Climate Change Impacts, Traditional Knowledge, and Communication
This series of four webinars will discuss impacts of climate change on tribal water resources and traditional foods, the role of traditional knowledge in climate change initiatives, and communicating about climate change. The webinars are being offered by the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) at Northern Arizona University with support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Tribal Climate Change Webinar Series: Climate Change Impacts in the Pacific Northwest
This series of four webinars will discuss impacts of climate change in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and implications of these impacts for tribes. The topic areas include marine issues, fisheries, forests, and invasive species and pests. The webinars are being offered by the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) at Northern Arizona University with support from the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station (PNWRS), and in collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Tribal Climate Change Project at the University of Oregon, the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative, and PNWRS. NOTE: Each webinar is limited to 100 participants.

October 22, 2014 — Alaska Tribal Climate Change Webinar
Erosion is seen throughout the State of Alaska. This webinar featured Ruth Carter and Sally Russell-Cox from the State of Alaska sharing potential new erosion responses and new resources that may provide useful information to communities affected by erosion.

Soft Designs for a Harsh Climate: Trends in Coastal Engineering
Presented by Ruth Carter, Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
    » Presentation/Slides [pdf format]

Understanding and Evaluating Erosion Problems
Presented by Sally Russell Cox, Alaska Division of Community and Regional Affairs (DCRA)
    » Presentation/Slides [pdf format]

Tuesday, April 29, 2014—Alaska Tribal Climate Change Webinar

The DOI Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs)
Presented by John Mankowski, Coordinator, North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative

Protecting North America’s natural and cultural resources and landscapes is essential to sustaining our quality of life and our economy. The US Department of Interior established 22 Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs), which are public-private partnerships composed of states, tribes, federal agencies, non governmental organizations, universities and others. LCCs recognize that managing these natural and cultural resources and landscapes has become increasingly complex, transcends political and jurisdictional boundaries, and requires a more networked approach to conservation— holistic, collaborative, adaptive and grounded in science.

John Mankowski, Coordinator of the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative, will provide an overview of the LCCs and how tribes can be involved in these partnerships. He will also discuss the goals of the North Pacific LCC, which includes parts of northern California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and southeast Alaska. John Mankowski has been immersed in natural resource policy issues in the Pacific Northwest for the past 25 years. Prior to accepting this position he served for 5 years as Governor Gregoire’s principle advisor on natural resources and environmental issues. His portfolio included fish and wildlife conservation; agriculture production and conservation; forest policy on federal, state and private lands; outdoor recreation; renewable energy development; water quality; growth management; and tribal engagement. Before working for the Governor, John worked for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for 20 years in a biologist, manager, and environmental policy expert He also served in a variety of science and management positions for state and federal natural resource agencies in Idaho, Alaska and Arizona before moving to Washington.
    » North Pacific LCC: http://www.northpacificlcc.org/
    » National LCC Network: http://lccnetwork.org/

    Presentation:
    » Click HERE for this presentation. [pdf]

Utilizing Yurok traditional ecological knowledge to inform climate change priorities
Presented by Joe Hostler, Environmental Protection Specialist with the Yurok Tribe Environmental Program

The Yurok Tribe located in NW California, has conducted a two phase study on Climate change impacts on Yurok Ancestral and Reservation Lands and resources, specific to impacts on wildlife and habitats that support culturally significant species. The first phase was the collection and documentation of TEK through community scoping and structured interviews that were recorded, transcribed, and entered into a GIS (mapped). The second phase consisted of analyzing the data collected in order to identify scientific information needs, data gaps and priority resources of concern specific to Climate change impacts that will be summarized in a final report to inform future funding, management and research efforts.

Joe Hostler, Environmental Protection Specialist, for the Yurok Tribe will discuss the process the Tribe used to document tribal traditional knowledge and what they learned during this project. He will describe this project from its beginnings as a partnership with the NPLCC, to how they designed the interview questions, and the process of documenting TEK while protecting confidentiality and intellectual property rights of the community and project participants. He will share lessons learned during this project that may be useful to others working to protect and preserve tribal traditional knowledge and wisdom.

Joe Hostler is an Environmental Protection Specialist with the Yurok Tribe Environmental Program. He is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and has a B.S. in Tribal Natural Resource Management Planning and Policy from Humboldt State University. He is an eager student of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and takes great pride in learning TEK from Tribal Elders and sharing this knowledge with Tribal Children.

Alaska Tribal Climate Change Webinar
Tuesday, January 28, 2014, at 10-11:30 a.m. Alaska time:

Agenda:

Climate Change Impacts to First Foods
Presented by Cheryl Shippentower, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Cheryl Shippentower is the Plant Ecologist at the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) Department of Natural Resources. She has worked for the Umatilla Tribe since 1995. Her primary responsibility is the protection, enhancement, and ecological restoration of "First Foods" and native plant resources that are critical to Tribal culture. Cheryl received a Bachelor’s Degree in Botany from Oregon State University and a restoration ecology certificate from the University of Idaho.

Presentation: First Foods Management

How do GAP funds contribute to developing a climate change program?
Presented by Michelle V. Davis, US EPA Tribal Coordinator. Michelle Davis is one of the Tribal Coordinators with the US EPA Region 10. She works with Alaskan Tribes in SouthEast and Prince William Sound and is a point of contact for Tribal Climate Change issues in Region 10 EPA. Before EPA, she was the Alaska Regional Coordinator for the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society. Michelle is an enrolled member of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and is from the Tlingit Eagle Moiety and Killer Whale House and lives in Wasilla, Alaska.

Relevant resources:
State of Alaska Wear Site: They were one of our first presenters.
https://dec.alaska.gov/eh/solid-waste/wear-project/

November 6, 2013—Alaska Tribal Climate Change Webinar

BIA’s Climate Change Adaptation Grants for Tribes:
Sean Hart, the BIA’s Climate Change Coordinator will join us to give information about the BIA’s Climate Change Adaptation grants. Proposals will be due November 29, 2013. The President’s 2013 Climate Action Plan committed federal support for tribes as they address climate change impacts. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has up to $600,000 available in fiscal year 2013/2014 available for competitive grants for tribal adaptation, training, and tribal travel support to participate in technical training, workshops, forums and cooperatives.

A copy of the RFP is available at ITEP’s website:
res_BIA2013_OTSClimateAdpatationGrantOffering.pdf

--> Adapting Region 10 Programs to Climate Change: How we are implementing the science and Executive orders.
Michael Cox will discuss the President’s Climate Action Plan, the findings from the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report and its relevancy to Alaska, EPA activities in Alaska related to climate change, and discuss how to better engage with tribes.

He is currently the climate change advisor for EPA's Region 10 in Seattle. His main tasks are to help EPA programs integrate climate change into how they do their work and coordinate efforts with EPA partners. Michael has over 25 years of environmental experience with EPA, UNICEF, National Wildlife Federation, and the City of Seattle. His past work included working on issues related to toxics in the Columbia River, toxics and nutrients in Puget Sound, and nitrate contamination in groundwater and drinking water in Yakima County.
Presentation: Climate Change Presentation Alaska [pdf]