Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, a federally recognized Native American tribal government headquartered in Nixon, Nevada, receives federal funding as a grant recipient across tribal social services, infrastructure, environmental management, and public health programs. The tribe operates as a prime grant recipient (97% of recent awards) for formula and project grants from civilian and interior agencies, with minimal subrecipient activity, and does not hold federal contract awards.

The tribe's federal footprint centers on domestic and social services tied to tribal governance and elder care. The Administration for Community Living (21 awards) and Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (17 awards) dominate award count, anchored by recurring formula grants under the Older Americans Act Title VI (Native American grants), child care and development funding (CCDBG and CCDF), and nutrition services. The Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs (44 awards) ranks highest by count and leads the potential-value ranking alongside the Indian Health Service (10 awards, $242 thousand combined potential value). Recent representative grants include a $2.387 million Child Care and Development Block Grant (CFDA 93.575) from the Office of Child Care effective October 2025 through September 2028; a $900,000 Violence Against Women Discretionary Grant (CFDA 16.587) from the Office on Violence Against Women for law enforcement and victim services running October 2025 through September 2028; and a $513,001 Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR, CFDA 10.567) award from the Department of Agriculture covering October 2025 through September 2027. The tribe also received two federal contracts from the Indian Health Service: a $120,212 purchase order for fresh water service and trash removal at Nevada Skies Youth Wellness Center in Wadsworth (July 2024 through July 2029) and a $45,600 Ethernet services contract for Nevada Skies Residential Treatment Center (March 2023 through February 2028).

Environmental, fish and wildlife conservation, and water resource management programs represent a secondary capability tier. The Environmental Protection Agency (22 awards combined, $250 thousand potential value) funds air quality monitoring, brownfield assessment and remediation, water quality protection, and tribal environmental capacity building. Representative EPA awards include a $144,659 formula grant (CFDA 66.038) for air quality assessment and emissions monitoring (October 2025–September 2026) and a $650,643 cooperative agreement (October 2024–September 2026) for water quality monitoring and standards implementation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 8 has funded aquatic invasive species prevention, fish passage improvements (a $2.865 million cooperative agreement under CFDA 15.664 for the Numana Fish Screen Project at Numana Dam, July 2025–September 2028), bighorn sheep reintroduction monitoring, bat conservation and white-nose syndrome prevention research, and wildlife management. The Bureau of Reclamation supports water quality assessment, groundwater evaluation in Wadsworth, Truckee River management, and bank stabilization projects. The tribe received a $199,872 Tribal Energy Development Capacity grant (CFDA 15.148) from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (May 2025) to conduct feasibility analysis for a utility-scale solar project and a $200,000 TEDC award to study utility authority development, reflecting energy sovereignty and economic development objectives.

The tribe also acts as administrator for federal transit infrastructure and operations. The Federal Transit Administration has funded bus procurement, facility construction, and operational assistance through multiple project and formula grants—including a $139,371 award (CFDA 20.509) for the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Transit Program operational assistance through December 2027 and a $1.217 million project grant for transit facility Phase 2 (bus storage) construction. The tribe operates three community bus routes (local, Reno, and Lake) serving Nixon, Wadsworth, and Sutcliffe with paid transit staff and recently completed a transit administration building.

Grant activity has declined year over year—22 awards in 2022 to four in 2026 year-to-date—with 34 awards (combined potential value $46 thousand) reaching ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months and facing continuation or recompete. The tribe reports obligated dollars of $173.1 million against combined potential value of $254 thousand, reflecting high execution rates on historical funding.

In its role as sub-recipient, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe has received allocations of FTA Section 5311 tribal transit formula funding through the Federal Transit Administration and sub-awards under the Joining Forces initiative (Nevada Department of Public Safety, October 2022–October 2023) for domestic violence prevention and victim services. The tribe does not operate as a prime contractor or maintain standing seats on federal contract vehicles.