Kelly Coates is a member of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians and is the water and environmental resources program manager and natural resources team lead for the Tribe. She works on natural resources issues including stream and riparian restoration, fisheries monitoring, project management, implementation and tracking, grant writing, collaborative projects and government-to-government consultation within the Tribe’s Ancestral Territory.
Kelly has over ten years of experience in the field of natural resources and has worked for the Tribe since November of 2011. She holds a bachelor’s degree in aquatic wildlife biology and a master’s degree in organismal biology and ecology, both from the University of Montana.
What led you to work in the field of climate adaptation?
As a fisheries biologist and ecologist by training, and a natural resources manager in my current capacity, I am constantly examining how changing conditions are affecting natural resources. I think it is very important to be prepared and plan for uncertainties into the future. Being a Tribal member and working for my Tribe, we are tied to our ancestral homelands and have witnessed the changes to the land over time. Being resilient and adaptive will allow us to continue to manage our lands in a sustainable way for seven generations into the future.
What does your day-to-day work look like?
I am the water and environmental resources program manager for the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. In my program we have an environmental specialist, a fish biologist and a natural resources technician. Our program works on natural resources issues including stream and riparian restoration, wetlands, water quality monitoring, invasive species management, native species planting, fisheries monitoring and collaborative partnership-based projects. My role includes budget and project management, grant writing and management, strategic planning and developing and maintaining government-to-government relationships with state and federal agencies within the Tribe’s Ancestral Territory. I work quite a bit with Pacific lamprey and I am currently the Tribal co-chair for the Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative.
How does your organization support climate resilience in the Northwest?
The Tribe uses an integrated approach to natural resources management. All the specialists work together as a team to draft projects and land management strategies. This approach allows us to fold resilience and sustainability into our programs and projects. We were successful this year in receiving funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to attend trainings on adaptation planning and natural hazard mitigation planning. We also received funding to work with Adaptation International to develop a proposal to the BIA to help fund updates to the Tribe’s natural hazard mitigation plan that will incorporate climate resilience and adaptation actions into the plan. In addition to the work the Tribe does, I have been a member of the NW CASC’s Stakeholder Advisory committee since 2016 and participate in the Tribal Climate Change Network. The Tribe has also participated in regional resilience endeavors such as the 100 year water vision.
What is your favorite thing about your work?
I enjoy working on projects that benefit lands and people. I love that the work I do now will hopefully benefit my children and grandchildren. I want future generations to be able to have a connection to their homelands and the natural and cultural resources therein. By managing resources in a sustainable way we can maintain that connection while acknowledging the human component of these landscapes.