Supporting the Health and Resilience of Communities: Coquille Climate Resilience Task Force

The Coquille Indian Tribe has a vision to unite its people in taking action against climate change. 

Nearly one year ago, Tribal Council formed a Climate Resilience Task Force, charged with recommending actions the Tribe should take to address climate change. To increase their energy sovereignty and resilience to wildfires, these actions would support the Tribe in adapting to the changing oceans, forests, and wildlife they’ve held sacred since time immemorial. 

The task was immense. Wrestling with climate change can be challenging and anxiety-inducing on an individual basis. The Coquille Climate Resilience Task Force carried this responsibility on behalf of their whole Tribe. 

“Sometimes we feel a bit overwhelmed by the work we need to do to protect our future generations,” said Mark Healy. Mark is one of two Task Force members who drove up from Coos Bay to make a speech at the launch of the Northwest Environmental Justice Center (NWEJC), a collaborative effort between Willamette Partnership, Portland State University’s Institute for Tribal Government, and the Rural Community Assistance Corporation that provides technical assistance to communities, tribes and local governments across the Pacific Northwest for their environmental and energy justice needs.

Mark Healy speaking on the Coquille Climate Resilience Task Force at the NWEJC Launch Event

“We are all facing this uncertain fight together and we are all responsible for that future. This will require an unprecedented, collaborative effort. Agencies, tribal governments, community members – all need to form new and agile alliances as we work out our survival strategies,” Healy continued. 

Through the NWEJC, Willamette Partnership answered the Task Force’s call for assistance. We planned a one-day retreat to help them establish priorities and funding strategies, define mission and vision statements, build team cohesion, and break down this monumental task into individual, actionable steps. 

“Process and decision support is a form of assistance that empowers people to make effective progress toward a shared goal,” says Sara O’Brien, Willamette Partnership’s former Executive Director. Willamette Partnership never shows up as the decision maker. Rather, we bring content expertise, relationship management skills, and project management tools to shepherd groups through a structured decision-making process. Group members can focus on applying their individual strengths, while Willamette Partnership takes care of planning, running, and following up on the activities that allow those individual strengths to serve the group’s shared goals.

Building trust at the Task Force’s retreat was a top priority, an essential step in the process that makes work both easier and more enjoyable. Barton Robison, Willamette Partnership’s Interim Executive Director, who helped facilitate the Task Force’s retreat along with Kellyn Baez, puts it this way:

“Climate change action can be really heavy, hard work to do. So by having trust in each other and framing the work with, ‘We are in this together; we can accomplish things together and take care of each other’s emotional needs while working alongside each other,’ it makes the job more sustainable in the long run.”

As important as it was to build relationships between team members on the task force, Robison understood he wouldn’t be able to do that without first earning the Tribe’s trust. For the last three years, he’s been visiting Coos Bay nearly every month to spend time and get to know these communities where he works. 

“It means a lot to people when you are physically present and know their community,” he says. “They can feel that investment and then they reciprocate it. I think what sets us apart from other groups who are technically proficient at facilitating process design is that we show up as whole people and how we hold relationships in the work.” 

Along with caring about the people, Willamette Partnership cares equally about reaching positive outcomes. To date, the Coquille Climate Resilience Task Force has already brought recommendations to their Tribal Council and began preparation for upcoming funding opportunities. They have a clear vision, to proactively address climate change by incorporating their traditional values, intentionally reducing their carbon footprint, and strategically investing in their people for a more powerful tribal nation for future generations.

That day at the NWEJC’s launch Mark Healy concluded, “Collaborations like Willamette Partnership’s Environmental Justice Center and other [technical assistance centers] are critical right now to create the partnerships required to create a future for the next seven generations.”