Native Village of Kipnuk Announces Two Opportunities

Jan 21, 2025Uncategorized

The New Year has brought a lot of new opportunities to Kipnuk, Alaska.

In December, the Native Village of Kipnuk received news that they had been awarded a $20 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Community Change Grant program. The Alaska Institute for Justice will serve as the statutory partner for the grant, overseeing project management and providing general support and capacity-building training for Kipnuk’s Tribal staff.

Sheryl Musgrove, Director of the Climate Justice Program at the Alaska Institute for Justice (AIJ) said that, “the $20 million grant is a game changer for Kipnuk. It will allow construction of a barrier along a portion of the riverbank bordering Kipnuk and protect critical infrastructure—including the community’s windmills, bulk fuel header, and tank farm—from accelerating erosion caused by the climate crisis. Although additional funding is needed to protect other portions of the riverbank, the project to be funded with the $20 million is a giant step forward for the village in its climate adaptation and resilience work.”

Kipnuk sits on the banks of the Kugkaktlik River, and depends on the river for subsistence, barge deliveries, and transportation. However, the riverbank is eroding at a rate of 10-28 feet per year, threatening homes, community buildings, the fuel header and bulk fuel tanks, the barge landing, boardwalks, power lines, and other pieces of critical infrastructure. The EPA grant will go towards constructing riprap along the highest risk section of the river to reduce erosion and help ensure the protection of community infrastructure and private property.

In addition to erosion, Kipnuk village is also dealing with accelerating permafrost thaw, and increasingly frequent and severe weather events and flooding. In August 2024, an extreme storm event flooded homes, damaged critical infrastructure, and threatened human health and safety, leading Kipnuk to seek a Presidential disaster declaration. Kipnuk’s Tribal leadership and AIJ’s Climate Justice team worked closely to put together the request for a disaster declaration for both public assistance and individual assistance. On January 1st, 2025, President Biden granted that request in part, issuing a Major Disaster Declaration for public assistance for the damages the August 2024 storm caused to the public infrastructure in the village.

Historically, the Native Village of Kipnuk, a federally-recognized Tribe, has relied on the state to request disaster declarations. This time, however, the Tribe decided to instead exercise its right to engage in a government-to-government relationship with the federal government by going directly to the U.S. President with its disaster declaration request.

Rayna Paul, Director of the Tribe’s Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (IGAP), announced these two historic updates.

“I am thrilled and excited that Kipnuk has been selected to receive two significant opportunities. One is a $20 million grant to help stabilize the riverbank, and Kipnuk has also been designated to receive public assistance from the disaster declaration. I am concerned that storms are becoming increasingly severe, as we are witnessing more extreme weather events in our region. In September 2022, Typhoon Merbok devastated several communities, including Kipnuk, and we recently faced another storm in August. There is much work ahead of us. While these funding sources will not cover all the community’s needs, I am very grateful for the assistance we are receiving.”

Kipnuk, with support from AIJ, will work to ensure successful completion of both the EPA Community Change Grant Project and Kipnuk’s request for public assistance to recover from the August 2024 storm event. These two opportunities will go a long way to ensure that community members are able to remain on their ancestral homelands, protect their health and safety, and promote their right to self-determination and Tribal sovereignty.


For more information about the immigration options available to you

Anchorage Office
431 West 7th Ave. Suite 208
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: 907-279-2457
Fax: 907-279-2450
Toll Free: 1-877-273-2457

Juneau Office
9085 Glacier Highway, Suite 204
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Phone: 907-789-1326
Fax: 907-789-1324
Toll Free 1-877-273-2457

Juneau Mailing Address
P.O. Box 35832
Juneau, AK 99803

Human rights of all Alaskans including immigrants, refugees and Alaska Native communities.