MFPP is a national nonprofit organization that helps communities create climate adaptation plans that are ready for implementation. They offer climate adaptation webinars, plan development, and strategies for plan implementation.

Categories: forest management, climate adaptation, planning, implementation

National Link
Mapping Climate-Resilient Landscapes: Interactive Conservation Planning Atlas for the Northwest LCC, NGO, The Nature Conservancy, NPLCC

The North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NPLCC) teamed up with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to share results of a great effort from TNC to identify climate-resilient landscapes in the Pacific Northwest. The project, led by TNC, identified and mapped the most resilient terrestrial sites in the Northwest U.S. that will collectively and individually best sustain native biodiversity, even as the changing climate alters current distribution patterns. Now – this data is available on the NPLCC Conservation Planning Atlas, a tool that visually showcases data-heavy information on a digital map.

Categories: Conservation, Adaptation, Planning, Mapping, GIS

Northwest Link
Lower Columbia and Outer Coast Landscape Conservation Design Project -- Blueprint for a Climate-Resilient Landscape NPLCC, USFWS, LCC

In response to this need, the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative and US Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1 has initiated a Landscape Conservation Design initiative for the Lower Columbia River and adjacent coastal shoreline - "Blueprint for a Climate-Resilient Landscape." This partner-driven, multi-stakeholder effort is an integrated, collaborative, and holistic process that is grounded in the interdisciplinary science of landscape ecology, the mission-oriented science of conservation biology, and the art of design. The process results in a science-based, spatially-explicit product that identifies targets of interest to partners, articulates measurable objectives; assesses current and projected landscape patterns and processes; and identifies a desired future condition, conservation and development trade-offs, and implementation strategies.

Categories: Conservation, Adaptation, Landscape-scale Conservation

Northwest Link
Landscape Climate Dashboard: Climate Projections for Federally and Tribally Protected Lands of the West LCC

Protected Lands are the cornerstone around which local, regional and landscape conservation strategies are developed. These lands are designated to preserve functioning natural ecosystems and act as refuges for species. Additionally, protected lands provide public access to recreation and preservation of natural historic sites. In the face of a changing climate, how will these lands be impacted?
The Landscape Climate Dashboard allows you to explore future climate projections and soil site sensitivity for federally held protected lands across the California, Pacific Northwest, Great Basin and Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) boundaries.

Categories: Federal, tribal, land, jurisdiction, climate change, conservation, development, temperature, precipitation

National Link
Isle De Jean Charles: Resettlement and Survival Isle de Jean Charles band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe

The overarching vision is to maintain and strengthen the tribe’s safety, collective identity, social stability, and contribution to the region throughout the resettlement process. Traditional ways of life will be rekindled and reinforced with tribal members living in one community rather than scattered, as they are today - some on The Island and others living in surrounding villages and towns. The design and layout of the new community is inspired by the tala, Choctaw for palmetto, because of its symbolic and functional importance in the tribe’s traditional lifeways. A successful resettlement will integrate historical traditions, novel technologies, and state-of-the-art resilience measures to create proactive solutions for this time of change and into the future. These efforts will not only benefit the Isle de Jean Charles community, but will also inform other communities that decide to relocate as the most sensible response to increasing coastal environmental hazards. This effort of utilizing tradition roots, innovation, and teaching and sharing activities will further enhance tribal livelihoods and build upon their resilience and social capacity. The new site will be a self-sustaining, practical, affordable, living demonstration of a community-led resettlement, with residential, agriculture, agroforestry and aquaculture uses.

Categories: resettlement, climate change, adaptation, marine ecosystems, infrastructure, tribal lands

Coastal Louisiana Link
Inuit Circumpolar Council-Alaska (ICC-AK) Inuit Circumpolar Council-Alaska (ICC-AK)

Inuit Circumpolar Council-Alaska (ICC-AK) is a 501(c) 3 non-profit corporation that represents and advocates for the Iñupiat of the Arctic Slope, Northwest, and Bering Straits; St. Lawrence Island (Siberian) Yupik; and Central Yup’ik and Cup’ik of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Southwest Alaska. ICC-AK is a member country to the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) and represents Inuit from Alaska at this international forum. The ICC is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that represents the interest of approximately 155,000 Inuit of the United States, Canada, Greenland and Russia.

Categories: Intertribal Organization, Inuit Peoples, Arctic, Circumpolar, Natural Resource Management, Cultural Resources Management, Climate Impacts

International, Alaska, Polar Link
Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) Inuit Circumpolar Council

Founded in 1977 by the late Eben Hopson of Barrow, Alaska, the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) has flourished and grown into a major international non-government organization representing approximately 155,000 Inuit of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Chukotka (Russia). The US branch of the ICC, ICC-Alaska, is the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC)-Alaska is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works on behalf of the Inupiat of the North Slope, Northwest and Bering Straits Regions; St. Lawrence Island Yupik; and the Central Yup’ik and Cup’ik of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Region in Southwest Alaska.

Categories: Inuit, Arctic, Policy, Climate Impacts, NGO

Arctic, International, Alaska, Russia, Greenland, Canada Link
Intertribal Timber Council (ITC) ITC, Tribal Entity

Established in 1976, the Intertribal Timber Council (ITC) is a nonprofit nation-wide consortium of Indian Tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, and individuals dedicated to improving the management of natural resources of importance to Native American communities. The ITC works cooperatively with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), private industry, and academia to explore issues and identify practical strategies and initiatives to promote social, economic and ecological values while protecting and utilizing forests, soil, water, and wildlife.

Categories: Natural Resource Management

National Link
Intertribal Nursery Council USDA Forest Service

The Intertribal Nursery Council (INC) is a USDA Forest Service managed, tribally guided, organization for advancing the interests of native peoples involved with plant production in nurseries.

Categories: plant production, traditional ecological knowledge, nursery training

Link
Interagency Workgroup on Climate Change and Water Resources FEMA, USACE, NOAA, US Global Change Research Program, Council on
Environmental Quality, and the New York City Panel on Climate Change

The Interagency Workgroup on Climate Change and Water Resources was formed between the USACE, Bureau of Reclamation, US Geological Survey, and National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration to evaluate how climate change consideration can be incorporated into activities related to the Nation’s water resources.

Categories: Adaptation, Water Resources

National Link
Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) Climate Change Program NGO

The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) was established in 1992 with a vision to assist Indian Tribes in the management of their environmental resources through effective training and education programs. ITEP offers training to tribal environmental professionals to build their capacity to address climate change issues and coordinates the Tribes and Climate Change website and newsletter, found here: http://www7.nau.edu/itep/main/tcc/

Categories: Adaptation, Mitigation, Natural Resource Management

National Link
Information Exchange for Marine Educators National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, National Marine Protected Areas Center

"Information Exchange for Marine Educators" is an e-newsletter that includes information about marine and environmental education programs and activities, professional development opportunities, funding resources and a section for educators to post requests for information.

Categories: education, curriculum, forum, climate change, accessibility

National Link
Indigenous Health Indicators Swinomish Indian Tribal Community

The overarching aims of the project are to create and test a set of community-based indicators of indigenous health specific to Native American tribal communities in the Puget Sound/ Salish Sea region of the Pacific Northwest. Indigenous Health Indicators (IHIs) are necessary because current U.S. government public health regulations and policies are based on a position that views risks and impacts as objective measures of dose-response assessments and physiological morbidity or mortality outcomes but does not otherwise connect them to social or cultural beliefs and values integral to Native American definitions of health.

Categories: Public health, Tribal Health, TK, Environmental Health, Climate Change, data

Washington, Puget Sound, Pacific Northwest Link
Indigenous Food Systems Network Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty

The Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty (WGIFS) was born in March of 2006 out of a recognized need to carry the Indigenous voice in the various meetings, conferences and discussions that have taken place within the food security movement. Through participation in the B.C. Food Systems Network Annual Gathering and strategic planning meetings, the WGIFS was created for the purpose of increasing awareness of the underlying issues, concerns and strategies impacting food security in Indigenous communities. The WGIFS seeks to apply culturally appropriate protocols and ancient ways of knowing through a consensus-based approach to critically analyzing issues, concerns and strategies as they relate to Indigenous food, land, culture, health, economics, and sustainability.
The WGIFS consists of members who provide input and leadership on ways to increase awareness and mobilize communities around the topic of Indigenous food sovereignty. The WGIFS strives to ensure Indigenous voices are carried from a strong and balanced representation and currently consists of participants from key communities and groups (listed below) in each of the major regions around the province of B.C. The working group is inclusive of non-Indigenous advocates from settler communities and promotes cross cultural participation that is representative and balanced based on geography, community group and cultures.

Categories: indigenous foods, food security, land, culture, health, economics, sustainability

Canada Link
Indigenous Climate Action (ICA)

Indigenous Climate Action’s (ICA) goal is to foster Indigenous communities that are inspired and empowered to take direct climate action. Our biggest natural resources are the unique Indigenous knowledge our people hold to build solid solutions for climate change. ICA supports regional capacity building to build critical relationships with decision makers and resources to ensure projects are continually growing. Through this collaborative approach, regional Indigenous communities will have access to resources that will support their work while simultaneously regenerating our biggest natural resources, the people and knowledge.

Categories: Climate Program, indigenous, climate justice, knowledge, capacity building, collaboration, resources

International Link
Indian Health Service (IHS) Regional Contact List IHS

The Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, is responsible for providing federal health services to American Indians and Alaska Natives. The Indian Health Service is broken out into 12 physical areas of the United States; Alaska, Albuquerque, Aberdeen, Bemidji, Billings, California, Nashville, Navajo, Oklahoma, Phoenix, Portland and Tucson. This webpage has more information on each region, including regional program descriptions and contact information.

Categories: public health

Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, Northeast, National, Alaska Link
Hot-Dry-Windy Index (HDW) U.S. Forest Service, St. Cloud University

The Hot-Dry-Windy Index (HDW) was designed to help users determine which days are more likely to have adverse atmospheric conditions that make it more difficult to manage a wildland fire. It combines weather data from the surface and low levels of the atmosphere into a first-look product.

Categories: wildfire management, weather conditions, prevention

National Link
Gulf Coast Prairie Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) DOI, LCC

The Gulf Coast Prairie LCC consists of partnerships based on science, and brings information to on-the-ground strategic conservation efforts. The Gulf Coast Prairie LCC offers leadership to strengthen the effectiveness of conservation of wildlife populations and their habitats throughout the region by providing the best available scientific information to inform management decisions. It will achieve this collaborative vision through shared access to science, data, expertise, and resources.

Categories: Conservation, Natural Resources

Southeast Link