Federal government awards $75M to Alaska Native health organization to help tribes address climate impacts

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium is receiving nearly $75 million over the next five years to help Indigenous communities grappling with hazards caused by a rapidly changing climate.

It is the largest federal appropriation “focused on climate resilience in Alaska Native communities in state history,” said Natasha Singh, interim head of ANTHC, during a press conference in Anchorage on Wednesday announcing the award.

The $74,950,045 award comes from the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge grant under the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, a $575 million funding pool for building resilience to extreme weather and environmental changes in coastal communities across the country. The award was recommended by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NOAA is partnering with tribal governments in Alaska as part of the project.

“The funding and partnerships not only acknowledges the state of our lands, but acknowledges Alaska’s tribes as the rightful leaders in this space,” Singh said.

ANTHC is administering the money through its Climate Initiatives Program, headed by Jackie Qataliña Schaeffer, who called it a “transformational investment” for Alaska.

“We’re able to not only build out our capacity within the consortium with subject matter experts, but also build out the capacity at the regional level,” Schaeffer said.

According to a summary of the project from NOAA, the money will “serve nearly 100 Alaska Native communities and focus on three major adaptation actions,” including the establishment of programs for affected communities to assess their climate risks, sharing knowledge on adaptation strategies, and providing more technical assistance around the state.

Tribes that are watching their traditional lands erode, melt and change will get access to the “best available science and engineering” as they decide for themselves whether to fortify their current town sites, manage retreat or fully relocate.

“It really is our goal and our vision to (meet) where they’re at and help them, empower them to make decisions that will enable them to thrive into the future,” Schaeffer said.

The funding will be used for dozens of new full-time positions, some of which will be technical and subject matter experts added to ANTHC’s offices in Anchorage, and others will be scattered across regions impacted by climate change in rural Alaska, according to Schaeffer.

“It was an extremely competitive process. We received $16 billion in eligible applications for a pot of $575 million,” said NOAA Deputy Administrator Jainey Bavishi.

The amount of money invested and the new partnership “will fundamentally change the landscape of Alaska tribal climate change adaptation,” Bavishi said.

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Singh said that effects from climate change directly impact people’s health and well-being. Access to traditional foods is precarious; houses and community buildings are threatened; and essential infrastructure like roads, runways and plumbing are not adequately hardened against melt, erosion or intensifying storms. By expanding technical assistance and resources to the communities living closest to the impact zones, she said, they can start identifying and implementing the most appropriate solutions.

“Now the hard work begins, as we use this tribal self-governance model to allow tribes to lead us,” Singh said.