Gun Lake Tribe wins grant to combat climate change

The Gun Lake Tribe has announced it has been awarded two separate grants by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Branch of Tribal Climate Resilience (TCR).

The grant funding comes from programs created between tribes and the federal government designed to mitigate climate change. The tribe will use the funds to purchase electric fleet vehicles and new EV chargers to install a solar array and to plan for reuse of graywater at the tribe’s facilities. 

“We applaud the federal government for collaborating with our tribe to create programs like these to reverse the negative impacts of climate change,” said Tribal Chairman Bob Peters. “I thank our government staff who effectively shared our vision with the BIA to support climate initiatives and water conservation right here in Allegan County.” 

One grant awarded is $189,844 for the Gun Lake Tribal Graywater Reuse Plan project, which will plan for graywater reuse in an effort to reduce water drawn from the tribe’s aquifer. The tribe will work with experts to develop a plan for water reuse and an outline of the permitting process along with high-level budget estimates and time frames for future implementation. 

The other award is $4 million for the Gun Lake Tribe Electric Infrastructure Implementation Project. This grant includes purchase of electric vehicles and necessary chargers to replace existing gas vehicles in the tribe’s fleet. It also will pay for installation of a solar array to provide renewable energy to the Gun Lake Tribal Government, reducing its consumption of power generated by greenhouse gas emitting coal fired power plants.

In accordance with the tribe’s mission to “Maintain our elders’ vision, integrity, spirituality, culture and economic self-sufficiency by protecting our sovereignty, treaty rights, traditions, land and natural resources for our future generations,” the tribe implements many initiatives to reduce climate related impacts.

The Gun Lake Tribe will implement these programs under a category of federally recognized tribes known as “self-governance.” The tribe achieved this status several years ago, which permits greater autonomy to administer grant-funded programs such as the two climate change programs. This allows the tribe to design programs in a way that fits its specific circumstances and goals and objectives.

Achieving self-governance status required the tribe to demonstrate it met a set of criteria that included “three prior fiscal years financial stability by having no uncorrected significant and material audit exceptions in the required annual single audit of its self-determination or self-governance agreements.” 

For more information about the BIA’s Tribal Climate Resilience program visit https://www.bia.gov/bia/ots/tcr. For more information about Self-Governance tribes visit https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/osg.