Stories from the front lines of climate change in the Pacific Northwest: Shoreline erosion, wildfires, dead fish

Native leaders from across the Northwest on the Mackershoot Reservation know climate change well, from rising tides at Shoal Point in the Pacific to shorelines littered with dead fish due to low water or lack of oxygen and wildfires sweeping through ponderosa pine trees.

They have lessons to share.

Some find guidance in reviewing ancient teachings, some work with research institutions to combine traditional ecological knowledge with Western science, and many others work through collaborations.

With more federal and state funding now available to combat climate change than ever before, First Nations are providing a roadmap for healing ecosystems, including restoration plans and wind and solar development across the region.

About 500 people representing at least 120 tribal nations, environmental groups, researchers, energy developers and state, federal and local agencies gathered at Muckleshoot last week Learn solutions and collaborate. This is the sixth climate summit hosted by the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians.

The organization was founded in 1953 by tribal leaders in the Northwest Territories and today represents 57 tribal nations from Oregon, Idaho, Washington, southeastern Alaska, northern California and western Montana.

Shoalwater Bay President Quintin Swanson addressed the crowd and said, “Your presence highlights our shared commitment to advancing tribal climate policy and raising awareness of the serious toll climate change continues to have on our communities.” awareness of the impact. We are gathered here as stewards of the land with a shared responsibility to protect our heritage and ensure a sustainable future for generations to come. The challenges posed by climate change are profound, but our resolve to address them must be even stronger.

Discussions at the summit included developing public education programs about cultural burning, conservation plans across the 49th parallel, opportunities for intergenerational collaboration among young leaders eager to combine traditional ecological knowledge and Western science, and lessons learned.

Some Indigenous leaders share experiences from the front lines of climate change.

In Shorewater, on the Pacific coast, Swanson describes relentless erosion.

Shoalwater Bay is losing land at an unprecedented rate, with erosion most severe along the west coast.

Over the last century, Shallowwater Point has lost about 100 to 130 feet of land each year, Swanson said. Relentless winter storms forced the relocation of a cemetery and claimed a schoolhouse, a lighthouse, a farm hall, a Coast Guard station, a clam cannery, homes and nearly 2 miles of land.

Tools provided by the University of Washington predict that sea levels on the reservation will rise half a foot from 2040 to 2059 if greenhouse gas emissions remain high. .

The tribe plans to move the village to higher ground.

Meanwhile, Meade Krosby, senior scientist with the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group, and Amelia Marchand, senior tribal climate resiliency liaison with Confederated Tribal Citizens, Affiliated Tribes and the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center in Colville, hosted a session on a program they co-lead. Designed to support climate preparedness for Northwest coastal tribes.

Through a series of listening sessions with 37 people from 12 tribes along the Washington and Oregon coasts, academic and tribal partners, with funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are working together to examine the greatest needs in a changing climate. Evaluate.

The report will be released only after review by the Task Force Tribal Advisory Group and representatives from each tribe included in the report.

Crosby said he hopes the report will be a useful tool for tribes.So it’s not just [the tribes] Say it over and over again, right here: right in this report. Give them the ability to present that report to legislators, funders, or any other entity that is standing in the way of what they need to get done.

The message from elected and other leaders is hopeful. Some shared stories of launching food sovereignty programs, buying back land in floodplains or restoring land from private timber companies to restore balance to river and forest ecosystems, and proposing using funds raised from state carbon markets to train people committed to climate change. A new approach to projects with a new workforce.

Tanya Pelach, natural resources program manager for the Affiliated Tribes, said stewardship is a core value for many tribal nations. Perlach added that tribes are not a monolith, but they tend to share these values. When tribes sit at the table, they can not only consult on solar or wind development projects or environmental restoration projects, but they can also provide guidance based on their own experience and knowledge of a place.

How do we respond to climate change according to our teachings? “I think every tribe represented here, you can look at your original instructions and go, this is what we should do,” said Loni Greninger, vice chairman of the Jamestown-Sclallam Tribe. When we think about climate change, our responsibilities have not changed. We still have to steward the land, the sea, the air, and the people; we still have to provide for our brothers and sisters in creation.

Jamestown SKlallam has been using grants and tribal funds to buy back sections along the Dungeness River, remove buildings or levees, restore the natural floodplain and let it breathe again.

Brook Thompson uses a stirring stick to outline the history of her ancestors on the Klamath River. The entire stick represents the thousands of years the Yurok people have lived in harmony with the river, and they say the tip represents the years since contact with colonizers. If settlers could dismantle so many relationships in just over a century, imagine what could be healed in the same amount of time.

We can never go back to the way it was before because everything won’t necessarily be the same, but I think we can even use this framework of indigenous knowledge combined with more modern science and technology to make things better and take advantage of them Benefiting each other, says Thompson, a restoration engineer and doctoral student in Yurok, is something we’ve never had the chance to do. I think that given the opportunity, the right people, the power and enough resources, we will be able to do a lot of good over the next 150 years.