ATNI Programs
NATURAL RESOURCES
NATURAL RESOURCES
ATNI has elevated the communication and policy coordination capabilities of ATNI and the member Tribes significantly. ATNI has also been able to support the administrative needs of the Natural Resource/Land Committee by drafting resolutions, organizing and coordinating topics and agendas, and assisting in the follow up and implementation of resolution policy directives.
We are able to develop and maintain a list serve for comprehensive information dissemination as well as to obtain and share input from Tribes on issues of common concern. Over the past two years, ATNI produced over 30 regionally approved policy resolutions related to environmental and natural resource management, remediation, and protection. These resolutions provide regional policy guidance for ATNI member Tribes and federal and state partners. Our communications and outreach support efforts of our ATNI member Tribes in environmental protection and restoration efforts in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana and promotes best practices of ATNI member Tribes utilizing EPA grants. The role of the ATNI Natural Resource/Land Committee and Natural Resource Policy Coordinator is in communicating and coordinating policy and technical issues regionally and nationally.
The member tribes of ATNI have a variety of environmental/human health needs which demand policy-level attention. They include but are not limited to Tribal life ways/subsistence issues (i.e. contaminants in traditional tribal foods), water quality, nonpoint source pollution impacts to tribal natural and cultural resources, air quality, solid and hazardous waste, superfund sites, climate change impacts, and endangerment of treaty protected resources from increased fossil fuel transportation and export terminals. Each tribe has its own list of priority environmental/human health needs. ATNI is a forum to give these issues the policy-level attention and regional support that they need in order to be addressed by the appropriate tribal, federal, state, local, and other entities.
This resource empowers Tribes to engage in the historic Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) amendment process—a critical opportunity to advance co-stewardship, protect Tribal sovereignty, and integrate Indigenous Knowledge into forest management for present and future generations.
Together, we can shape a plan that reflects Tribal priorities and ensures sustainable stewardship of our region’s national forests.