70 Conclusion Development of efficient relocation procedures is essential to combating global climate change. Because Alaska is experiencing unusually rapid climate change, the state’s experience can provide a useful roadmap for future climigration. Native Alaskan villages are at particular risk from erosion, flooding, permafrost thaw, and melting sea ice. Climigration will continue well into the twenty-first century. As demonstrated by Newtok’s case, any tribal community attempting relocation faces an administrative morass. The main issues revolve around funding and environmental assessments. The current funding process requires a community to cobble together grants from diverse agencies and programs. The lack of uniformity in paperwork, common points of contact, and other inefficiencies make obtaining funding time consuming, difficult, and complex. It should not take 30 years to move approximately 380 people approximately 10 miles. Relocation inefficiencies can be addressed without tremendous difficulty or expense. Delineating responsibilities among the federal government, the state government, and the ANCs should set the stage for a collaborative and efficient framework. The federal government should create an ombudsperson as a point person to facilitate relocation administration. The federal government should also provide a universally accepted climate hazard report document, which will improve the efficiency and information available to each entity reviewing the reports. The state government should take on the responsibility of funding site-specific risk assessments to remove this burden from the native villages. The state should also conduct periodic updates to environmental threats through additional (and more thorough) research and reports. The ANCs hold a powerful position in potentially becoming more involved in the climate relocation process. They should invest more in infrastructure and programs directed to villages within their region. ANCs should also distribute government-awarded funds on a demonstrated need basis and apply directly for grant programs to fund projects as well as manage land transfers on behalf of communities within their region requiring relocation. Such a framework will set a foundation to advance the prospects of those most affected by climate change. With climate change accelerating, it is essential that future relocations avoid the kind of extended delays exhibited at Newtok, as future relocations may not have the luxury of a similarly leisurely timeframe.
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