Introduction

Note: This website is under construction. I (Jack Kruse) have put it on the web so that the Alaska Native Science Commission, University staff and Alaska Native Communities can use it in the mini-grant program. We expect to improve the Resource Guide based on our experience. Please consider everything to be in "draft" and not ready for public use. We welcome your comments and suggestions! Please direct them to: afjak@uaa.alaska.edu 

Please note that any time you see underlined words, clicking on the words will lead you to more information. You'll also notice that there are navigation boxes to the left. Clicking on one will take you to another page in the Resource Guide. Clicking "Up" will take you to the page that refers to all the other pages you see at the left.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided funds for the Alaska Native Science Commission to award about 8-10 mini-grants of about $5,000-$10,000 to Alaska Native communities. Over a dozen communities responded with proposals. The Alaska Native Science Commission has selected communities to participate in the mini-grant program. We are now beginning to work with these communities. We hope that this mini-grant program will be the start of a larger program in Alaska.

What can communities do with a mini-grant?  We prepared for the mini-grant program by holding regional meetings with tribal representatives throughout Alaska to learn their concerns. Community representatives raised a wide variety of concerns. Two of the most frequently voiced concerns are about changes in the environment and contaminants as possible causes of these changes. We therefore have focused on preparing to help communities to begin to address concerns  about environmental changes and contaminants. With a mini-grant, for example, you would be able to test samples from 5 animals for contaminants.

Testing samples from 5 animals is what we call a "pilot test". It is a way of helping a community decide if they want to make the effort to do a full-scale testing study.

A primary goal of the Alaska Native Science Commission (ANSC) is to enable tribes in Alaska to identify and address their own concerns. The ANSC therefore considered as broad a range of mini-grant ideas as possible. To give you an idea of the range of concerns communities might address in a mini-grant, these are the major areas of concern mentioned in the regional meetings:

Eventually, we hope that this project will serve as a model for a larger program funded to be responsive to Native concerns. In the meanwhile, this project has a small amount of funding reserved for what we call "mini-grants". These are grants to Alaska Native communities of about $5,000-$10,000. Organizations that can applied included tribes, tribal organizations, and Native organizations.

Many tribes already have Environmental Protection Agency General Assistance Program (GAP) grants. Tribes can use GAP grants to hire locals as resource specialists. Resource specialists build local capability to do environmental assessments and to plan such assessments. A mini-grant may cover testing costs for a pilot study as part of an environmental assessment.   Thus the mini-grant and GAP grant can work together.

We will selected communities for mini-grant awards based on: 

(1) How clearly you describe your community's concern, possible causes of this concern, and the question you want to address or alternative action you want to take in the mini-grant, and the reasonableness of your proposed budget.

(2) your community's ability to commit people and/or other resources (like boats) to the grant. 

(3) the feasibility of completing the project within available funding and time;

(4) The extent to which the project addresses concerns  about maintaining the quality of subsistence foods and the quality of the environment; and,

(5) our ability to assist you in what your community wants to do.

Now please continue with the Resource Guide.

03/31/2003