This project is the pacific lamprey conservation initiative (plci) tribal engagement and outreachrelations coordinator

The U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service awarded $151,084.84 to the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) under the National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) program (CFDA 15.686) to establish a Tribal Engagement and Outreach Relations Coordinator position. This award, effective May 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, addresses the Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative's (PLCI) objective of increasing awareness regarding Pacific lamprey conservation among tribal partners and regional stakeholders. The coordinator will manage partner listservs, develop web and social media promotional content, plan engagement events, and provide administrative support to the PLCI Coordinator while conducting targeted outreach to increase tribal partner participation and data sharing across regional management units.

The initiative generates measurable deliverables and outcomes tracked through website analytics, promotional material engagement metrics, and documentation of partner contacts, participation levels, and commitments secured. The position directly supports PLCI conservation objectives by facilitating Traditional Ecological Knowledge interviews, identifying population status and enhancement actions within regional management units, and improving watershed conditions. By addressing the specific threat of limited awareness through structured tribal engagement and partner coordination, this project aims to enhance conservation outcomes for Pacific lamprey species and their habitats across the Columbia River basin.

This project is linked to the specific threat of lack of awareness. The purpose isto increase awareness through support of the plci with tribal outreach and partner engagement efforts. The activities to be performed include conducting activities to increase tribal partner support andengagement, partner listserv management, web and social media and promotions, event planning, andcommittee support. The funds will be provided to the columbia river inter-tribal fish commission tohire a temporary tribal engagement and outreach relations coordinator to conduct the tribalengagement and outreach relations plci support and support the plci coordinator. This will benefit theregional management units by reducing lack of awareness in all rmus. This benefits all lampreyspecies habitat by reducing lack of awareness and increasing tribal engagement and partner support.increased awareness of the cultural and ecological significance of lamprey will provide benefits tolamprey and their habitats. This supports and addresses specific objectives in the plci conservationagreement by increasing data sharing among partners and rmus, conduct TEK and partner interviewswhich will inform global issues impacting pacific lamprey, and support identifying status within thermus and actions to enhance watershed conditions and populations. Evaluation and monitoring willinclude plci will track the impact of the products and deliverables (described below) created by trackingwebsite activity and opens and clicks of links, promotional materials emailed via listserv, track numbersof partners and track committee engagement. Deliverables and expected outcomes include increasedtribal engagement and increased partner support measurable by the number of contacts made, theresponses to contacts, level of participation, commitments made, activities held to increase tribalengagement and increase partner support, administrative tasks completed, development of list serv, outreach tools and materials developed, and increased activity as measured on web and social mediaactivity, including numbers of events conducted and count of participants at events. Expected outcomeswill be an increased number of tribal and partners who are engaged in plci, and successful outreach asmeasured by the number of events held, number of participants, and extrapolating those numbers tofuture active participants and commitments to the plci efforts.