** Climate change threatens relocation of Native American communities
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Monday, June 28, 2021
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is the largest investment of resources into Indian Country & tribal communities in U.S. history, investing $1.75 billion into programs administered under the oversight of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Interior Department. Photo: @USIndianAffairs ([link removed])

After centuries of policies enacted by the federal government to force their removal from traditional homelands, Native American communities are once again facing the threat of dislocation, this time as a result of climate change ([link removed]) . From exceptional drought in the Southwest to melting permafrost in Alaska, tribal communities across the United States are at the forefront for experiencing the most severe impacts of climate change.

Many tribes are hopeful they have powerful allies in President Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to address and reduce the climate risk they are facing. However, for some tribes it is already too late, including the Quileute Nation on the far edge of the Olympic Peninsula about 100 miles West of Seattle. In December, Doug Woodruff, chairman of the Quileute Tribal Council said in a statement ([link removed]) , “Climate change has forced us to make the heart-wrenching decision to leave the village. Without a cohesive national and international strategy to address climate change, there is little we can do to combat these impacts.”

Ann Marie Chischilly, executive director of the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals at Northern Arizona University points out that while the federal government offers help to communities coping with the effects of climate change, Native Americans often have less access to financial help than other Americans, saying ([link removed]) , “We’re the most disproportionately impacted by climate, but we’re the very least funded.” To put a finer point on the issue, George McGraw, chief executive officer of DigDeep, a nonprofit group that delivers drinking water to homes that need it, says ([link removed]) , “This is really textbook structural racism.” According to McGraw, the Navajo Nation has the greatest concentration of households lacking access to drinking water in the lower 48 states.


** Podcast: The future of water in the West
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The latest episode of CWP's podcast, The Landscape ([link removed]) , features two conversations about the unprecedented drought and the future of water across the West: Chairwoman Amelia Flores of the Colorado River Indian Tribes, and Haley Paul of Audubon Southwest discuss the challenges and opportunities for how the drought may shift how we think about water.
Quick hits


** Congress revokes Trump's rollback of methane emissions
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E&E News ([link removed])


** How to visit national parks and ski resort towns this summer despite the crowds
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Outside ([link removed]) [National Parks] New York Times ([link removed]) [Ski Towns]


** Climate change threatens to force relocation of Native American communities
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New York Times ([link removed])


** Wildfires are already closing national forests around the West, and it's only going to get worse
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Backpacker ([link removed])


** Podcast: Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on the heartbreaking history of indigenous boarding schools
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** Wildfire managers consider shifting from seasonal to full-time firefighting crews to prepare for year-round fire risk
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Associated Press ([link removed])


** Scientists are building on indigenous knowledge in an effort to save species from extinction
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Vox ([link removed])


** Mega drought in the Southwest: the dire situation now, and the need for a long-range plan for the future
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The Landscape ([link removed]) [Podcast] | ABC News ([link removed]) | Las Vegas Sun ([link removed]) | Albuquerque Journal ([link removed]) [Editorial]
Quote of the day
As a society, we’ll need to think about how we’re going to cope with either intermittent or long-term water shortages in a way that minimizes conflict—That’s not a science problem, that’s a values and social science problem.”
—Dave Gutzler ([link removed]) , climate scientist and professor at the University of New Mexico's Earth and Planetary Sciences Department
Picture this


** @USFWSHistory ([link removed])
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This Day in Environmental History: June 24, 2016 Stonewall National Monument, in New York City established to commemorate the Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969, a milestone in the quest for LGBTQ civil rights. #OTD ([link removed]) #tdih ([link removed]) #nationalparks ([link removed]) #Pride2021 ([link removed]) #PrideMonth ([link removed]) #pride ([link removed]) #envhist ([link removed])

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