St. Louis County receives nearly $1.85 million grant to address climate change impacts on Lake Superior

(WDIO) – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Commerce Department has awarded a nearly $1.85 million grant to St. Louis County to help address climate change impacts on the coast of Lake Superior. The grant will be paid over a four-year time period.

“The funding will help the county and project partners establish a regional resilience collaborative incorporating Indigenous knowledge, and then create a regional resilience plan while also providing resources and technical support to communities,” explained Karola Dalen, the Sustainability and Captial Planning Coordinator for the county. “In addition to St. Louis County, the project area includes Carlton, Cook and Lake Counties, and the Tribal Nations that co-reside within the area.”

St. Louis County will be working with the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission (ARDC), the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Program (MCAP), Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, the 1854 Treaty Authority, and others in the project.

“To the Ojibwe/Chippewa (Anishinaabe), natural resources are cultural resources,” said Dalen. “There is no separation between how the bands manage and interact with a resource and how their culture endures: one is dependent on the other. Climate change, however, is threatening the very viability of many natural resources important to the Ojibwe.”

St. Louis County’s grant application was one of two Minnesota-based projects awarded funding through the Biden Administration’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge.