Abstract

The purpose of adaptation is to develop a resilient community, one that takes proactive steps to prepare for the impacts of projected climate change. The Samish Indian Nation endeavors to be a climate resilient community preparing for potential impacts of climate change, so that our children and our grandchildren can be healthy, prosperous, and enjoy our natural resources and cultural traditions. Under direction of the Tribal Council, the Samish Indian Nation has begun a climate change adaptation planning process to identify how the Samish can prepare for and strengthen their resilience to extreme weather developments, sea level rise, and other impacts of climate change.

This planning framework is a resource tool for the Samish Indian Nation to break down the adaptation process into several discrete steps, help assess vulnerabilities, devise strategies for improving resilience, locate tools and resources that will help, and develop and implement a plan for adaptation. This report is organized into the following sections:

• Section 1 describes initial steps to identify adaptation planning frameworks and build support for adaptation planning.
• Section 2 provides an overview of steps taken so far to identify planning priority areas and the potential for climate change to impact these areas, as well as different methods and tools for conducting vulnerability analysis.
• Section 3 describes preliminary goals and objectives for the Adaptation Planning process.
• Section 4 contains resources for identifying adaptation options.
• Section 5 contains resources for prioritizing adaptation options.
• Sections 6 and 7 contains resources for implementing and monitoring progress.