Hosted by the North American Invasive Species Management Association (NAISMA), the International Invasive Species and Climate Change Conference will feature sessions on management success, understanding and managing pathways, early career research, and more. The conference is free and will be held virtually.

• Register

Hosted by the Northwest Environmental Business Council, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and Washington Department of Ecology, the Northwest Environmental Business Council Conference provides insights and practical strategies to tackle pressing environmental and business challenges. Areas of learning include regulations, permitting & reporting, emerging technologies, policy & regulatory updates, the business side of sustainability, contaminated property cleanup, hot topic conversations, and management issues. The conference will be held in person in Portland, OR.

• Register

In this August 27 webinar, the University of Washington’s Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center reviews current knowledge and practice around climate-driven extreme heat events and their impacts on Northwest species and ecosystems. This synthesis is the result of a workshop that convened natural resource managers and scientists from Northwest Tribes, universities, non-profit and private sectors, and federal and state governments.

• Watch the recording

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can, if used responsibly, lead to better communications, greater efficiency, and more effective strategies. Hosted by the Public Health Communications Collaborative (PHCC), this webinar focuses on 

• Practical ways to experiment and implement AI tools to support daily public health communications.
• Risks associated with using AI in public health communications, including inaccurate information, overreliance, controlling for mental health risks, and community perception of your team’s use of AI.
• Current best practices to ensure AI-assisted communications remain aligned with your organization’s values and goals.
  
  • Watch the webinar

Remembering that October is Children’s Health Month, here are links to 13 books that can be downloaded or read online. Share them with the youth in your community!

• Why is Coco Orange? (air quality)
• Why is Coco Red? (air quality)
• Dusty the Goldfish Asthma Fun Book
• Air Cleaning Allies Kids Activity Book
• Wood Smoke Activity Book
• Bertie Busy Bee (pollinator protection)
• Join Our Pest Patrol: A Backyard Activity Book for Kids
• Electric School Bus Activity Book for Elementary School Students
• The Magic School Bus Gets Cleaned Up
• Planet Protectors Trash Recycling Activity Book
• How Does EPA Protect the Environment?
• Live, Learn, Play
• The Clean Air Superheroes Defeat Radon

EPA’s factsheet, Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Protect Your Family and Yourself, discusses what carbon monoxide is, sources of carbon monoxide inside homes, symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure, and the actions you can take to prevent exposure. EPA’s infographic, Carbon Monoxide Alarms: Protect Your Family and Yourself, demonstrates where to properly place carbon monoxide alarms inside your home and emphasizes maintenance of the alarm and following manufacturer instructions along with any local building codes. Share these resources with your community.

New to GAP? We’ve got you covered. Review EPA Region 10’s New Staff Toolkit to get a clear understanding of the job ahead.

And if you ever had trouble finding GAP resources, we took care of that, too. Go to the Region 10 Tribal Programs homepage and scan down to the blue bar. Click on the link to Learn about GAP to find administrative resources and other information for GAP grantees in Region 10.

Scientists at Alaska Pacific University (APU) are studying how microplastics move through Alaska water, and developing the first in-state lab accredited to test water samples for microplastics. 

• Learn about it from Alaska Public Media.

October is Children’s Health Month. Children are often more vulnerable to pollutants than adults due to differences in behavior and biology, and these differences can lead to greater exposure and unique windows of susceptibility.

• Visit EPA’s website to learn about children’s environmental health, spread the word, and find activities for kids.
• Visit the National Institutes of Health website for a Children’s Health Outreach Toolkit.

Storytelling is an essential part of successful grant writing, and having strong data to support your community’s story will give you a significant boost in the competition. EPA recommends a number of mapping and analysis tools that can help you showcase local challenges, highlight community needs, and illustrate the impact of your project. Some of these tools include:

• UST Finder – An interactive map to help you identify and locate underground storage tanks and releases across the U.S. 
• Cleanups in My Community – Lets you see and share where cleanup and redevelopment projects are happening nationwide. 
• RE-Powering Mapper – Identifies renewable energy opportunities on contaminated lands, landfills, and mine sites. 
• EnviroAtlas – Gives access to a wide range of EPA environmental data for your community.

2025-10-01 Briefing Memo Gov Shutdown Tribal Impacts

The above link is a memo from the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Office of the Vice Chairman, Senator Brian Schatz prepared as an advisory for Native communities regarding the current government shutdown along with contingency plans for the Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs (AS-IA) and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) at the Department of the Interior.

The National Congress of American Indians will host its annual convention in person in Seattle, WA. Tribal leaders, NCAI members, Native youth, and allies from across Indian Country will gather to tackle critical issues, strategize for the future, and strengthen nation-to-nation relationships.

• Register

At the Native Youth Convention, participants will engage in a larger conversation about protecting and maintaining Tribal sovereignty from a youth perspective. 

• Register

The Institute for Tribal Environmental Programs (ITEP) has developed the Online Resource Center Access (ORCA) tool, a searchable list of electronic resources for Tribal environmental programs. ORCA may include technical documents and reports, handbooks, videos, brochures, factsheets, and other types of resources. Tribes can help populate the database by sharing their environmental management and planning documents, such as Quality Assurance Plans, Standard Operating Procedures for operating air and water monitoring equipment, and examples of climate adaptation plans. 

• Contact Mansel Nelson at mansel.nelson@nau.edu to share your documents with the ORCA database.

The National Center for Disaster Preparedness, a part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), offers Tribal Nation trainings to address preparedness gaps. Courses are free to host and free for learners to attend. The Center is looking for Tribal Nation training hosts for:

• AWR-307-V: Identifying Community Preparedness Resources for Tribal Nations – This four-hour, live virtual, instructor-led course provides participants with basic information on community preparedness within the unique context of Tribal Nations, highlighting approaches to resilience across different communities. 
• PER-315: Using Community Engagement to Enhance Emergency Preparedness in Tribal Nations – This seven-hour, in-person course focuses on preparing community members in Tribal Nations for hazards to help enhance community resilience. 
• PER-317-V: Risk Communication Techniques within Tribal Nations – This four-hour, live virtual, instructor-led course explores the nuances of effective risk communication within Tribal Nations. 
• MGT-326: Developing Emergency Management Programs within Tribal Nations – This seven-hour, in-person course focuses on developing and improving emergency management programs within Tribal Nations. 
  
  • Learn more and apply.

Meet the Clean Air Superheroes! Join Mateo and his friends as they learn about radon indoors and become superheroes defeating it in their homes.  Follow along through fun, comic-book style illustrations and complete interactive activities. 
 

• Download the activity book for use in your community. 

Meet the Air Cleaning Allies as they help a family learn about and deal with sources of indoor particle pollution. Follow along in the story and complete a series of activities to learn about filtration and air cleaning with Merv the air filter, Aerie the air cleaner, and DJ the do-it-yourself air cleaner.

• Download the activity book for use in your community.

September 30 marks the end of the fiscal year. The following activities will help you keep your grant house in order as you prepare for FY26:

• Ensure that all progress reporting and deliverables are complete. 
• Ensure that all receipts are on file and drawdowns have been made. 
• The Annual SF-425 is not due until Dec. 30, but you can begin preparing it whenever your final drawdown is complete.
• If you are in the final year of your grant, talk with your Project Officer about preparing for closeout.

The annual State/Tribal/Federal Coordination Meeting hosted by the National Association of Wetland Managers (NAWM) will be an opportunity to gather as a wetland community of practice, build partnerships, and explore new opportunities for wetland protection and restoration.

• Register. Early bird registration ends Sept. 30.
• Call for Abstracts. Submit an abstract by Sept. 30.
• Apply for a student scholarship by Nov. 14.

Hosted by Sea Grant Alaska, the Mariculture Conference of Alaska will be held in person in Anchorage, AK. Engage with members of the mariculture industry, hear from experts and connect with farmers, processors, researchers, community leaders and other professionals. (AI says mariculture is the cultivation of marine organisms like fish, shellfish, and seaweed in controlled marine environments, such as open-ocean cages or tanks, to produce food and other products. I had to look that up. 😊) 

• Submit an abstract by Oct. 3.
• Register for the conference.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program is the U.S. government’s lead for addressing the impacts of marine debris on our ocean, waterways, and Great Lakes. It recently released several state and regional plans, which include an understanding of what is already being done, the gaps and challenges, and the priority actions to address them. 

• Read the plan for Alaska. 
• Read the plan for Washington
• Read the plan for Oregon.