The economic self-determination and self-sufficiency of many tribes rests in their ability to manage their natural resources effectively. In the throes of climate change, that’s a challenging mission. But it’s also one tribes have handled since time immemorial.

As Edwin “Arlen” Washines of the Yakama Nation wrote for his nation’s plan: “For many generations, you will be challenged with a changing climate. But always remember, since time immemorial, we have looked to our elders for their wisdom and guidance, and within our children we will always see hope.”

Below, Native Business Magazine offers four natural resource-focused stories published in 2018 on NativeBusinessMag.com that merit a close read.

1) To prepare for the inevitable effects of climate change, many tribes are adopting action plans to both mitigate the factors contributing to change and adapt to the increasing intensity of harsh weather events.

Improved energy efficiency is a common thread in many of the plans. For instance: 

  • The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation built in smarter energy generation and use into their definition of mitigation.
  • The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe discussed requiring new construction to conform with green building standards.
  • The Oglala Lakota are looking to wind energy to help them establish their own sustainable grid.
  • The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians have been granted the authority by the EPA to implement their own air quality plan.
  • The Navajo Nation combines energy and water needs, often referred to as the energy-water nexus, in its 200-page climate plan.
  • By demonstrating resiliency and ingenuity, Indian Country can become a leader in the burgeoning post-carbon energy economy.

Read the full article: Woven Together With the Land: The Role Climate Change Will Play in the Future of Tribal Energy

2) Since Phoebe Suina founded Native-Owned, Woman-Owned High Water Mark LLC, in 2013, she and her elite team of nine have managed to make a big imprint in environmental engineering across the southwest pueblos.

While much of High Water Mark’s portfolio speaks to her team’s expertise in hazard management and emergency management, Suina herself is casting a long shadow on past practices of viewing water resources as simply surface and groundwater issues. And “tribal water rights” have become the shorthand for this intricate issue.

Given what Suina describes as the disproportionate impact of natural catastrophes on tribal nations, the need to engage High Water Mark’s services is not difficult to make.

Read the full article: Phoebe Suina on Preserving Tribal Water Rights

3) Tribes across the country are using their forest lands to generate income by selling carbon credits in the California emissions trading industry while preserving their lands for future generations.

“These type of projects focus on preservation of tribal natural resources while still being able to derive revenue,” says Bryan Van Stippen, a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and program director for the National Indian Carbon Coalition, “even if a tribal entity has a commercial logging operation.”

California, which has the fifth largest economy in the world, launched its “cap and trade” program in 2013 with the goal of reducing greenhouse emissions to pre-1990 levels by 80 percent by 2050. Currently, 11 tribes from Alaska to Maine have received approval to participate in the program.

Read the full article: Selling Carbon Credits Is Earning Tribes Millions While Conserving Forests

4) The first key message from the tribal chapter of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4)—a comprehensive report compiled by a dozen different federal agencies, released in late November—is that climate change puts tribal economies at risk.

Existing institutional barriers, like incomplete land and water rights, exacerbate these risks and delay disaster preparedness and planning. The reports list a number of industries vulnerable to climate change, including agriculture, fisheries, tourism, forestry, energy, and recreation. Threats are already coming in the form of wildfires, drought, sea level rise, rising temperatures, and ocean acidification.

Historically, indigenous persons migrated to new places when the landscape became inhospitable. Because of trust lands and the modern reservation system, relocation is often not a viable option. Some Alaska Native villages are already having to take this gigantic step—uprooting communities and requiring a new social fabric to be knitted in an unfamiliar place.

Read the full article: Feds Release the Fourth National Climate Assessment, Highlight Risk and Opportunity for Tribal Economies in the Face of Climate Change