Office of Tribal Relations

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The USGS Office of Tribal Relations (OTR) builds partnerships between the USGS and Native American and Alaska Native governments, tribal organizations, and other federal agencies to help the USGS meet its mission of conducting gold-standard scientific research in order to describe and understand our planet’s natural systems and resources, and by doing so, enhance and protect our quality of life.

Tribal Liaison Team

Tribal Liaison Team

The Liaison Team represents each USGS region/geographic area, scientific mission area, and the bureau as a whole; building and strengthening partnerships with other federal agencies, universities, and numerous tribes throughout the United States.

Meet the Team

Feature Stories

Feature Stories

Feature Stories and highlights on USGS work in partnership with Native American tribal governments, tribal communities, and much more.

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News

Date published: April 21, 2020

TESNAR 2020 Awardees

USGS Technical training in Support of Native American Relations (TESNAR) makes funds available to support USGS employees to design and conduct technical training for staff of tribal governments or organizations. The purpose of the program is to strengthen the technical capacity of tribes for managing tribal natural resources and build on networks between the USGS and tribal governments.

Date published: May 6, 2019

TESNAR 2019 Awardees

USGS Technical training in Support of Native American Relations (TESNAR) makes funds available to support USGS employees to design and conduct technical training for staff of tribal governments or organizations. The purpose of the program is to strengthen the technical capacity of tribes for managing tribal natural resources and build on networks between the USGS and tribal governments.  

Date published: June 12, 2017

Water is Life for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community

For the Swinomish people of northwestern Washington, water is life. But this symbiotic relationship between man and nature has been disrupted, and increasingly threatened, by sea-level rise and changes in Northwestern storm and rainfall patterns.

Publications

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Year Published: 2020

Literature reviewed estimates of riparian consumptive water use in the drylands of Northeast Arizona, USA

This report provides the best estimates of riparian area evapotranspiration (ET) on the rivers and streams of the Navajo Nation by (1) quantifying the natural riparian vegetation water use within the Little Colorado River watershed using a literature search for comparable riparian ET estimates, and (2) in conjunction with the given area of stream-...

Nagler, Pamela L.
Nagler, P.L., 2020, Literature reviewed estimates of riparian consumptive water use in the drylands of Northeast Arizona, USA: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020–1129, 9 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20201129.

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Year Published: 2020

Meeting the challenge: U.S. Geological Survey North Atlantic and Appalachian Region fiscal year 2020 in review

The utilization, preservation, and conservation of the Nation’s resources requires well-informed management decisions. The North Atlantic and Appalachian Region (NAAR) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) supports science-based decision making for Federal, State, and local policymakers to meet the challenges of today and into the future. The...

U.S. Geological Survey, 2020, Meeting the challenge—U.S. Geological Survey North Atlantic and Appalachian Region fiscal year 2020 in review: U.S. Geological Survey General Information Product 207, 20 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/gip207.

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Year Published: 2020

Hydrogeologic characterization of the Hualapai Plateau on the western Hualapai Indian Reservation, northwestern Arizona

This study was developed to assess if groundwater from the western Hualapai Plateau could be used to supply developments in the Grand Canyon West area of the Hualapai Indian Reservation and to collect hydrogeologic data for future use in a numerical groundwater model for the reservation. Ground-based geophysical surveys; existing well, spring, and...

Mason, Jon P.; Macy, Jamie P.; Bills, Donald J.; Gungle, Bruce W.; Jones, Casey J.
Mason, J.P., Macy, J.P., Bills, D.J., Gungle, B.W., and Jones, C.J., 2020, Hydrogeologic characterization of the Hualapai Plateau on the western Hualapai Indian Reservation, northwestern Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2020–5025, 38 p, https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20205025.