News Releases from Region 08

EPA awards over $200k to the MHA Nation to develop a wetland program for the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation Community

Denver, Colo. (September 5, 2018) – EPA has awarded $200,991 to the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (MHA), also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes, to develop a wetlands program for the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation community in North Dakota.  This program will allow the MHA Environmental Division to develop a wetland program plan and inventory. They will also map aquatic resources, assess, monitor, and protect reservation wetland resources.

“Providing the Tribes with these resources to establish a wetlands program will result in positive outcomes for the environment and the community,” said Darcy O’Connor, Assistant Regional Administrator of the Office of Water Protection. “The aquatic resource inventory will assist decision making in all areas of future development on the Reservation so that waters are protected.”  

“MHA nation greatly appreciates this grant,” said Tribal Chairman Fox. “We will use it to continue to protect and safeguard our land.”

EPA has awarded over $2.5 million in wetlands grant funding for 11 projects across EPA’s mountains and plains region of the West (Region 8). Healthy wetlands perform important ecological functions, such as feeding downstream waters, trapping floodwaters, recharging groundwater supplies, removing pollution, and providing habitat for fish and wildlife.

Wetlands Program Development Grants assist state, tribal, local government agencies, and interstate/intertribal entities in building programs that protect, manage, and restore wetlands and aquatic resources. States, tribes, and local wetlands programs are encouraged to develop wetlands program plans, which help create a roadmap for building capacity and achieving long-term environmental goals.

For more program information visit: https://www.epa.gov/wetlands/wetland-program-development-grants