Climate Change Assessment and Policy Development

This project allowed CRITFC staff to collaborate with regional and tribal staff in the development of cohesive strategies to prepare for, mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. CRITFC staff participated and ensured that tribal concerns were integrated in policy and technical climate change decisions through forums such as the Columbia River Treaty process, the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, the NW Climate Science Center and the Climate Impacts Research Consortium.

Staff contacted approximately thirty tribal Staff and leaders from our four member tribes in May 2011 to share our climate change activities, learn about their initiatives, and solicit ideas for future work, in order to assess current/future needs of CRITFC climate change activities to our member tribes.
CRITFC set up a section on the CRITFC website providing links to current climate change information to help tribal staff in planning activities including habitat restoration that may be affected by climate change. Many presentations on the CRITFC tribal concerns and strategies on climate change were made to key groups and at many conferences.

CRITFC staff was able to participate in the Columbia River Treaty Review (CRTR) process. Of all of the current regional processes addressing future climate change impacts to Columbia Basin resources, including tribal first foods, the most extensive efforts are being conducted for the CRTR. Future climate change could impact the three main drivers of the CRTR process: power production, ecosystem functions and flood risk management. Under the Treaty Review, a specific climate change working group, comprised of technical representatives from the three regional sovereigns and climatologists, is developing a work plan that contains tasks to conduct a quantitative and qualitative decision framework of potential climate change impacts to CRTR alternatives. Potential impacts to tribal First Foods are also being evaluated in the Treaty Review process alternatives.

Through this project the CRITFC tribes /staff were able to participate in federal, regional and national climate change initiatives including the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative (Steering Committee member), the NW Climate Science Center (stakeholder member), the USGS/NOAA Climate Change Decision Support Consortium (stakeholder member), and the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy Group (tribal co-chair for Inland Waters technical team). Much time was spent on developing climate change strategies in Indian Country.

Under this project CRITFC was able to update its Tribal Energy Vision which was originally published in 2001. It is currently still in draft form and being reviewed by tribal staff. The publication date is set for Spring 2013.

Staff was able to be a key writer on the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy Inlands Waters Section. This will be published in November 2012.

The target species are Spring Chinook, Summer Chinook, Fall Chinook, Coho, Winter Steelhead, Summer Steelhead, and Sockeye. While not salmon species, Pacific lamprey and white sturgeon are other important fish species that if enhanced by climate change actions, will provide ecological benefits to salmon species. Work conducted under this project will contribute to the protection, recovery, and enhancement of these species in the Columbia Basin, as well as communication and public outreach about the potential effects from climate change on these species and strategies for the mitigation of these effects.