Federal Resilience Programs: Tribal Climate Resilience Annual Awards Program | Article

The Bureau of Indian Affairs Tribal Climate Resilience Annual Awards Program supports a range of adaptation initiatives while keeping focus on Indigenous knowledge and languages.
Since 2011, the awards program has distributed more than 1,050 awards and $240 million dollars in grants. In 2023 alone, 146 grants worth $121 million were awarded.
In 2023, the program supported 17 projects focused specifically on relocation, managed retreat, or protect-in-place coordination—a recognition that tribes are on the frontlines of climate impacts.

Tribes across the country are identifying ways to adapt to the changing climate, from hosting climate adaptation trainings to farming with long-held regenerative agriculture practices. One federal program supporting this effort is the Bureau of Indian Affairs Tribal Climate Resilience Annual Awards Program, which provides competitive funding for federally-recognized tribes and tribal organizations to strengthen their climate resilience.

The program, which works to center Indigenous knowledge and languages within resilience projects, can support efforts ranging from administering climate assessments for future planning to migration and relocation. W. Ron Allen, Chairman/CEO of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe of Washington State, sees the challenge first hand. “There are lots of projects that are needed for tribes to adjust responsibly to the climate conditions,” he shared with EESI. “It is a very complicated matter and it requires a lot of infrastructure in order for these various solutions to become realized.”

In 2023, the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe had two proposals funded through the Tribal Climate Resilience Annual Awards Program. One project, in collaboration with the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, focuses on stream monitoring to better understand fluctuating water levels. The second project is about relocating key facilities away from the coast.

Awards are made available to both tribes and tribal organizations, but these applications are separated so they are not competing with each other for funding. The program prioritizes the highest risk communities by factoring formal risk assessments into applications. Entities that are not federally recognized tribes or tribal organizations can still be eligible for certain funding categories as sub-awardees.

Since 2011, the awards program has awarded more than 1,050 grants amounting to over $240 million. In July 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration highlighted the program as part of its $440 million overall investment in tribal climate resilience. However, Chairman Allen highlighted that tribes have different capacities to compete for these funds. He noted, “Our tribe’s grant writers and planners are really good, enabling us to compete with almost anybody. Other tribes do not have strong planning and grant writing teams. Grant writers can get overwhelmed with so many different projects. They all of a sudden have to be an expert on environmental matters and countering climate change conditions.” Allen emphasized that “if there is a barrier, it is the capacity to write a grant that fits the expectations of this program.”

Funding is divided into five categories, which are organized based on tribal feedback. The first two categories are for tribal climate resilience planning and implementation. The maximum grant for planning is $250,000 while the maximum grant for implementation is $4 million. The remaining three categories are: first-time awardees; habitat restoration and adaptation; and relocation, managed retreat, or protect-in-place coordination.

In total, 17 projects supported in 2023 focused on relocation, managed retreat, or protect-in-place coordination, with many applicants looking to retreat away from eroding coastlines and relocate critical infrastructure such as buildings or roads. This specific set-aside funding recognizes that tribes are on the frontlines of climate impacts. In the case of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, its Natural Resources Lab and associated office spaces were originally built on the waterfront and now face flood damage that has “economic, substantive, and cultural” impacts on the tribe. The Tribal Climate Resilience Annual Awards Program funding enabled the Jamestown S'Klallam to take some of the final steps needed to relocate their facilities to a higher, safer location.

The Natural Resources Lab that will be demolished and relocated. Credit: W. Ron Allen

The Tribal Climate Resilience Annual Awards Program is a tool that an increasing number of tribal communities have accessed to advance their resilience to climate impacts. Tribes have been able to put the funds to use for a diverse range of projects that address the needs identified by their communities. As Chairman Allen puts it, the program is “leading the charge and opening up new doors” for tribal climate resilience, when there are not many other sources of funding available for these efforts.

To learn more about other federal programs advancing climate resilience, check out EESI’s Federal Resilience Programs article series.

Author: Meghan Tinnea