Holding Water: Adapting to Climate Change in Blackfeet Country
Image by Jana Roberts from Pixabay
By Maxine Speier. This story is a Native News project produced by the University of Montana School of Journalism. Original publication here. Republished with permission.
A Montana Climate Assessment released in 2017 predicts that weather patterns leading to severe flooding and drought could become the new normal. Warmer temperatures in the spring means snow thawing will occur quicker and earlier in the year. That earlier snowmelt means that areas like the Blackfeet Indian Reservation could be facing spring flooding followed by critically low water levels during the late summer months.
The tribe is responding by drafting its own Climate Adaptation Plan, which includes potential solutions to deal with the spring run-off.
[Gerald Wagner, director of the Blackfeet Environmental Office] said the time to address the impacts of climate change is now. He wants to make sure the Blackfeet Nation is informed and prepared for the risks it will face.
Maxine Speier is a radio reporter. She's worked at Montana Public Radio, KUNC in Colorado, and as an editorial fellow covering wildfire and the environment for Pacific Standard magazine. She has a master’s degree in natural resource journalism from the University of Montana and a bachelor's in creative writing from Vassar College. When she's not on your radio, she's probably skiing, hiking with her not-so-well-behaved dogs, or lost in a book.
