- Details
- By Native News Online Staff
U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Bryan Newland visited several Washington states tribes in a three-day tour to tout the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. While there he held listening sessions with tribal leaders to discuss their infrastructure needs.
While on tour, he saw first-hand the challenges coastal tribes are experiencing related to climate change, as well as ecosystem and infrastructure degradation.
Want more Native News? Get the free daily newsletter today.
Newland met with tribal leaders of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, Suquamish Indian Tribe, Puyallup Tribe and Muckleshoot Indian Tribe during his tour.
“As Indigenous coastal communities face the increasing threat of rising seas, coastal erosion and storm surges, our focus must be on bolstering climate resilience,” Assistant Secretary Newland said. “The funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is central to the Biden-Harris Administration’s all-of-government approach to building more resilient Tribal communities and protecting the natural environment.”
The good news is Newland was able to discuss the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the largest investment in physical and natural systems in the nation’s history, includes $466 million for Tribal climate resilience and infrastructure.
As the effects of climate change continue to intensify, Indigenous communities are facing unique climate-related challenges. Flooding, erosion, permafrost subsidence, sea level rise and storm surges are presenting existential threats to communities’ economies, infrastructure, livelihoods and health.
The infrastructure law also includes $2.5 billion to help the Interior Department fulfill settlements of Indian water rights claims. During the trip, Newland underscored the Department’s commitment to upholding the federal government’s trust responsibilities and delivering long-promised water resources to tribes, certainty to all their non-Indian neighbors and a solid foundation for future economic development for entire communities dependent on common water resources.
More Stories Like This
California Moves Forward with Pilot MMIP ProgramNative News Weekly (April 14, 2024): D.C. Briefs
Biden Nominates Heather M. Cahoon to Board of Trustees of Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation
Native Bidaské with Lyndsay Amato on the #BraidsforCole Movement
Services to Honor Cole Brings Plenty's Life Commence This Weekend in South Dakota
Native Perspective. Native Voices. Native News.
We launched Native News Online because the mainstream media often overlooks news that is important is Native people. We believe that everyone in Indian Country deserves equal access to news and commentary pertaining to them, their relatives and their communities. That's why the story you’ve just finished was free — and we want to keep it that way, for all readers. We hope you'll consider making a donation to support our efforts so that we can continue publishing more stories that make a difference to Native people, whether they live on or off the reservation. Your donation will help us keep producing quality journalism and elevating Indigenous voices. Any contribution of any amount — big or small — gives us a better, stronger future and allows us to remain a force for change. Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous-centered journalism. Thank you.
