Center for Environmentally Threatened Communities Newsletter

Issue 25, June 2019

Five Things to Know from this Issue

1. A Tribal leader in Alakanuk, Alaska shares his perspective on environmental change.
2. Southeast Alaska has been experiencing drought conditions since January 2018, impacting food and water resources.
3. Homes and other infrastructure are threatened by erosion and permafrost degradation in Saint Michael, Alaska.
4. A new podcast episode explores why efforts to relocate the community of Kivalina, Alaska have been unsuccessful.
5. Akiak, Alaska seeks millions of dollars to relocate homes threatened by erosion.

Recent Events 

Alakanuk Community Member Shares Perspective on Environmental Change

Southeast Alaska has Experienced Drought Conditions Since January 2018

National Weather Service Hydrologist Aaron Jacobs listens to workshop participants. Credit: Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center

Southeast Alaska has been experiencing abnormally dry conditions since at least late January 2018. The drought conditions have impacted the hydroelectric power generation, drinking water, streams, fish, and fish hatcheries. On May 7, 2019, over 70 people gathered to discuss drought and impacts in the temperate rainforest of Southeast Alaska at a workshop organized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Northwest Climate Hub. Information shared at the workshop helped increase USDA’s understanding of drought impacts in the region and refine drought metrics. For recordings and presentations from the workshop, click here.

State of Alaska Website for Environmentally Threatened Communities

McGrath, Alaska is one of the communities featured on the new State of Alaska website. Credit: Bing Maps

The State of Alaska Division of Community and Regional Affairs (DCRA) has created a website for the public to learn about the communities most vulnerable to flooding, erosion, and permafrost degradation in Alaska. Explore the page for information on community history, culture, economy, governance, critical infrastructure, natural hazard threats, and current and proposed efforts to address natural hazards in each community.

Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes Release Regional Adaptation Plan

In May 2019, during a weeklong environmental monitoring workshop in Sitka, Alaska, the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (CCTHITA) released their Regional Adaptation Plan. The origins of this effort go back to early December 2015 when the Swinomish and Tulalip Tribes of Washington hosted Southeast Alaska tribes to assess environmental change stressors in Southeast Alaska and prioritize their concerns.

Environmental impacts in Southeast Alaska are unique compared to other areas of Alaska and go beyond eroding coastlines and changes in the forest environment. Impacts include heavy rain causing flooding, ocean acidification, warmer marine waters, snowfall variations, warm springs followed by frost affecting wild berry production, invasive species, and toxins in the marine environment. These factors impact food security and access and abundance of culturally important resources. Harmful environmental trends may differ regionally. For example, storm surge erodes the coastline in one community and ocean acidification may be the most drastic impact to the local economy and way of life in another community. In some parts of Southeast Alaska, residents are observing yellow cedar forest die-off. Yellow cedar is used in bentwood boxes and Chilkat blankets as well as other cultural elaborations that are important for Tlingit and Haida identity. The outcome of the planning workshop was to focus on potential impacts to resources important for subsistence practices and cultural elaboration. As a result of the workshop in Washington, the group chose to focus on a few key resources: Salmon, shellfish, berries, yellow cedar, cultural sites, and human health.

To address these concerns, following the workshop in Washington in 2015, CCTHITA held a second workshop in Ketchikan, Alaska in September 2016 to review and plan monitoring, mitigation, and adaptation strategies to address these key resources. Alaska Sea Grant facilitated the discussion of this workshop. Researchers from the State of Alaska, federal agencies, the University of Alaska Southeast, and Southeast Alaska non-profits provided information on the latest research on salmon, shellfish, berries, yellow cedar, cultural sites, and human health. Over two days, participants described their concerns related to these resources. This included concerns raised about changing ocean conditions including ocean acidification, warming water, harmful algae blooms, contamination of water sources both marine and freshwater, changes in the terrestrial environment, and phenology. For example, residents note that warmer waters in the marine environment at the outflow of streams are causing a disruption in salmon migration patterns, which will make it more difficult for fisheries managers to ensure adequate escapement and harvest timing. Two outcomes of this event were to focus on water monitoring to document stream temperature and salmon life-cycle modeling.

Following this second workshop, CCTHITA also started the process of drafting a regional adaptation plan that could be used by any Tribe in Southeast Alaska and modified for their specific needs. This plan – released at the third workshop in Sitka in May 2019 – is still a work in progress. Recently, it was decided to form a steering committee of Tribal participants to continue working on the plan as a living document, which will assist tribes in Southeast Alaska with challenges they face. For more information, contact Kenneth Weitzel (kweitzel@ccthita-nsn.gov) at CCTHITA.

Chefornak Receives Approval for a Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan

The City of Chefornak and Village of Chefornak, two governing entities in Chefornak, Alaska, were recently approved through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) 2018 Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) program to receive approximately $30,000 in technical support to develop an updated Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (MJHMP). The new MJHMP will serve as a local tool for mitigating the community’s environmental threats and will also enable the tribe to become eligible for future FEMA grant funding. The city and tribe will coordinate the process with the State of Alaska Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management starting in 2019.

Five Community Members in Kotlik Relocate Imminently Threatened Home

While Kotlik, Alaska struggles to secure funding to relocate up to 56 homes threatened by erosion, the community took immediate action this month by moving the single most threatened home away from the river. Four laborers and one foreman worked for ten days to relocate the building using existing tools and supplies. The photo above shows the metal pipes that were cut into three-foot lengths and used to roll the house away from the shoreline. The community paid crew members by pooling gaming funds from the three Tribes located in Kotlik (Village of Kotlik, Native Village of Hamilton, and Native Village of Bill Moore's Slough), and the City of Kotlik and Kotlik Yupik Corporation provided materials and supplies. 

Community Profile: Saint Michael

Saint Michael, Alaska. Credit: Google Maps

Problem:

Saint Michael, Alaska has a population of 418 and is located on the east coast of Saint Michael Island in Norton Sound. The community experiences significant coastal erosion caused by high tides, storm surges, wind, waves, and melting permafrost. Like many other coastal communities in Western Alaska, the decline in shorefast sea ice is making the community more susceptible to erosion. Community members have measured erosion at 27 sites since 2006. Permafrost, which is melting rapidly, is exacerbating the erosion and causing land to collapse into the ocean. Community members are very concerned about the rate that land is shifting and subsiding. In 2017, permafrost degradation impacts caused the entire community's water and sewer system to fail. Thawing the system took six months and repairs cost nearly $1 million. 

Next Steps:

There are approximately 29 homes along the coast that are threatened by erosion and permafrost degradation. At least one home is less than one foot from the coast according to local measurements. Other infrastructure in the community that is threatened by thawing permafrost includes the water plant, water and sewer lines, City office, Tribal office, school, and the local store. Saint Michael would like to relocate homes to a site near the new airport road, where there are already a few houses. In order to do so, the community needs to evaluate if it is possible to relocate the homes and determine the appropriate methodology. Preventing another major damage event to the water and sewer system requires annual maintenance to compensate for permafrost thaw and resulting ground movement. 

Resources

DUNS Number Being Replaced with a SAMMI Number

Currently, when applying for Federal grants or cooperative agreements, all applicant organizations must have a Data Universal Numbering System, or DUNS number. The General Services Administration (GSA) recently announced that DUNS will be replaced by a new Government-owned unique identifier in all systems, including Grants.gov. The new government identifier will be incorporated into the System for Award Management (SAM) registration process, eliminating the need for applicants to seek external identifiers in order to register. The transition is currently in process and will impact organizations and communities in the coming months as DUNS is phased out and the new System for Award Management Managed Identifier (SAMMI) replaces it.

Alaska Tribal Administrators Association Tribal Accounting Services

Alaska Tribal Administrators Association (ATAA) offers shared accounting services for Tribes on a regular or as-needed basis with monthly, flat-rate options. The organization can provide services in audit preparations, budget development, grant reporting and management, indirect rate negotiations, reporting, payroll services, and more. If interested, contact ATAA to learn more and/or to sign up.

FEMA Tribal Mitigation Planning Handbook
Is your Tribal community is interested in creating a FEMA-approved Tribal Mitigation Plan? FEMA has released the Tribal Mitigation Planning Handbook, which is a tool for Tribal governments to use in developing a mitigation plan that meets FEMA requirements. It provides information on how to develop a plan, and how Tribes can create plans that work within their governance and tradition. Developing a FEMA-approved Tribal Mitigation Plan is a condition of receiving certain kinds of non-emergency disaster assistance grants, including the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and the Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Grant Program.

Upcoming Events

Cost Principles Training

Would you like to learn more about how to manage grants? The Alaska Native Epidemiology Center is hosting a Cost Principles Training that will build participants’ grant management skills. Anyone involved in grant-related financial actions can benefit from the training. It will cover cost principles throughout the grant’s lifecycle, including budget development and review, spending decisions, site visits, and audits.

• Location: Anchorage, Alaska.
• Date: July 24-25, 2019.
• Cost: $75.
• Register here.

Association of Alaska Housing Authorities (AAHA) Training

Basic Financial Management for Small Tribes: This training will focus on best practices to ensure that the management and accounting of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) funds are being observed, internal controls are in place, and written policies and procedures are in place to ensure that financial records are accurate and auditable.

• Location: Anchorage, Alaska.
• Date: August 6-7, 2019.

Audit Preparation: This training will provide attendees with the resources and tools to become “audit ready.” Participants will learn the requirements for a Single Audit, how to conduct audit preparation for grants, year-end closing processes, and an overview of auditor requirements.

• Location: Anchorage, Alaska.
• Date: August 8-9, 2019.
• To see AAHA’s complete training calendar, click here.

FEMA Public Comment Opportunity for New Pre-Disaster Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

FEMA recently announced an invitation for the public to comment on the development and implementation of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA) Section 1234: National Public Infrastructure Pre-Disaster Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. A new grant program called Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) is under development and will focus on reducing the nation’s risk by funding public infrastructure projects that increase community resilience. FEMA invites communities from all levels of government (federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial), as well as key stakeholders, including private businesses, citizens, vulnerable and at-risk populations, critical infrastructure sectors, and non-profit, academic, and philanthropic organizations to submit comments that help FEMA determine how to develop BRIC and deliver the program’s outcomes.

• Comments will be accepted until July 15, 2019.
• Submit your comments at https://fema.ideascale.com/a/campaign-home/61112 or by email at BUILDBRIC@fema.dhs.gov.

News Roundup

Quinhagak Considers Relocation due to Erosion: Alaska’s Energy Desk reports that infrastructure in Quinhagak, Alaska is threatened by erosion and the community is considering relocating to a new, distant site as a possible solution.

Akiak Looks for Funding to Move Houses in Danger of Falling into River: In late May, Akiak, Alaska lost a mile-long stretch of riverbank to erosion, which has jeopardized homes. The community needs to relocate the threatened houses and connect them to water, sewer, and roads, which will require millions of dollars in funding from multiple grant programs.

To the Ends of the Earth: This podcast episode investigates why efforts to relocate the community of Kivalina, Alaska have been unsuccessful. Listen in at minute 33:20.

Record-Breaking Heat in Alaska Wreaks Havoc on Communities and Ecosystems: An abnormally warm March in Alaska contributed to a dramatic retreat of Bering Sea ice and early break-up in Alaska’s rivers, leading to dangerous travel conditions and making coastal communities more vulnerable to spring storms.

About the Center for Environmentally Threatened Communities 

The Center was established with a Denali Commission grant to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and supports rural Alaska communities experiencing infrastructure impacts associated with environmental threats such as flooding, erosion, and melting permafrost. 

ETC@anthc.org | (907) 729-4521 | 4500 Diplomacy Drive, Suite 561, Anchorage, AK 99508

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