Click the link below to view a video of the remarks by the President during the opening of the Tribal Nations Conference.

Remarks by the President During the Opening of the Tribal Nations Conference & Interactive Discussion with Tribal Leaders can be found online by visiting the White House website at:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-during-opening-tribal-nations-conference-interactive-discussion-w

Your friendly FHWA Natural Environment Team needs your input on our new approach to funding research! STEP is the only source of funds to conduct all FHWA research on planning and environmental issues. Stakeholder input will take priority. This is your opportunity.

click here to view the flyer soliciting information.

After viewing the flyer, access the website to submit your input at:
http://knowledge.fhwa.dot.gov/cops/step.nsf/Feedback?OpenForm&Issue=6R9KQXRRRR

A new website, sponsored by the University of Minnesota, and the Center of Excellence in Rural Safety, has been launched. The site allows users to view graphical data and maps showing "hotspots" and other roadway crash statistical data.

Click Here to visit the website.

The ESRI software products company and the Department of Interior/Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA) have teamed up to provide the ArcGIS suite for free to Federally recognized tribal agencies.

New roads on Indian reservations are needed for a variety of reasons -- to serve new businesses, link remote villages to county and state highway systems, provide access to cultural activities and to replace unwieldy rutted and gravel-paved tracks, to name a few. Moreover, traffic accidents on reservation roads occur at roughly twice the national per-capita rate of accidents on state highways and county roads.

The Lummi Nation in partnership with the BIA Northwest Region has developed a process in the form of a board game to educate to its players about the environment in which transportation is planned, financed and developed.

Click Here to visit the site and request a copy of the game.

Help Develop a Guidebook for "Successful Communication, Cooperation & Coordination Strategies between Transportation Agencies & Tribal Communities. You can participate or be interviewed by the Research team by submitting the Participant Contact Form or by contacting Dr. Giovanni Ciro Migliaccio, Asst. Prof., Univ. of New Mexico at gcm@unm.edu or (505) 277-1948.

During the course of this project, the research team will be performing interviews with state, federal and tribal transportation professionals to gain insight in developing the guidebook. Members and other affiliated individuals of local TTAP's are invited to participate in the interview process.

Read more about the project/research/study (NCHRP 08-65)here:

[Click to open link]

To participate in the study, please read through the following:
[Click to open link] (pdf)

FHWA has established a website with information on the Economic Recovery. It currently has some steps that can be taken to expedite projects and a list of Q&A's from State and local agencies. As more specifics on the plan become available they will be posted here.


[Click to open link]

3M Traffic Safety Systems is launching the 3M Sign Grant Program, a new program designed to significantly reduce road sign replacement costs to local and state governments to meet the latest federal retroreflectivity standards set by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to improve traffic safety. The 3M Sign Grant Program begins January 5, 2009 and will run through November 30, 2009. See the website for more information: www.3MSignGrants.com [Click to open link]