The Federal Government has a treaty and trust responsibility to protect Tribal sovereignty and to revitalize Tribal communities, including through economic and energy development. Ensuring Tribal access to funding and incentive opportunities requires sufficient outreach and coordination. As such, the Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) Tribal Working Group was established in Fall 2024 to provide a portion of this outreach and coordination.  The purpose of the Tribal Working Group is two-fold:  

1. To empower the Tribes with fossil energy and carbon management resources to gain access to the available funding and incentive opportunities.

2. To accelerate the Tribes’ development of their vast energy resources and carbon management potential.  

To achieve these goals, the Working Group will provide input, local knowledge, and expertise to the Federal Government on ways to assist Tribes’ energy development efforts, as well as the utilization of their natural resources. 

To further the goals of the Working Group and interested stakeholders, the FECM Tribal Working Group, in cooperation with USEA, will host its next meeting September 23-25 at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. September 23rd will consist of a meeting with Working Group members only followed by open sessions on the 24th and 25th. For your reference, a draft agenda is included on the right-hand side of this page. We will be meeting in Copeland Hall (starred in the attached map on the right-hand side of this page) with the parking lot next to Copeland on Elm Ave unlocked and open for meeting attendees. Recommended hotels include the NOUN Hotel Norman, the Courtyard by Marriott Norman and the Embassy Suites by Hilton Norman Hotel & Conference Center.

For questions or concerns regarding the meeting, please contact Demi Morishige, Secretary of the Tribal Working Group at dmorishige@redcedargathering.com and USEA's Alex Krowka at akrowka@usea.org.