National Tribal Environmental Council

Dear Tribal Leader,

As a member of the National Tribal Environmental Council (NTEC), I am sure you are well aware of the challenges we face to our sovereignty, and to our authority to protect our people, natural resources, and environment. Our concerns and priorities in these matters are set against the backdrop of the national economy and federal budget negotiations. In that regard, most conversations about national environmental policies and regulatory authority have involved viewpoints about whether environmental regulation limits economic recovery and job creation or why regulations are necessary to protect public health and our natural environment. Largely absent from these conversations and policy deliberations are indigenous viewpoints and traditional knowledge about long-term sustainability.

We know that environmental protection and economic growth are not mutually exclusive. We achieved balance and prosperity in our indigenous cultures for millennia, and we can make important contributions to the conversations and policies that will lead us into long-term sustainability. We know that our Mother Earth is in desperate need of healing on many levels, and the path to that healing is already contained in the wisdom of our Elders, in our cultures and traditions, and in our knowledge that all things are connected.

With this in mind, I would like to invite you to attend the 18th Annual NTEC meeting to be held August 27-31, 2011, at the Blue Lake Casino & Sapphire Palace Event Center, in Blue Lake, CA. I invite you to participate in our meeting and discussion of how we can translate our traditional knowledge into policy objectives that will have a real and lasting impact for the next several generations.

Over the past few years, NTEC has significantly raised its visibility on the national and international levels. The relationship with the Obama Administration has been strengthened by NTEC's capacity to directly convey the issues and concerns of our members at the Tribal Nations Conference held in November 2009. Our work on climate change resulted in participation in the COP15 Conference in Copenhagen and ongoing international meetings. Numerous invitations have been received to participate in high level policy discussions as well as testifying at Congressional hearings. In other words, NTEC is poised as an organization to reach a new level of influence and to effect the real changes in policy and practices that we know are necessary. To do this effectively, however, we need the active participation of our member Tribes.

NTEC is a unique organization in that we are the only national environmental organization whose membership is comprised of sovereign Tribal Nations. NTEC's strength and credibility comes from our member Tribes. The Tribal Leaders who serve as the NTEC Executive Committee are committed to engaging our Member Tribes as Council Members and active participants in developing a national agenda for Tribal environmental issues. For several years, our annual meetings had become a venue for Tribal staff to be informed by various lawyers, presenters, and staff about what new rules and regulations were being proposed by federal agencies, with several "tracks" and breakout sessions. In the past two years, we began a shift away from that format towards an emphasis on getting into deeper dialogue on fewer topics. and make it clear that this is intended to be a Council Meeting rather than a conference. This year, we would like to go even further. With your support, we would like to implement the following changes:

• Members will be directly engaged in setting the agenda, structure and topics of the Annual Meeting;
• Tribes are encouraged to establish official delegates to NTEC that are authorized to vote on behalf of their
• Tribe, and submit a letter to NTEC establishing that authority.
• We strongly encourage Tribes to come prepared with draft resolutions for consideration by the Council;
• Accepting and understanding the tremendous diversity among Tribes, members are encouraged to submit resolutions/ideas of national scope on which consensus can be achieved;
• Lastly, we would like to have an open discussion of NTEC as an organization and what changes might be made so that we can better serve our members.

We understand that tribal leaders have pressing business and that priorities may be diverse, but we are reaching out to urge your participation in our annual meeting. We have attached a tentative agenda, and ask for your guidance and support. If you or your designated representative would like to get more information about these proposed changes, or to make suggestions about the meeting and the agenda, please submit suggestions or comments to Jerry Pardilla at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 505-280-2561.

As the Chief of the Penobscot Nation, I know firsthand the struggles we have gone through in protecting and restoring our ecosystems, and I am gratified that our hard work and strong partnerships are succeeding. In the Penobscot watershed, we will soon see Atlantic salmon migrations in a free-flowing river for the first time in many years. This is important to our cultural integrity, and we are thankful for those who helped us in this endeavor. I believe that by working together we can build a stronger and healthier future. I look forward to meeting you in Blue Lake, California.

Kirk Francis