Tribal Community Resilience

The Tribal Community Resilience (TCR) Program provides funds and technical support to federally recognized Tribes and authorized Tribal organizations to address imminent natural hazard impacts and threats to Tribal communities, infrastructure, trust

The Tribal Community Resilience Program provides funds and technical support to federally recognized Tribes and authorized Tribal organizations to address imminent natural hazard impacts and threats to Tribal communities, infrastructure, trust resources, and public health and safety. Funding is prioritized for projects that address documented threats to Tribal communities, including flooding, erosion, wildfire, drought, storm surge, permafrost degradation and infrastructure instability. It is unique because funds may be used for implementation, construction, and infrastructure, and a cost-share match is not required.

All Federally recognized Tribes and authorized Tribal organizations (including Tribal consortia) are eligible to apply. See Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible to Receive Services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, Jan 30, 2026. Authorized Tribal organizations are defined in the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act at 25 U.S.C. § 5304(l).

Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments and consortia, tribal and public colleges and universities, and Native American organizations.

Depending on the solicitation, funds may be used in a variety of ways to strengthen natural hazard resilience and preparedness in federally recognized Tribal communities.

Awards are made on an annual basis and the funds remain available until expended by the contractor/grantee. Payments may be made in advance or by way of reimbursement.

Informal pre-application is recommended. Please see BIA Tribal Community Resilience website for more information.

It is to be determined. Please see BIA Tribal Community Resilience website for more information https://www.bia.gov/bia/ots/descrm/tcr

There are 4 broad categories for award, each with selection criteria. Category 1: Design and delivery of technical training, forums or workshops to improve tribal staff and trust manager's capacity to address climate adaptation management, preparedness or resilience (category 1 criteria: adult/youth education experience (required), training design, budget, delivery capacity). Category 2: Climate adaptation planning, vulnerability assessments, monitoring for climate change indicators, and ocean and coastal planning (category 2 criteria: Project design, implementation and feasibility, budget, builds tribal capacity, value, objectives and outcomes). Category 3: Travel support for participation in technical sessions (category 3 criteria: alignment of technical session with tribal adaptation management, value, and for ocean and coastal tribes, location), and support for participation in regional and cooperative ocean and coastal planning. Category 4: technical support, providing technical support to tribes for climate adaptation management (criteria, organization capacity, experience, existing constituency). See announcements for details.

Awards are made by the Deputy Bureau Director, Office of Trust Services, Central Office, based on the prioritization of all applications received through a thorough evaluation and scoring by a review team. Awards are usually made shortly after the review (see announcement for specific details). Any awards are subject to the availability of the congressional appropriations.

See the announcement for details or contact the Central Office or Regional Offices for application deadlines for particular program support categories.

Funds are appropriated for use in non-recurring projects/activities on a year-to-year basis and are not intended to provide perennial support for tribal programs. For training programs, non-competitive renewal for additional sessions is at the option of the Bureau.

No appeal process. The funds are annual, non-recurring congressional appropriations and any awards are made on the basis of the announcement prioritization process and the availability of funds. Information for non-award applicant scoring is available upon request as technical support to improve subsequent proposals.