Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force

Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, doing business as Hetf, is a federally recognized Indian tribe and intertribal consortium headquartered in Hogansburg, New York, that receives federal grant funding (100% of recent awards as prime recipient) for environmental assessment, restoration, pest management, and broadband infrastructure on tribal lands across upstate New York. Hetf is a tribal government entity representing three member nations—Onondaga Nation, Tonawanda Band of Seneca, and Tuscarora Nation—and operates exclusively as a grant recipient with no federal contract work.

Hetf's capability footprint centers on invasive species surveillance and environmental program development on sovereign tribal lands. The organization conducts pest exclusion surveys for invasive species including emerald ash borer, oak ambrosia beetle, spongy moth, and spotted lanternfly on Tuscarora Nation territory, paired with community outreach and education delivered via tribal media channels. In parallel, Hetf manages multi-year environmental capacity-building programs spanning climate change adaptation, water quality monitoring, air quality assessment, solid waste management, wetlands protection, and emergency response across member nations. The organization also manages broadband infrastructure deployment, including over 63,000 linear feet of fiber optic installation to connect 255 unserved Native American households with 100 Mbps symmetrical speeds and associated IT workforce development training. Representative grant work includes a $408 thousand Department of Defense-funded cooperative agreement from the Army Corps of Engineers Engineering District New York (awarded August 2025, completion August 2027) under the Native American Lands Environmental Mitigation Program for environmental impact assessment and cost-to-complete estimates addressing legacy contamination from past DoD operations; a multi-year Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 project grant (awarded January 2023, completion December 2026) for environmental program development across the three member nations; and a broadband infrastructure cooperative agreement from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (awarded November 2022, completion October 2026) deploying fiber and wireless connectivity across Tuscarora Nation. Multiple recurring cooperative agreements with USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service fund seasonal pest surveillance and outreach on Tuscarora lands (awards in 2022, 2023, 2025, and 2026).

Customer concentration is heavily weighted toward the Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which accounts for 22 of 37 awards in recent activity. The Environmental Protection Agency (including EPA Region 2) holds 9 awards combined. The Army Corps of Engineers Engineering District New York has placed 3 awards, primarily under the Native American Lands Environmental Mitigation Program. The Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration placed one broadband award. Four awards reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months.