Tribes and tribal lands in the Northern Rockies/Northern Plains region are already experiencing the effects of climate change, and tribal managers are also already responding to and preparing for the impacts of those changes. However, these managers face many challenges and obstacles to either completing and/or implementing their adaptation plans. The overall goal of this project is to provide tribal managers in this region the opportunity to share experiences, challenges, and successes with each other in order to support climate adaptation efforts.
The project researchers will plan and conduct a workshop for tribes in the north central region that are in some stage of climate adaptation planning or implementation. This project is a collaboration between Colorado State University and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes who will build on previous workshops held by the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) that focused on providing participating tribes with basic information about climate change, adaptation planning, and vulnerability assessments. The project team will work with ITEP to develop the next iteration (“2.0”) of tribal climate adaptation workshops to facilitate tribal managers in their efforts to complete the climate adaptation process. This project will result in tribal managers who are better equipped to carry out adaptation planning, which will ultimately help lessen the harmful impacts of climate change on tribal lands, resources, and communities in the region.
