The salt river pima-maricopa indian community (srpmic or community) is a federally recognized indian tribe of over 10,000 enrolled members bordered by the cities of scottsdale, tempe, mesa, and…

The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community received a $762,271 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 9 Headquarters under the Zoonotic Disease Initiative program (CFDA 15.069). The funding will support assessing and monitoring wildlife populations within the Community to analyze and prioritize wildlife disease risks. Products and services delivered through the award include wildlife surveillance and monitoring, developing a wildlife action plan, and incorporating wildlife disease response into the Community's emergency response system. The award will also fund hiring additional wildlife staff, establishing student intern positions, and utilizing education and outreach to communicate preparedness efforts. The goal is to strengthen the foundation of an interjurisdictional wildlife health and disease network to protect wildlife, ecosystems, economies, and tribal members in the Community. The award period is from June 2, 2023 through September 30, 2026.

The salt river pima-maricopa indian community (srpmic or community) is a federally recognized indian tribe of over 10,000 enrolled members bordered by the cities of scottsdale, tempe, mesa, and fountain hills, as well as by the fort mcdowell yavapai nation and tonto national forest. The community is home to vulnerable populations and an urban rural transitional interface. Therefore, monitoring the animal population for signs of disease in order to decrease the potential spread is truly critical. As such, the community has identified the need to thoroughly assess current wildlife populations, habitats and human wildlife interactions, evaluate the inherent risks and priority thereof, develop wildlife health management and disease response plans, and, subsequently, integrate these plans into the communitys overarching emergency response and communication frameworks.while the community has an existing wildlife biologist, srpmic proposes to increase capacity by hiring a wildlife biologist with experience in wildlife disease, a wildlife technician and if feasible, funding student intern positions to assess wildlife health and disease. Understanding the wildlife populations within the community are the key to analyzing and prioritizing wildlife disease risks. To understand the wildlife populations within the community, wildlife surveillance and monitoring will be used. Additionally, building the foundation of a wildlife action plan and incorporating wildlife disease response into the communitys emergency response system will help move the community forward in protecting tribal members and the surrounding community residences, and preparing for the future. When assessing wildlife disease and health, not only is emergency preparedness important, communication, education and outreach are key elements in ensuring preparedness for the future and protection in the present. The community plans to utilize this grant to develop wildlife disease preparedness by assessing and monitoring wildlife populations, as a tool to build upon both an existing emergency and a perfunctory communication network of tribal, regional and state contacts, to develop a wildlife health and disease database, and to provide education about human wildlife interactions and the concerns therein.