Center for Environmentally Threatened Communities Newsletter
Issue 19, December 2018
Happy Holidays from the Center for Environmentally Threatened Communities!
The Center for Environmentally Threatened Communities (CETC) would like to wish everyone a very happy holiday season and a wonderful new year. May the air be frigid, the ice thick, and time abundant with family and friends.
Alaska Tribal Conference on Environmental Management (ATCEM)
Rhonda McBride (left) facilitating a panel of speakers on the first day of ATCEM. From left: Rhonda McBride, Jackie Shaeffer, Malinda Chase, and Dr. Gary Ferguson. Credit: ANTHC.
From November 27-30, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium's (ANTHC's) Department of Community Environment & Health hosted the Alaska Tribal Conference on Environmental Management (ATCEM). Over the four-day conference, attendees learned about environmental issues facing Alaska Native communities in the areas of water resources, public infrastructure, changing climate, solid and hazardous waste, air quality and healthy homes, community sustainability, and contamination support. See below for a few highlights and useful information for your communities.
- Integrate Climate Change Into Your IGAP Work Plan: There are many opportunities to integrate climate change and environmental hazards work into your Indian General Assistance Program (IGAP) Work Plan. For example: adaptation planning; climate change vulnerability assessments; risk assessments for erosion, permafrost, and flooding; outreach and education; and emergency preparedness. For more information on the IGAP program, click here.
- Fourth National Climate Assessment: Jeremy Littell, from the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center, presented on the Fourth National Climate Assessment. The report dedicated an entire chapter to the changes and impacts Alaska is experiencing and can expect in the future. The main takeaway from the report for Alaskan communities recommends taking action now in order to successfully manage the unavoidable impacts of climate change. ANTHC recommends applying to the Bureau of Indian Affairs Tribal Resilience Grant, due out in Spring 2019, to advance your community's response to harmful environmental trends.
- Community Presentations: Community members from the Alaskan communities of Golovin, Port Heiden, McGrath, and others presented on the climate impacts they are seeing and how they have responded. A common theme was the importance of evaluating risks, creating consensus on community priorities, and developing a plan to reduce risk.
- Indigenous Perspectives to Sustainable Rural Alaskan Communities: Jackie Schaeffer with ANTHC presented on innovative approaches for rural communities to assess, plan and adapt to a changing climate. Using her work with the community of Oscarville, Alaska as an example, Ms. Schaeffer offered an indigenous framework for resilience planning.
Staff Update
CETC is thrilled to welcome Jennifer Galbreath to the team! She will be a tremendous resource for helping environmentally threatened communities secure funding and manage grants after they are awarded. Here’s a message from Jennifer:
Jennifer Rose Kehoe Galbreath is originally from Western Massachusetts but moved to Alaska seven years ago after meeting her husband in college. He was raised in Fairbanks, Alaska and Mentasta Village, Alaska and when they met, it felt like they had always known each other as they share many of the same philosophies on life even though they come from very different places. Jennifer has an amazing brother and feels so lucky that he lives in Alaska too. She is of Irish, Polish, Czech, and Hungarian descent.
Jennifer's mother always wanted a little girl named Jennifer and her mother’s name is Rosemary, so here she is, Jennifer Rose. She helps Jennifer see things from other perspectives and be compassionate. Kehoe is Jennifer's dad’s last name. After he passed away a few years ago, she decided to keep Kehoe as a middle name in his memory. He taught her how to build things and how to be in silence, especially with nature. Her parents lived in India before she was born and a special nickname was given to her by their community there – Shashi, the Sanskrit word for moon.
Professionally, Jennifer has been a grant writer for almost a decade. She thanks you for allowing her to serve you.
Current Funding Opportunities
FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Grant
CETC staff recommends that all communities apply to the FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program (PDM) Advanced Assistance category, which can fund up to $200,000 for engineering designs, risk assessments, feasibility studies, and other types of data collection.
- Eligibility: Any local or Tribal government with an approved natural Hazard Mitigation Plan
- Due Date: January 31, 2019
- More Information: To read the Notice of Funding Opportunity, click here. If your community would like assistance determining eligible projects, contact the CETC at etc@anthc.org or 907-729-4521.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Planning Assistance to the States (PAS)
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Planning Assistance to the States (PAS) program can provide approximately $100,000 of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assistance for data collection and planning to address environmental hazards in your community. Possible activities include: developing an annual average future erosion rate, determining what infrastructure will be impacted by erosion and flooding through 2050, identifying the safest site where threatened infrastructure can be moved to, assessing the structural integrity of infrastructure estimated to be impacted, and other activities.
Process: To request assistance under the PAS program, a community must submit a letter to the Alaska District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. More information on the program can be found here. If your community would like assistance with submitting a request, contact the CETC at etc@anthc.org or 907-729-4521.
News Roundup
Alaska Native Communities Will Face the Brunt of Climate Change: The recent National Climate Assessment details what many Alaska Native communities already know - indigenous communities in Alaska will be most affected by climate change.
As Alaska Warms, The Y-K Delta Heats Up Even Faster: Alaska is warming twice as fast as the rest of the U.S. and the Y-K Delta is experiencing some of the largest impacts in the state.
Alaska Natives Face the Demise of the Arctic Ice Pack: Sea ice has been a central part of life and subsistence activities for Alaska Native communities in the Arctic. Melting sea ice threatens the safety and way of life of these communities.
Napakiak Faces Accelerating Erosion: This four-part series details the erosion threat in Napakiak, Alaska including the most threatened community infrastructure, the community's response, and a need for outside funding to protect the community.
Climate Change Will Cost Alaska Hundreds of Millions Per Year: A report from the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) estimates that the consequences of climate change will cost the state between $340 and $700 million per year over the next three to five decades, with the damages disproportionately affecting rural and Alaska Native communities.
Resources
Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) Climate Change Resources
The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals’ (ITEP) Tribes & Climate Change Program recently shared the latest Mindmap tool, which compiles the latest resources and tools available for related to Tribes and climate change. It includes trainings, data, adaptation plans, toolkits, and other resources. The tool can be accessed here.
Tribal Climate Adaptation Guidebook
The Oregon Climate Change Research Institute and Adaptation International has released the Tribal Climate Adaptation Guidebook Version 1.0. While many guidebooks and adaptation planning resources are geared toward Western local governments, this guidebook provides a framework for climate adaptation planning specifically for Tribes. It is designed for Tribes at any stage of the adaptation planning process and follows a holistic, community-driven approach. Click here to access the guidebook.
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
