CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION PLAN

The Climate Change Adaptation Plan (CAP), first drafted in 2014 in conjunction with the Model Forest Policy Program, seeks to identify ways that resource management plans can help the Tribe to move towards climate resilience, as well as respond to current and emerging climate related threats. The plan outlines the current status of forest and water resources on the reservation, analyzes climate data and trends provided by the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments (GLISA), explains the goals and objectives of the CAP, and offers a work plan of activities that can help to meet these goals:

  • Keep our timber industry sustainable and resilient to change in order to minimize risk and preserve the forests for future generations
  • Protect and preserve our water quality and fishery
  • Manage/reduce/prevent invasive species
  • Encourage climate risk awareness in Tribal program planning and implementation
  • Facilitate meaningful stakeholder engagement by expanding partnership efforts to downstream communities and other management entities
  • Ensure the Red Lake tribe’s climate resilience through proactive planning and commitment to preserving natural and culturally important resources
  • Implement the climate adaptation plan within the DNR
  • Expand the climate adaptation plan to other tribal programs in a tribal-wide planning initiative

This plan is the first step in Red Lake becoming a climate leader in Indian Country, and will create new partnerships within the tribe as well as with neighboring communities. The Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians is first and foremost a steward of their ancestral lands, and becoming climate resilient is a way to continue this honorable tradition into the 21st century.

Currently, the climate team is working on the following items:

  • Presenting a resolution for the CAP to be officially accepted by the Tribal Council.
  • Working with funding partners to begin work on the implementation of the CAP
  • Working with the Economic Development department in a food sovereignty initiative that seeks to improve the food security of the reservation through an increase in organic farming methodology for the communities that includes: aquaponics, high tunnels, and greenhouse usage.
  • Working with the Economic Development department in an effort to update the Land-Use plan for the reservation, in conjunction with the Native Community Development Institute and the Minnesota Housing Program
  • Developing partnerships in climate resilience with surrounding communities, stakeholders, and other northern Tribes
  • Working in collaboration with the University of Minnesota to produce a downscale model of climate trends for Red Lake Nation lands
  • Developing monitoring strategies in order to accurately show what those changes signify