SAULT STE. MARIE — The Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan will be a new grantee of AmeriCorps’s MI Healthy Climate Corps on
Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant. CPRG is a grant through the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency to help develop climate action plans with six Tribes in Michigan: Bay Mills Indian Community, Grand Traverse Band of
Chippewa and Ottawa Indians, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Saginaw
Chippewa Indian Tribe, and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
The MI Healthy Climate Corps accelerates Michigan’s climate action through capacity building and leadership development.
Members serve across the state to advance the MI Healthy Climate Plan’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The
plan, unveiled by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2022, aims to avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis; create good-paying
jobs; position Michigan as a climate action leader; and build a healthier and more prosperous, equitable, and sustainable
Michigan for all Michiganders.
MI Healthy Climate Plan lays out a broad vision for fulfilling Governor Whitmer’s commitment to achieving 100% economy-wide
carbon neutrality in Michigan by midcentury. MI Healthy Climate Corps members serve at organizations across Michigan,
providing critical support to communities tackling climate change. The program launched in early 2024 with new cohorts
selected annually. MI Healthy Climate Corps members receive significant training and career development support to step into
Michigan’s climate leadership pool. The Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan is one of thirty-one communities or organizations that
will be hosting the new MI Healthy Climate Corps.
“Plans will include how the Tribes will combat climate change for the next 25 years,” said Dustin Paras, the CPRG Program
Manager. He continues “We also plan to include complete greenhouse gas inventories for each participating Tribe, emissions
projects and emissions reducing projects that the Tribes can use to lower their carbon footprint.”
“My role in this project will be helping create greenhouse gas inventories for the Tribes along with emission projections,” said
Lucas Roff, Environmental Technician with MI Healthy Climate Corps. He adds “I’ll also help with obtaining Tribal members’
input for these plans through outreach events this upcoming spring and summer.”
Lucas is a cohort for the MI Healthy Climate Corps, partnered with Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan. He will be working out of
Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan’s central office in Sault Ste. Marie. Lucas is from Sandusky and earned his Bachelor’s Degree
in Biology from Lake Superior State University.
Lucas will also be assisting with the NOAA B-WET project this spring and early next fall. The NOAA B-WET grant is funded
through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. ITCM has partnered to support Bay Mills Biological Services on
the project. The main purpose of this program is to provide students at Ojibwe Charter School with meaningful watershed
educational experiences. These experiences will teach students the importance of watersheds and how climate change has a
major impact on local watersheds. In this program, students will attend field days at three different locations. In the field days,
students will learn how to properly identify a healthy watershed. Lucas’s role in this project is to help students during the field
days this spring and next fall.
More information on MI Healthy Climate Corps can be found here: https://www.michigan.gov/egle/about/organization/climate-
and-energy/mi-healthy-climate-plan/initiatives/mi-healthy-climate-corps