BLM Will Spend $450K to Help Native Americans Adapt to 'Climate Change’

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to spend up to $450,000 in taxpayer dollars to teach Native American tribes in the Great Basin region ”climate adaptation plans” for their hunting, fishing and gathering activities. “Due to climate change, the natural landscapes are becoming impacted,” and the “traditional practices for hunting, fishing, and gathering for ceremonial purposes” can potentially create further impacts,” according to BLM’s Cooperative Agreement announcement. “It is important to educate those who are engaging in these gathering activities to reduce impacts on public lands. If tribes are able to develop adaptation plans for their gathering activities, they would have a process to follow that could reduce negative impacts on the landscape,” the Request for Applications (RFA) explains. (See RFA Template MLR (1).doc) The applicant “will focus on climate change impacts in the Great Basin region,[and] target tribes from the region to attend,” the grant application stated. “The course is intended for tribal environmental and natural resource professionals who expect to be involved in climate change adaptation planning.” The Great Basin Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GBLCC), is one of 22 LCCs nationwide established by the Department of the Interior (DOI) in 2010 to “better integrate science and management to address climate change and related issues.”  The Great Basin area covers parts of Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and California...more

At first glance I thought this must be a typo, that it should be the BIA, not the BLM.  But no, if you go to the RFA it really is the BLM.  Why?  Because, "Great Basin Native American Tribes annually gather natural items from the landscape on public lands managed by the BLM. Activities include traditional practices for hunting, fishing, and gathering for ceremonial purposes."    So friends and neighbors, rush out and gather something (cattle?) from BLM lands and then head to the district office for your grant.  Same if you hunt or fish.

I have two other thoughts on this.  1) This stinks of a political payoff during an election year, probably connected to Obama's White House Council on Native American Affairs, and 2)  Native Americans have survived here for a helluva long time and could probably teach the feds a thing or two about adapting to changes in the climate.