The Yurok Tribe is a sovereign nation and federally recognized Tribe. The Yurok Tribe often interacts with the federal government regarding government programs that impact the Tribe and its members.

In July, with the assistance of Democracy Forward, the Yurok Tribe provided a comment to OMB detailing methods the federal government could take to improve these interactions, particularly the formal consultation process and stakeholder engagement, to advance equity and support for the Yurok tribal community. This comment was submitted in response to an OMB request for information on methods and leading practices for advancing equity and support for underserved communities through government.

Specifically, the Yurok Tribe’s comment recommended that federal agencies commit to standards of free, prior, and informed consent for tribal consultations; provide sufficient advance notice of these consultations; hold pre-meetings with tribal leaders; and improve the form of notice to ensure that it is received in a timely fashion. And to improve stakeholder engagement, the Tribe recommended that federal agencies should consider increasing communication with tribal communities through a proactive and grassroots approach.

Read the entire comment here.