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Center for Environmentally Threatened Communities
We support communities to address environmental threats and achieve their vision for a safe, healthy, and sustainable future.
Newsletter Issue 49
Six Things You Should Know
- Napakiak is setting up temporary classrooms and developing plans to demolish their school, which is threatened by erosion.
- The Bureau of Indian Affairs Tribal Climate Resilience Program awarded funding to 39 Alaska Tribes and Tribal organizations.
- The Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation created the Climate Impact Response Fund to support Alaska Native communities to respond to climate change and environmental threats.
- The National Congress of American Indians recently passed two climate change resolutions.
- We recommend attending the Department of the Interior’s virtual listening session on community relocation, managed retreat, and protection-in-place issues in Alaska.
- The Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation is accepting applications from Alaska Native people or families who have been impacted by COVID-19.
Bureau of Indian Affairs Tribal Climate Resilience Program Awarded Funding to 39 Alaska Tribes and Organizations
This year, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Tribal Climate Resilience Program (TCRP) awarded funding to 39 Alaska Tribes and Tribal organizations. Click here to read a list of awards and project descriptions. Below, we share a few examples of projects in different Alaska regions.
Nelson Lagoon begins search for possible relocation sites
Nelson Lagoon is located on a spit in the upper right portion of this image. Potential relocation sites are marked with a red X above. Credit: ANTHC.
In November 2020, Nelson Lagoon, Alaska lost 90 feet of land in a single storm. All of the erosion monitoring stakes and the time-lapse camera used to monitor erosion were claimed by the ocean. The community may be forced to relocate to another distant site. This project will evaluate the potential habitability of three sites that the community could pursue for long-term relocation.
Ekuk addresses erosion impacts to invaluable setnet salmon fishery
Ekuk sockeye salmon setnet fishery. Credit: KDLG.
The sockeye salmon setnet fishery in Ekuk, Alaska is one of the most productive fishing areas in Bristol Bay. Ekuk community members use the beach to access the fishery, which is central to their subsistence practices, cultural identity, and economic activity. However, accelerating coastal erosion and flooding threaten the beach and adjacent infrastructure. This project will complete a feasibility study to evaluate mitigation strategies to address erosion along the beach.
Shaktoolik’s constructs storm surge monitoring tower
This photo was taken on October 16, 2021, after the community concluded another season of berm construction. Credit: Bristol Engineering.
Shaktoolik, Alaska will install a 30-foot tall tower with time-lapse cameras to monitor storm surges and damages to the community’s sacrificial protective sand and gravel berm. The purple arrow in the photo to the left shows the approximate location of the tower. Monitoring data can inform future flood inundation modeling and quantify damage to the berm due to storms.
Quinhagak addresses permafrost degradation impacts to buildings
Multipurpose building in Quinhagak, Alaska. Note the gap between the building and the foundation. Photo credit: ANTHC.
Quinhagak, Alaska faces an estimated $11.5 million in immediate needs to address environmental threats to community infrastructure. Subsidence due to permafrost degradation impacts most infrastructure in the community. This project will complete structural engineering assessments of the multipurpose building and the Head Start facility to inform solutions.
Support Tribes Facing Immediate Threats from Climate Change and Other Environmental Threats
Indigenous Peoples must have direct, open access to funding, capacity-building, and other technical assistance, with their free, prior and informed consent, with no non-federal cost shares to address the immediate and long-term threats from climate change and other environmental threats.
Donate to the Climate Impact Response Fund
The Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation (HANF) has created the Climate Impact Response Fund (CIRF) to support Alaska Native communities to prepare for and respond to climate change and environmental threats. The Fund provides immediate financial assistance when disaster strikes and supports families on the frontlines of climate change. Click here to learn more and to donate.
Resources
Status of Tribes and Climate Change Report
The first-ever Status of Tribes and Climate Change (STACC) report examines the disproportionate effect climate change has on Indigenous lands and people. ANTHC staff contributed to the Protection-in-Place and Community-led Relocation chapter, which also features a case study from Kotlik, Alaska. Click here to see the report.
Precipitation Projections for Alaska Infrastructure Tool
The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Scenarios Network for Action and Planning (SNAP) has developed a tool to incorporate future precipitation projections into the planning and design of infrastructure. Click here to access the tool and click here to view a webinar to learn more about the tool.
Funding Opportunities
Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation COVID-19 Grants Available
HANF is accepting applications from Alaska Native people or families who have been impacted by COVID-19. Applicants can apply to have up to $1,000 of unpaid expenses covered. Eligible expenses may include utilities, medical supplies, food, housing assistance, child care assistance, travel, bereavement support, travel, personal protection equipment, and others. Apply today here.
Federal Emergency Management Agency 2021 Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Webinar Series
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is hosting a series of webinars for Tribal governments interested in learning more about the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program. The webinars will include information on application development, the benefit-cost analysis, and the application process. Click here for more information and to register.
Upcoming Events
Department of the Interior Tribal Climate Listening Sessions
The Department of the Interior (DOI) has announced an upcoming virtual listening session focused on unmet infrastructure needs for community relocation, managed retreat, and protection-in-place issues in Alaska. DOI would like to ensure that the efforts and initiatives it develops to meet these priorities are shaped and designed based on feedback and information from across Indian Country and Alaska Native Villages. The session will be held as part of the BIA Provider’s Conference the week of November 29th. Click here for more information.
News Roundup
Recent Successes
Napakiak sets up temporary classrooms and develops plans to demolish school threatened by erosion
Recent Challenges
US communities say dire predictions in the UN climate report already unfolding: This article features the Alaska communities of Nunapitchuk and Napakiak.
Medical journals call climate change the ‘greatest threat to global public health’
Rapid erosion threatens set net fishery in Ekuk, Alaska
Storms and high winds projected to become more frequent in Western Alaska
New research shows melting permafrost is affecting infrastructure faster than expected: Listen to this four-minute interview with Vladimir Romanovsky.
About the Center for Environmentally Threatened Communities
The goal of the Center for Environmentally Threatened Communities (CETC) is to support rural Alaskan communities experiencing infrastructure impacts associated with flooding, erosion, and permafrost degradation. The team does this through community planning, project development, grant writing, project management, grant management, and other technical assistance.
ETC@anthc.org | (907) 729-4521 | www.anthc.org/cetc | 4500 Diplomacy Drive, Suite 561, Anchorage, AK 99508
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