FEMA declares new strategy to engage Native American tribes

FILE - Jamie Holt, lead fisheries technician for the Yurok Tribe, right, and Gilbert Myers count dead chinook salmon pulled from a trap in the lower Klamath River on June 8, 2021, in Weitchpec, Calif. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has developed a new strategy to better engage with hundreds of Native American tribes as they face climate change-related disasters, the agency announced Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)

(AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency has developed a new strategy to better engage with hundreds of Native American tribes facing climate change-related disasters. The agency announced plans on Thursday to include the 574 federally recognized tribal nations in discussions about possible future dangers from climate change.

FEMA has earmarked $50 million in grants for tribes pursuing ways to ease burdens related to extreme weather.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell says tribal communities across the country are facing increased threats as a direct result of climate change, from changing sea levels to more floods and wildfires.