{"id":64,"date":"2026-05-18T18:37:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T18:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=64"},"modified":"2026-05-18T18:37:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T18:37:35","slug":"montana-tribes-combine-traditional-knowledge-and-western-science-in-climate-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=64","title":{"rendered":"Montana tribes combine traditional knowledge and Western science in climate plan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

RONAN, Montana \u2014 On a crisp April morning, Mike Durglo Jr. stood on a hillside overlooking a stretch of the 1.2-million-acre Flathead Indian Reservation \u2014 the home of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. He pointed out the mountains where his father taught him how to track deer, and then to a peak in the distance where a lone whitebark pine stands against the snow.<\/p>\n

Read more Proposed mine raises concerns about Taku River salmon. Mining company assures safeguards.<\/a><\/p>\n

\nHe calls the tree Ilawya: “It means my great, great, great, grandparent,” he said, explaining how the massive, ancient tree represents resilience in the face of change.<\/p>\n

Warmer temperatures, beetle outbreaks, and an invasive fungus have killed half the population of the sacred trees since the 1990s. But whitebark pines are a symbol of hope to Durglo. The Tribes have been harvesting cones from healthy trees to regrow seedlings resistant to the fungus. Restoring whitebark pine forests will also help keep snow on the landscape longer and stave off drought and wildfires.<\/p>\n

\nDurglo is inextricably tied to this landscape; his ancestors have lived on this land for centuries. He’s devoted his life to preparing his home and his people for climate change.<\/p>\n

Building climate resilience with limited state, federal support<\/h3>\n

\nDurglo has been the tribes’ climate change coordinator for nearly 20 years; he wrote one of the first tribal climate action plans in the country over 15 years ago. Tribes, cities, and some states have created these plans to map out actions they can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to a warming world.<\/p>\n

\nUntil recently, Montana even had a climate plan that was drafted in the early 2000s, but under the current Republican governor, it’s been shelved, and some projects have been abandoned. Montana lawmakers also passed legislation that bars the state from regulating planet-warming emissions, unless the federal government does so first.<\/p>\n

\nBut as sovereign nations, tribes can move forward with climate action even when state efforts have stalled, and federal funding has been severely cut.<\/p>\n

\nThe current Trump administration has halted federal funding for many renewable energy projects. Durglo and the tribes received a $20 million grant from the Biden-era Solar for All program, which was canceled earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\nDurglo is no stranger to the ebbs and flows of federal dollars and has always pieced together funding from multiple sources, including state government, nonprofits, and federal agencies, to carry out climate work. That’s just what Durglo intends to keep doing.<\/p>\n

A holistic approach to building resilience<\/h3>\n

\nThe Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ plan maps out myriad projects, including wind energy development, water conservation efforts, and ecosystem restoration to improve climate resilience. This year, the plan is focusing on reducing wildfire risk and creating safe havens from smoky air for the reservation’s 33,000 residents.<\/p>\n

\nDurglo ensured that Traditional Ecological Knowledge was woven throughout every facet of the climate plan. It details how the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are preparing for a warming world that includes longer wildfire seasons, heat waves, drought, and shrinking snowpack. The tribes’ plan takes a holistic approach, considering everything from people to forestry to water to air to wildlife.<\/p>\n

\n“It’s really hard for me and for a lot of people to even come up with a list of priorities, because it’s, it’s all a priority. It all impacts us. It’s all connected,” Durglo said.<\/p>\n

\n“You can’t say, well, the grizzly bear is the most important, or the eagle is most important, or the salmon or the trout, or whatever, because everything depends on everything else.”<\/p>\n

\nDurglo has shared his approach and successes with other tribes across the West; he served as the chairman of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Regional Tribal Operations Committee. Durglo led the group and climate planning workshops for tribes in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and the Dakotas.<\/p>\n

A decade of climate work<\/h3>\n

\nDurglo recognizes that Indigenous people have been caring for the natural world long before the term “climate change” existed. Durglo said he and other tribal leaders share knowledge about how to help communities grow more resilient and restore a healthy ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\n“That’s what they’ll say \u2026 ‘Oh yeah, we’ve been doing that for 20 years, now you’re calling it climate change,'” Durglo said.<\/p>\n

Read more State lawmakers approve Alaska Railroad land sale to port town of Whittier<\/a><\/p>\n

\nThe Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have seen some traction in key climate projects, Durglo said. For one, he has organized training sessions to help people build affordable and effective DIY air filters for wildfire smoke season. The Tribes are also working to restore streams for bull trout, remove invasive species, and revive native fish populations.<\/p>\n

\nDurglo and other members of the advisory committee update the Tribes’ climate action plan every three years to reflect the most pressing issues. They’re in the midst of the latest update and are adding a focus on wildfire smoke.<\/p>\n

\nThis year Montana, like much of the West, had a record-breaking warm spring with snowpack well below average across much of the state. Heading into the projected hot, dry summer, Durglo is particularly worried about wildfires. Smoke from as far as Canada, Washington, and Oregon can blow in and settle over the reservation, which sits in a glacially carved valley.<\/p>\n

\nDurglo spent the last several years putting up air quality sensors across the reservation. The sensors have been placed in people’s homes, in schools, and in outdoor locations. They’re part of a freely available global network that gathers real-time air quality measurements. Durglo also helped local schools join the EPA’s program to fly colored flags corresponding to air quality, such as red when the air is unhealthy.<\/p>\n

“What that data has shown us is that there are days when it’s really smoky out where your air quality inside your building is almost as bad or worse than it is outside,” Durglo said.<\/p>\n

\nDurglo has designated several buildings that already have effective filtration systems as “clean air centers.” This summer, the Tribes will open three centers to serve the reservation’s six towns. Much of this work was funded by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services and a local nonprofit called Montana Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate.<\/p>\n

\nMary Anderson, the wildfire smoke coordinator for the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, says what Durglo is doing is a model for other rural communities.<\/p>\n

\n“There’s enough research now that says we’ve got to start looking at air quality, because it’s affecting every part of our lives,” Anderson said. “And I feel like Mike is on the cutting edge of that.”<\/p>\n

Sharing knowledge with other tribes<\/h3>\n

\nThe Blackfeet Nation sits in northern Montana, where the mountains meet the prairie. Gerald Wagner is the director of the Blackfeet Environmental Office. He enlisted Durglo’s help to create the Tribe’s climate plan in 2017.<\/p>\n

\n“I had a very general, wide concept of climate change, and didn’t really know how to focus that in, until [Durglo and I] sat down and really talked,” Wagner said.<\/p>\n

\nWagner drew from several aspects of Durglo’s climate plan and added elements relevant to the Blackfeet Nation \u2014 such as reintroducing beavers and engineering similar dam structures to keep water on the landscape longer despite earlier spring snowmelt.<\/p>\n

\nWith cuts to federal funding for climate work, Wagner says collaborations like theirs are all the more critical.<\/p>\n

“Knowledge, once learned, cannot be taken away,” Wagner said. Federal funds may completely disappear, he said, but “it’s not going to take away the truth, and we have that knowledge now, and we will continue on our path to protect what’s out there.”<\/p>\n

\nThere are still state dollars that can help with Durglo’s smoke mitigation efforts, but to move forward with other projects, he’s getting creative. He’s applying for grants through private entities rather than the federal government.<\/p>\n

He and Wagner are meeting with other tribes this summer to prioritize their most pressing climate projects. Together, they’ll identify grants and other funding opportunities they can apply for together. <\/p>\n

Read more Legislature looks to add workforce housing to Alaska development agency\u2019s priority list<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Montana Public Radio<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are moving forward with their climate plan despite the loss of state support and federal funding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nMontana tribes combine traditional knowledge and Western science in climate plan - Alaska Moving Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=64\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Montana tribes combine traditional knowledge and Western science in climate plan - 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