Little River Band of Ottawa Indians
Final (Revised) LRBOI Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan (Submitted to MSP 3/25/24)
Networks Northwest is assisting the LRBOI's Emergency Management Office to create a new Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan. Brandy Martin, Incident Commander for the Tribal Emergency Response Team, is the primary point-of-contact for Networks Northwest on this project.
The LRBOI Tribe currently does not have its own hazard mitigation plan. The Tribe had adopted the Manistee County plan in 2007 but that expired in 2012, and they have not had one since. Once the Tribe has a FEMA approved plan that is then adopted by the Tribal Council, they are eligible to apply for federal hazard mitigation funds. Furthermore, having a plan that, for instance, mentions the importance of cultural assets to protect, will allow them to apply for special funding for FEMA that is set aside for Native American tribes. Instead of having to compete with the counties that their tribal land is located in, they will only have to compete with other tribes in terms of receiving hazard mitigation funding for specific cultural sites.
Meetings and Documentation
Meetings dates and times will be posted here as they become available.
LRBOI Emergency Response Team meetings (by invitation only):
- November 17, 2021 2:00 p.m., LRBOI Tribal Government Offices
- February 18, 2022 2:00 pm, LRBOI Tribal Government Offices
- May 19, 2022 Combined meeting with Manistee County LEPC/LPT and Community Input Session on Hazard Identification
- August 31, 2022 12:00 p.m., via MS Teams and in person at LRBOI Tribal Government Offices
- January 27, 2023 10:00 a.m, via MS Teams and in person at LRBOI Tribal Government Offices
- April 13, 2023 work session of draft plan materials with Tribal Council and TERT via Zoom
Update Process
Phase I: Data collection, including a community survey.
Phase II: Hazard identification and risk assessment
Phase III: Review and update hazard mitigation goals, priority areas, and implementation strategies.
Phase IV: Draft plan public comment period was held in November 2023. The draft was posted online for public for comments. Any feedback from the public review period was incorporated into the final plan.
Phase V: Plan Adoption following successful review by FEMA. Facilitate the plan adoption process with the Tribal Council.
Our Township greatly benefits from Network Northwest's experience, depth of knowledge and understanding. Because they work with so many diverse communities in our ten-county region they understand the local land-use issues and are already working on solutions by the time we realize we need some help.
- Susan Odom, Chair, Suttons Bay Township Planning Commission