Climate Change Update

TBAC Meeting

March 2010

John VitelloAssociate Deputy Bureau Director

BIA Office of Trust ServicesWashington, D.C.

Climate ChangeLet’s Not Refer to it as “Global Warming”

Photos by Bodie Shaw

Climate Change ImpactsClimate Change Impacts

Sea Level Rise

Floods

Strong Storms

Drought

Habitat ChangeCatastrophic Wildfires

Model Forecasts of Streamflow Changes

Evolution of DOI Climate Change

Policy

• Workgroup Meetings– Culminate in Shepherdstown, WV meeting

• Focus on Tribes as…– Sovereigns– Land Managers– Climate Change Partners

• Concept of Environmental Justice

• Need for Consultation on Climate Policy

Secretarial Orderon Climate Change

SO 3289 “Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change on

America’s Water, Land, and Other Natural and Cultural Resources”

• Signed September ‘09.

• Section 5 dedicated to American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Secretarial Orderon Climate Change

Section 5 can be summed up as follows:

• Disproportionate Affect

• Trust Responsibility

• Best Available Science

• Substantive Participation

Coastal Erosion in the Native Village of Shishmaref, Alaska

S.O. 3289Highlights

• “Climate Change Response Council” – Recently renamed “Energy and Climate Change Council”;

• Other Specific Activities:– Planning Requirements

– Regional Climate Change Response Centers

– Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

– Carbon Storage Project

– Carbon Footprint Project

Eight Climate Science Centers(CSCs)

Twenty-One Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs)

BIA/Tribal LCC Contribution 2011

Indian Tribesand Climate Change

What Tribes Need (from USGS & DOI)jjjjjjj

• Increased access to expertise and scientific research.

• Increased monitoring of climate change indicators on Reservations.

• Direct tribal participation in the development and operation of emissions taxation/trading schemes that may be developed.

• Government-to-government consultation and substantive participation in the development of Departmental policy, objectives, and initiatives regarding climate change.

Indian Tribesand Climate Change

What Tribes Can Providejjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj

• Tribal experience with resource stewardship and adaptation spans millennia.

• Tribes have an accumulation of traditional knowledge and acute sensitivities to their environment.

• Tribal peoples could be among the first to notice changes to ecological processes caused by climate change.

• Many Tribes have sophisticated resource mgmt. programs.

• Some Tribes (e.g. Quinault) have already adopted laws and policies on climate change.

Fire ManagementIntegration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge

and Western Science

• Traditional Ecological Knowledge– Fundamental land ethic….adaptive

management– Indigenous legacies of experiential

learning

• Joint Fire Science Program collaboration:– Intertribal Timber Council– University of Washington– BIA and USFS

Other Climate

Policy

DevelopmentsE.O. 13514 - from President Obama 10/8/09– “Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy and

Economic Performance”• Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ) Coordination• Making federal government operations more sustainable

– ↓ 30% federal fleet petroleum use by 2020– 26% improvement in water efficiency by 2020– 50% recycling and waste diversion by 2015

• Sec. 9 – Recommendations for Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting

Coral Diseases

GHG InventoriesSec. 9 of EO 13514

Policy Decision (Still Draft)

Land management emissions and sequestration shall not be reported at this time.

Wildfire management and prescribed burning emissions shall not be reported.

Other CEQClimate Activities

http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiatives

• CEQ to work “with the Department of the Interior as the lead department to develop a national government-wide strategy to address climate change impacts on fish, wildlife, plants, and associated ecological processes.” (FY 2010 Interior Appropriation Report Language)

• National Oceans Policy Task Force

• Develop Framework for Coordination of all Federal Land Management Agencies to Address Climate Change

• Adaptations Task Force

CEQAdaptations Task Force

1. NEPA Guidance2. Partnerships & Collaborations3. Easements & Acquisitions4. Adaptation Priorities5. Wildland Fire – Integrate Fuels Mgmt.6. Education

“…equip communities with information and learn from communities who have taken steps to adapt.”

Climate ChangeFY 2012 Budget Cycle

• Additional new funding unlikely

• Climate funding from reallocating budget priorities is likely

• TBAC request to form Climate Change Advisory Council

Carbon Sequestration

Carbon Sequestration Evolution

• 2000 - Some Tribes begin marketing carbon• 2002 – BIA attempts carbon policy draft• 2005 – Ideas on Policy draft authority evolve• 2007 – DOI SOL Opinion on draft– Carbon not a mineral

– Carbon could be an “other forest product”

• 2009 – New draft presented at ITC Symposium• 2010 – Still evolving

Current DilemmasDOI – No Individual Bureau Policy - YetLegislation – Cap and Trade, etc. - StalledMarkets - Volatile and Changing TermsTribes - Moving Forward; Wanting GuidanceIssues

RegistryMonitoringImpacts on Fee into TrustTerm of AgreementBest Market ValueTrust Funds? Payment Process?

Current Policy Thoughts?

All Tribal Lands25 CFR Part 84 – Encumbrances of Tribal Land

Forest Lands – Individually owned in Trust25 CFR Part 163 – General Forestry Regulations

Ag/Range Lands – Individually owned in Trust25 CFR Part 162 – Leases and Permits25 CFR Part 166 – Grazing Permits

Or ?

Do we think outside the box……

Carbon sequestration agreements as….

Tribal Service Contracts ?