ABOUT US

The National Tribal Environmental Council (NTEC) was formed in 1991 with seven tribes and input from several intertribal organizations, including the Council of Energy Resource Tribes and the Native American Rights Fund, as a membership organization dedicated to working with and assisting tribes in the protection and preservation of tribal environments. NTEC's membership is open to any federally-recognized tribe throughout the United States, and currently has 186 member tribes. It is organized as a 501(c)(3) non-profit.

Tribes have been witness to continuous and accelerated degradation of the land and resources surrounding their homelands. Our challenge is to integrate timeless traditional teachings and values into modern day practices. While strength exists in the great diversity of tribal cultures and governments, a united approach that respects tribal differences and works towards cleaner tribal environments is also critical. Thus, NTEC's mission is to enhance each tribe's ability to protect, preserve and promote the wise management of air, land and water for the benefit of current and future generations.

NTEC's Mission

• Promote an understanding of the environment based on traditional tribal cultural and spiritual values;

• Foster support for tribal control and management of tribal lands in accordance with individual tribal political and economic priorities;

• Encourage federal governmental agencies to adopt and implement policies that fulfill the trust responsibility to tribes and that reflect the government-to-government relationship between tribes and the United States;

• Support tribal governments in their efforts to protect, regulate, and manage their environmental resources according to their own priorities and values;

• Sponsor and conduct programs to enhance tribal environmental regulations, capability and infrastructure;

• Expand public and institutional awareness of the needs and capabilities of tribal environmental programs; and

• Serve as a clearinghouse for information concerning tribal governments, tribal environmental regulations and policies, technical data and regulatory models as well as federal and state environmental policies, regulations and methodology.

NTEC conducts programs that:

• Advance tribal environmental regulation, capability and infrastructure building

• Encourages communication and collaboration among tribes to provide awareness and solutions to tribal environmental concerns

• NTEC develops and maintains a clearinghouse of environmental information to support its mission

• NTEC advances an understanding of tribal environments based on traditional cultural and spiritual values. It respects tribal cultural diversity, tribal sovereignty, and tribal control over its environmental and it natural resources.

• NTEC's challenge is to integrate timeless traditional teachings and values into modern day practices.