Listening to Tribes and understanding Tribal priorities drives our programs and services we offer.

ITEP Reports

Since 2010, the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) has developed a number of reports and co-authored other publications on tribal climate change topics. The reports listed here are those developed primarily by ITEP.

Climate Change Adaptation Planning: Training, Assistance and Resources for Tribes
ITEP developed this report to provide recommendations to US federal agencies working on tribal climate change programs and initiatives. The report discusses adaptation planning by tribes and the challenges that some tribes encounter in the development and implementation processes. It also offers recommendations to federal agencies for the types of capacity building activities and programs that are needed to support tribes in their efforts to plan for climate change impacts. These recommendations are drawn primarily from feedback and suggestions from participants of ITEP’s climate change trainings, from publications focused on tribal climate change issues, as well as the results of several feedback forms in which ITEP sought input from its tribal climate change contacts.

Southwest Tribal Climate Change Workshop Report
ITEP, in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, hosted a workshop in 2011, to bring together tribes in Arizona and New Mexico to discuss tribal climate change issues and concerns, strategies to address climate change impacts, and tribal resource and research needs. This workshop was offered as part of ITEP’s Southwest Tribal Climate Change Project that focused on tribal climate change issues in Arizona and New Mexico.

Tribal Climate Change Efforts in Arizona and New Mexico
This report provides a summary of the results of an information-gathering effort in 2010 by ITEP, in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station. The purpose of this project was to gain a better understanding of the work that was already being undertaken by tribes, tribal organizations, tribal colleges and Native American academics in Arizona and New Mexico, related to climate change. Development of this report was part of ITEP’s Southwest Tribal Climate Change Project that focused on tribal climate change issues in Arizona and New Mexico.

International

Arctic Climate Impact Assessment An international project of the Arctic Council and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), to evaluate and synthesize knowledge on climate variability, climate change, and increased ultraviolet radiation and their consequences.
acia.uaf.edu/
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) The IPCC is a scientific body under the United Nations. It reviews and assesses the most recent scientific, technical and socio-economic information produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of climate change.
  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report: Global Warming of 1.5°C
ipcc.ch ipcc.ch/sr15/
One Story: A Report of the First Peoples Convening on Climate-Forced Displacement In October 2018, over sixty representatives of First and Indigenous communities met in Girdwood, Alaska, for a first-of-its-kind gathering: the First Peoples’ Convening on Climate-Forced Displacement. Representatives came from Alaska, Louisiana, Washington, Bangladesh, and the Pacific. The group met for three days to power-fully share the ways in which rapid climate change is impacting their communi-ties and traditional ways of life, share traditional knowledge and practices, and begin to develop a collective vision for the future. Participants were all representatives of First Peoples and Indigenous Peoples who face the threat of displacement by slow-onset changes to their ancestral and traditional lands. https:// www.uusc.org/ wp-content/uploads/ 2019/04/ UUSC_Report_ ALASKA_web_ 2april.pdf
Weathering Uncertainty: Traditional Knowledge for Climate Change Assessment and Adaptation Co-published by UNESCO and UNU, references 280 publications from the scientific literature and covers themes at the core of the Fifth IPCC assessment report, such as foundations for decision-making on indigenous knowledge, traditional livelihoods, vulnerability, resilience, and adaptation policy and planning. http://unesdoc. unesco.org/ images/0021/002166 /216613E.pdf

National

U.S. National Climate Assessment (NCA) Reports
The National Climate Assessments are comprehensive reports, published approximately every four years, discussing climate change and its impacts in the United States, now and in the future. The assessments contain chapters on the latest climate science as well as chapters on regional and sectoral impacts and adaptation actions underway. The third NCA, completed in 2014, and the fourth NCA, completed in 2018, also contain chapters specific to Tribes and Indigenous Peoples. We’re including links to both the third and fourth NCAs here because they build on one another and contain somewhat different but complimentary information.

In addition, as part of the fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4), a glossary of Indigenous Peoples Terminology was developed. The Bureau of Indian Affairs Resilience Program also created an interactive U.S. Indigenous Peoples Resilience Actions map to highlight planning, adaptation, monitoring, governance, and youth/Traditional Ecological Knowledge actions been undertaken by Indigenous peoples throughout the U.S. A feedback form on the site allows Tribes to submit new actions for inclusion in the map.

https:// globalchange .gov /nca4
U.S. Global Change Research Program: Climate and Health 2016 Assessment
The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) Climate and Health Assessment has been developed to enhance understanding and inform decisions about the growing threat of climate change to the health and well-being of residents of the United States.
global /health- assessment
SCAN: Science for Climate Action Network
The report is based on ideas and inputs from state, local, and tribal officials, researchers in all areas of climate science, experts in non-governmental and community-based organizations, professionals in engineering, architecture, public health, adaptation, and other areas.
https:// www.climate assessment.org/
2nd State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2)
The goal of the second (2018) State of the Carbon Cycle Report was to summarize scientific understanding of the U.S. and North American carbon cycle stocks and fluxes. Various chapters focus on carbon stocks and fluxes in soils, waters including oceans, vegetation, estuaries and wetlands, agriculture, forests, and human settlements. Chapter 7 focuses on Tribal Lands.
 
ITEP Tribal Profiles
ITEP’s Tribal Profiles are from a tribal perspective that represent a small percentage of tribes actively working to address climate change issues.
https://itep.nau
.edu/twsgp/tribes/
U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit – Case Studies
These case studies highlight tribes and others who are taking action to assess their vulnerabilities and build resilience to climate-related impacts.
https:// toolkit .climate .gov /case-studies
University of Oregon Tribal Climate Change Project Tribal Profiles
The Tribal Climate Change Profiles are intended to be a pathway to increasing knowledge among tribal and non-tribal organizations interested in learning about climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.
https:// tribal climate .uoregon.edu /tribal -profiles/

State

California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment California’s Climate Change Assessments (2018) contribute to the scientific foundation for understanding climate-related vulnerability at the local scale and informing resilience actions, while also directly informing State policies, plans, programs, and guidance, to promote effective and integrated action to safeguard California from climate change.
climate assessment. ca.gov/
Montana Climate Assessment The 2017 Montana Climate Assessment focused on three sectors that Montana stakeholders identified as important: water, forests, and agriculture. The MCA found that all three of these sectors have experienced impacts from climate change over the last half century. In addition to exploring how the past climate has changed and its effects on Montana, the MCA explored how future projected climate change would also affect water, forests, and agriculture across the state. The overall objective of the MCA is to inform Montanans about the state’s changing climate so that they can better plan for the future. http:// www. montana climate .org/

Tribal

Colorado River Basin Ten Tribes Partnership Tribal Water Study Report The Study documents how Partnership Tribes currently use their water, projects how future water development could occur, and describes the potential effects of future tribal water development on the Colorado River System. The Study also identifies challenges related to the use of tribal water and explores opportunities that provide a wide range of benefits to both Partnership Tribes and other water users.
usbr.gov/ lc/region/ programs/ crbstudy/tws/ finalreport.html

CONNECT WITH US

Nikki Cooley
Co-Director
Nikki.Cooley@nau.edu

Karen Cozzetto
Manager
Karen.Cozzetto@nau.edu

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Rebecca Stevens

Chair

Coeur d’Alene Tribe – Idaho

Program Manager/Restoration Coordinator
Working with the Tribe since: 2005

Rebecca is the Program Manager for the Tribe’s Natural Resources Department-Hazardous Waste Management Program. She also serves the role as the Restoration Coordinator with the Restoration Partnership. Rebecca has been working on water quality related issues for over 19 years. She represents the Tribe in the Bunker Hill Mining and Metallurgical Complex Superfund Site working with EPA while implementing their remedy for the Basin. She is also the Tribe’s Restoration Coordinator for the Restoration Partnership for which all Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) claims have been settled and on the ground restoration work has been underway since 2019. Rebecca continues to work with other Tribes on NRDA issues while coordinating with the US DOI, USDA, and the State of Idaho.

Rebecca is a proud member of the Tribal Waste and Response Steering Committee where she also serves on the Tribal Superfund Work Group and Advisory Council. Rebecca enjoys x-country skiing in the winter, summertime water sports, Frisbee golf, and spending time with her friends, family, and blue heeler. Rebecca is very honored to work for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and is proud to be a part of restoring natural resources in the Coeur d’Alene Basin.

Rebecca can be reached by e-mail at rstevens@cdatribe-nsn.gov.

National Tribal Forum on Air Quality

The National Tribal Forum on Air Quality (NTFAQ) aims to support tribal programs by fostering information-sharing and networking opportunities that are focused on building tribal capacity in air quality management. The event’s agenda is driven by tribal input and priorities, with a focus on increasing tribal engagement in air quality initiatives that are relevant to tribal communities across the nation.