Emergency Response Training for Tribal Nations
APHIS cooperates with Native American agriculture and natural resources organizations to host regional training workshops that help prepare Tribes for animal health and plant health emergencies. These workshops open a critical dialogue between APHIS and Tribal personnel about the Tribe’s emergency response concerns and ability to respond to these types of emergencies.
We encourage Tribal agricultural, natural resources, and emergency management personnel and leadership from related departments to attend.
Topics Covered
During training, you'll learn about:
- APHIS programs and how we respond to various emergencies
- Foreign and domestic threats to agriculture and wildlife
- Current pest and disease surveillance activities and responses
- Federal incident command system and emergency support functions
- Benefits of having animal and plant health emergency response plans and memorandums of understanding (MOUs)
- Funding opportunities
What You'll Gain
After training, participants will be able to:
- Identify response resources and trusted partners
- Clarify each responding agency’s role and responsibilities
- Save time and avoid confusion during an initial response
- Prioritize protection for different resources
- Identify historic or sacred sites to protect or avoid
- Reduce the economic losses and impacts of an incident
Workshop participants also receive technical assistance to develop animal and plant health emergency response plans, initiate memorandum of understanding discussions, coordinate logistical exercises, and identify response vulnerabilities.
Contact Us
To find out about upcoming workshops or arrange one, contact our Office of the National Tribal Liaison:
Office of the National Tribal Liaison
Terry W. Clark, DVM
Deputy Director, Office of the National Tribal Liaison
Email: terry.w.clark@usda.gov
Phone: 301-440-4388
Carl Etsitty
Assistant Director, Office of the National Tribal Liaison
Email: carl.etsitty@usda.gov
Phone: 970-494-7573
Andrew Hubble
Assistant Director, Office of the National Tribal Liaison
Email: andrew.w.hubble@usda.gov
Phone: 202-774-4612