IFMAT-IV Report

intertribal organizations, including the United Eastern and Southern Tribes (USET) and ITC, have advanced well in aiding delivery and advocating for more relevant science and delivery. Some tribes and intertribal organizations have partnered with the BIA Resilience Office to support tribal liaisons at the DOI Climate Adaptation Science Centers. Numerous coalitions, networks, and other organizations have emerged and/or strengthened through intertribal collaboration, university, tribal college, and agency sponsorship devoted to

assisting tribes in responding to climate change. Many of these have been used to start the processes of planning for climate response at the tribal government level, but most forestry programs have not engaged with them for lack of capacity in the forestry program. Coordination of financial and technical services has made less progress and tribes still must devote large portions of capacity in competing for technical services and funding.

climate-driven vulnerabilities towards incorporation of this information into forest planning and management processes. The availability and quality of technical support have improved greatly, more so for wildlife, water, human health, infrastructure, social and cultural vulnerabilities than for forests and forestry. Guidance issued from BIA has come through its Tribal Climate Resilience program (Department of the Interior 2023) that has grown to link tribes with high quality information on climate response practices and to provide funds for climate action planning. Currently BIA Forest Inventory and Planning (formerly the Bureau of Forest Resource Planning) does not provide technical services for climate integration in planning

5. Provide technical support for tribal assessments of

“The land and people have experienced great change over the last 150 years versus the last 10,000 years.” —IFMAT IV focus group participant

Boulder placement used for stream restoration by the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians in Maine. PHOTO CREDIT: TIM VREDENBURG

168 Assessment of Indian Forests and Forest Management in the United States

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