Northern California Tribal Climate Adaptation and Science Integration Research Project

Climate Change threatens efforts to restore and protect the natural and cultural resources vital to the traditional ways of life of Northern California Tribes. The state has indicated the need to include Tribal science priorities and Tribal management objectives into regional planning and policy. Moreover, Governor Newsom’s recent Executive Order N-82-20 aims to combat the biodiversity and climate change crises in California using nature-based solutions. Tribes, however, are at different phases of developing climate adaptation/ resiliency plans and, in many cases, have yet to have the opportunity to align these plans with neighboring Tribes or to include Tribal science in regional and statewide plans. As a result, climate adaptation and resiliency planning within the state of California are missing vital information needed to successfully protect vulnerable communities and Tribal resources. 

This project will establish and convene the Northern California Tribal Consortium for Climate Resiliency (NCCTCR) to develop a Tribal Science Climate Resiliency Framework that supports actionable science by deriving “Tribally specific” adaptation planning and resource management priorities and fills data gaps to predict and plan for change across the region. The research team will evaluate climate models and resiliency planning tools, identify Tribal traditional management objectives for ecosystem restoration at regional and watershed levels, and provide actionable recommendations to inform state climate adaptation planning. By collaborating across watersheds and regions, Tribes will be better prepared to act collectively to implement solutions for climate adaptation and resiliency. The goal of this work is to develop resiliency planning led by Tribal science, for policy and mitigation of ecosystem and cultural risk impacts associated with climate change.