The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Climate Hubs were created in 2014 to deliver science-based, region-specific information and technologies to enable climate-informed decision-making. Our stakeholders include agricultural and natural resource managers (i.e. farmers, ranchers, forest land managers), USDA agencies, and cooperative extension among others. The Climate Hubs have a unique opportunity to facilitate dialogue on challenges to implementing USDA programs for conservation or technical assistance in tribal communities. Conversely, it is also important to share examples of adaptation projects that have been successful at navigating USDA and other federal programs.
The overarching objective of this working group is to build partnerships and collaborations among land management organizations (including USDA), cooperative extension, academic/research community, and Tribal members to effectively manage Native American agricultural and natural resources in a changing climate. Specifically, we invite various officials from the following land management agencies that work with Tribal communities: (1) USDA: Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Rural Development (RD), U.S. Forest Service (USFS); and (2) Department of Interior: Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Bureau of Land Management (BLM). We invite participants from around the country to compare and contrast stakeholder engagement and projects by geographic region. Ultimately, we hope that the constructive sharing of experiences improves how USDA programs collaboratively supports Tribal agriculture in a changing climate.