BIA Tribal Climate Resilience Program
The Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) launched the Tribal Climate Resilience Program in 2014 to help tribes prepare for climate change. Direct funding from the now BIA's Branch of Tribal Climate Resilience (TCR) supports federally-recognized Tribes and Alaska Native villages in climate resilience planning through competitive awards for climate training, adaptation planning, vulnerability assessments, supplemental monitoring, capacity building, and ocean and coastal management planning.
Purpose: The mission of the Branch of Tribal Climate Resilience is to "enable climate preparedness and resilience across all Indian Affairs programs and for all Federally-recognized Tribal Nations and Alaska Native villages through technical and financial assistance, access to scientific resources and educational opportunities." Tribal Climate Resilience awards will be made to projects that address vulnerability to climate change impacts through the development of regionally focused or topically focused training; adaptation planning and data development; internships and youth engagement; travel to access training and attend technical workshops to build resilience skills and capacity; planning and design of relocation, managed retreat, and protect-in-place (RMP) efforts for coastal and riverine communities; implementation projects identified in previously completed planning documents (planning projects are not limited to BIA funded plans); capacity building to support RMP coordinators; and international ITEK virtual exchanges. Awards will also support projects that ensure Tribal participation in ocean and coastal (including the Great Lakes) cooperative planning, projects for ecological health, regenerative agriculture and food sovereignty, conservation practices, resilience, community safety and health, and economic security for present and future generations. Applications should describe how proposed projects will incorporate science, including ITEK, Indigenous languages traditional governance, and technical information to address vulnerability to climate change. Tribes can leverage TCR programs to further support their existing operations, program planning, project design, as well as Indigenous and Traditional Knowledges into their management and protection of Trust resources and Tribal economies.
Eligible Uses: Funding categories cover a range of activities, including climate adaptation planning, community-led relocation, managed retreat (ie, partial relocation), protect-in-place efforts, and ocean and coastal management. As of 2022, there are thirteen total award categories, including:
Climate Adaptation
- Category 1. Trainings and Workshops (maximum request: $150,000)
- Category 2. Adaptation Planning (maximum request: $250,000)
- Category 3. Travel Support for Adaptation Planning (maximum request: $15,000)
- Category 6. Capacity Building for Scoping Efforts (maximum request: $65,000)
- Category 10. Implementation of Climate Adaptation Strategies (maximum request: $2,000,000)
- Category 13. International ITEK Virtual Exchange (maximum request: $10,000)
Ocean and Coastal Management
- Category 4. Ocean and Coastal Management Planning (maximum request: $150,000)
- Category 5. Travel Support for Ocean and Coastal Management (maximum request: $15,000)
Relocation, Managed Retreat, or Protect-in-Place
- Category 7. Relocation, Managed Retreat, or Protect-in-Place Planning (maximum request: $300,000)
- Category 11. Implementation of Community Relocation, Managed Retreat, or Protect-in-Place Actions (maximum request: $3,000,000)
- Category 12. Relocation, Managed Retreat, or Protect-in-Place (RMP) Coordinator (maximum request: $150,000 per year for up to three years)
Internships and Youth Engagement
- Category 8. Internships (maximum request: $50,000)
- Category 9. Youth Engagement (maximum request: $50,000)
Potential Adaptation Uses:
Category 1, Trainings and Workshops awards support Tribes to design and host regional or national Tribal training(s) or workshop(s) that will assist Tribal leaders, program coordinators, planners, and managers in developing the skills necessary to address climate change by developing Tribal adaptation plans, or management options, through in-person and webinar trainings and workshops.
Category 2, Adaptation Planning awards are designed to support Tribal governments in the development of adaptation plans, vulnerability assessments, and data analysis efforts including supplementary monitoring to address climate change impacts to Treaty and Trust resources. Funding must not be used for existing routine monitoring programs or research projects. Outreach to community members including elders and youth throughout the planning process may help incorporate cultural values and capture key insights to better integrate Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledges (ITEK) to more effectively plan assessment strategies and prioritize options.
Category 4, Ocean and Coastal Management Planning awards are limited to coastal or Great Lakes coastal Tribes and Tribal organizations. Category 4 proposals may extend to Tribal participation in Regional Ocean Partnerships and other cooperative marine resource planning, restoration planning, ecosystem and/or vulnerability assessments, emergency management, marine spatial planning, coastal adaptation and/or resilience analysis, resource inventories, identify monitoring protocols and critical indicator species, implement a unique pilot study or project that would advance Tribal resilience and adaptation, ocean and coastal management knowledge, and/or infrastructure planning related to ocean and coastal challenges.
Category 6, Capacity Building for Scoping Efforts is limited to Tribes which have not previously received an award from one of the larger Categories. Capacity building awards are designed to support Tribes with limited technical or staffing capacity to hire part time staff or consulting to develop a Category 2 proposal for subsequent award cycles. Capacity building awards support Tribes in performing risk scoping activities with the community to address climate change impacts to Tribal Treaty and Trust 16 resources and economies. These efforts highlight risks and alternative options for Tribes to begin to plan, thus building greater capacity for climate resilience. Proposals under this Category will fund staff to develop a general scoping needs assessment (or similar process).
Category 7, Relocation, Managed Retreat, and Protect-in-Place (RMP) planning awards are designed to support Tribes facing questions and decisions regarding managed retreat, expansion, protect-in-place, and relocation options due to threats from intensifying coastal or riverine erosion, flooding, permafrost degradation, sea level rise, and similar impacts.
Category 10. Implementation of Climate Adaptation Strategies awards are designed to support application of on-the-ground, shovel-ready activities which already have a completed plan in place and are identified in official Tribal planning document(s). Examples of completed plan types may include: Tribal climate adaptation plans, natural resources plans that contain climate change resilience considerations and integration (e.g., agricultural resource management plans, forest management plans, wildfire management plans, integrated resource management plans, comprehensive economic development strategy plans), drought contingency plans, hazard mitigation plans, ecological restoration plans, greenhouse gas mitigation plans, community relocation plans, managed retreat plans, protect-in-place plans, etc. Implementation proposals can emphasize co-stewardship opportunities, sacred site access and/or protection, as well as treaty rights protection efforts.
Eligible Grantees: Federally-recognized Tribal not-for-profit and Tribal non-governmental organizations and associations only are eligible for this funding.
Process and Requirements: A complete application must contain mandatory components including a proposal document and budget to be completed and submitted by the tribal organization. The Tribe must be currently registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) with BIA. In addition, Federal law mandates that all entities applying for Federal financial assistance must have a valid Dun & Bradstreet Data Universal Number System (DUNS) number.
The BIA TCRP has granted more than $74 million to Tribes and intertribal organizations through 704 grants between 2011 and 2021. Early funding was used to support climate change trainings and regional workshops to support peer collaboration, along with climate impact assessments and tribal adaptation plans. In 2020, the scope of funding expanded to include support for relocation, managed retreat, and protect-in-place planning efforts.
In June 2017, the name of this program was changed from the BIA Tribal Climate Resilience Partnership and Technical Assistance Program, to the BIA Tribal Resilience Program, and the description of the program was condensed on the program website. To access the website before the program description was changed, please visit an archived page here: https://web.archive.org/web/20161114081737/http://indianaffairs.gov/WhoWeAre/BIA/climatechange//. As of 2021, the word "Climate" was restored to the program title, now the Tribal Climate Resilience Program, the climate change adaptation and resilience priorities have been expanded, and are again described more fully on the website. As of 2022, the Tribal Climate Resilience Program has become a Branch of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Publication Date: 2014
Related Organizations:
- Bureau of Indian Affairs
Sectors:
Resource Category:
Resource Types:
- Funding program
