Atka IRA Council

Atka IRA Council, a federally recognized Alaska Native tribe and tribal government based in Atka, Alaska, acts as a prime recipient of federal grants focused on environmental remediation, infrastructure, and community services. The council does not hold federal contracts and operates exclusively in the grant funding space, with 61% of recent awards as prime recipient and 39% as sub-recipient to other tribal organizations and universities. The council's work centers on environmental restoration, electric grid resilience, broadband deployment, victim services, and transportation infrastructure on Alaska Native lands and tribal territories.

The council's grant portfolio reflects concentrated engagement with a small number of customer agencies. The Army Corps of Engineers, administering the Native American Lands Environmental Mitigation Program (NALEMP) under CFDA 12.116, represents the largest customer by volume and value — four awards spanning environmental prioritization, assessment, and mitigation of Department of Defense-era contamination affecting traditional subsistence activities and tribal lands. The National Science Foundation (three awards), the Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 (three awards), the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service (two awards), and the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs Victims of Crime program (two awards) round out the top five, accounting for 61% of recent awards. Representative prime awards include a $550 thousand cooperative agreement with USACE in September 2025 for environmental restoration through September 2026; a $251 thousand Department of Justice Victims of Crime grant (CFDA 16.841) spanning January 2024 through December 2026 for victim services aligned with tribal values; a Bipartisan Infrastructure Law formula grant from the Department of Energy (August 2024, extending to April 2032) supporting electric grid resilience against disruptive events; and a Department of Energy Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR) formula grant awarded January 2025 in partnership with project partners to benefit households through December 2029. A February 2023 Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund formula grant (ultimate completion December 2026) from the Department of the Treasury funded broadband infrastructure projects delivering 100 Mbps symmetrical speeds. EPA Region 10 awarded a project grant in October 2023 (extended through September 2026) for environmental program capacity development, tribal environmental planning, and solid and hazardous waste management.

As a sub-recipient, Atka IRA Council participates in programs administered by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (the Alaska Coastal Cooperative for Co-producing Transformative Ideas and Opportunities in the North, or AC3TION), the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association (local food purchase and tribal victim services programs), the Intertribal Agriculture Council (business builder award, August 2025), and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (health gap project). Four awards are reaching ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, exposing the council to recompete activity. Total obligated funding across all awards reaches $5.9 million, with recent award activity showing three awards in 2026 year-to-date, five in 2025, and six in 2024.