As the effects of climate change get worse, the Biden administration will give money to five Native American tribes to move away from rivers and coastlines.
The funding, which will go to three tribes in Alaska and two in Washington State, marks the beginning of a new federal program to relocate people and homes threatened by climate change. The program seems to be the first of its kind.
The treasurer of the Makah Tribe, which is located in Washington State, said they are grateful. The tribe will get money to build a new health clinic on higher ground.
There is a shift in U.S. climate adaptation policy towards what climate experts call "managed retreat", the movement of buildings and infrastructure away from areas that are vulnerable to the consequences of global warming. Residents and policymakers alike acknowledge that some places are becoming too difficult to protect.
Disaster recovery agencies could use the relocation program as a template. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is rethinking its strategy of rebuilding communities in places that are vulnerable to floods and hurricanes.
Government officials are challenged to decide which communities get funding to retreat from the relocation awards. The tribes that applied for the program were rejected.
The program is run by the Department of the Interior.
Climate change has caused the federal government to attempt relocations before. The Obama administration gave $48 million to relocate a village. The first long-term effort to relocate tribes that are threatened by climate change is underway.
The United States government forced many tribes onto marginal or inhospitable land more than a century ago, making them vulnerable to the effects of global warming.
Records obtained by The New York Times show that at least 11 tribes applied for relocation funding. There were six that were turned down.
The Akiak Native Community is a village of less than 500 people located in Southwest Alaska. Akiak is forced to pull back from the water as the shoreline is eroded due to the melting of the permafrost.
Akiak will get over two million dollars from the Interior Department. The chief of the village expects to be able to move 15 to 20 houses with that money. Mr. Williams said it was good.
The village of Nunapitchuk, 40 miles west of Akiak, will get more than $2 million to move. Chefornak is a village on the Kinia River that is close to the sea.
The Makah Tribe won funding in Washington State, as well as the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe, which is located on the northern tip of the peninsula. The tribe's buildings are being threatened by flooding.
According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the tribe will get more than $2 million to demolish three homes near the water.
The cost of relocation of tribes can run into the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars and the money from the new program won't be enough. It can make a difference when it's combined with other sources of funding.
On the northern shore of Washington State, along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe tried to get money under the new program to relocate a house away from the water, as well as a laboratory that examines fish and water samples for evidence of climate change
W. Ron Allen was not going to be deterred.
Mr. Allen said that the tribe will apply next year. "We are not discouraged"
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