In September 2024, Flagstaff officially launched its community Resilience Hubs pilot program. The goal, according to the city and local organizations partnering on the project, was to provide spaces for community members to improve emergency preparedness at a grassroots level -- and, if necessary, offer trusted refuges during natural disasters or extreme weather events.
The program was supported by a million-dollar grant from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But in March of this year, following President Donald Trump鈥檚 appointment of Lee Zeldin to head the agency, the EPA abruptly terminated Flagstaff鈥檚 grant. The city made the cancellation public in late April after filing an appeal.
The loss of funds doesn鈥檛 mean the immediate end of the program.
鈥淭he resilience hubs are going to continue offering events and services to the community in whatever capacity they can,鈥� said program specialist Sam Wiley from the city鈥檚 Sustainability Office.
City staff and partner organizations are awaiting the results of the appeal -- the EPA has until November to respond -- and exploring potential new sources of funding.
Wiley emphasized that the program was intended to build on the strength of existing community organizations. The three designated resilience hubs were the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association鈥檚 Market of Dreams on Fourth Street, the Southside Neighborhood Association鈥檚 Murdoch Center on Brannen Avenue and the Community Assistance Teams鈥� mobile outreach bus.
鈥淎ll three of those organizations existed prior to this grant. We weren鈥檛 establishing anything from the ground up but rather trying to build their capacity,鈥� Wiley said.
The partner organizations will carry on, albeit without the full-time staff positions the grant funded.
Jenny Niemann, director of the Sustainability Office鈥檚 Climate Action Section, said, 鈥淎 lot of community members wanted this work to happen no matter what. We got this grant, and that allowed us to launch this project, but there鈥檚 a lot of really great energy for this work regardless of federal funding.鈥�
Resilience hubs staff had been hosting regular community workshops on evacuation readiness, home energy efficiency and do-it-yourself home air filtration. In addition, the grant had funded physical renovations to both the Market of Dreams and the Murdoch Center, with the goal of making both safe spaces for vulnerable community members during extreme heat, cold or smoke events.
Wendy White, co-founder of Community Assistance Teams of Flagstaff (CATs), said the abrupt termination of the grant 鈥渄oes put financial stress on us, as an organization.鈥�
鈥淲e were not forewarned that the money would be withheld or withdrawn,鈥� White said. 鈥淲e relied on that money. We hired somebody in reliance on that.鈥�
And as a result of receiving a subaward from the city鈥檚 grant, she added, CATs chose not to pursue other grant opportunities.
There鈥檚 no easy way to replace the lost funds immediately, according to White. CATs is looking for other funding sources, but grant applications and awards take time, and the organization is already operating on a constrained budget.
鈥淲e run a tight ship 鈥� we don鈥檛 have a whole lot of places where we could cut funding,鈥� she noted.
The Sunnyside Neighborhood Association and Southside Neighborhood Association had both received more of the federal funding than CATs, White added. The grant termination is 鈥減robably going to have a greater impact on them than on us,鈥� she said.
'Trying to hold out optimism'
White said the unceremonious termination of the EPA grant was consistent with the unpredictability that has characterized the federal government since January. Staff of federal agencies and federally supported programs are facing mass layoffs or funding cuts, with downstream effects on the places where those employees live and work.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to have a negative impact on the community overall,鈥� White said.
Wiley said staff of the Sustainability Office are 鈥渢rying to hold out optimism鈥� the city will win its appeal for reinstatement of the remaining grant funding. He said he believes the Resilience Hubs program still aligns with basic EPA priorities such as clean air -- for instance, by supporting localized air-quality measurement or assisting residents with air filtration -- and hopes the agency will ultimately agree.
The grant was originally issued by a branch of the EPA鈥檚 Environmental Justice program, which sought to alleviate environmental burdens faced by marginalized or particularly vulnerable communities. New administrator Zeldin has called the concept of environmental justice 鈥渁n excuse to fund left-wing activists鈥� and that he would be placing all employees of the Environmental Justice program on administrative leave.
Zeldin has also described his actions at the agency as During his Senate confirmation hearing in January, Zeldin stated, 鈥淚 believe climate change is real,鈥� but in the same sentence defended Trump鈥檚 repeated assertions that climate change is a 鈥渉oax.鈥�
The Arizona Daily Sun asked the EPA to explain the specific rationale for the termination of Flagstaff鈥檚 grant. An EPA spokesperson stated, 鈥淢aybe the Biden-Harris administration shouldn鈥檛 have forced their radical agenda of wasteful DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] programs and 鈥榚nvironmental justice鈥� preferencing on the EPA鈥檚 core mission of protecting human health and the environment.鈥�
Wiley and Niemann declined to respond directly to the EPA鈥檚 statement, but Niemann said, 鈥淚 think that everyone can get behind emergency preparedness and making our community stronger.鈥�
In a way, the grant revocation can be seen as a test of the underlying concept of resilience, Wiley noted.
鈥淲hen you have a concept like resilience framing the work that you do, when you鈥檙e trying to build connectedness, you鈥檙e 鈥� preparing for disruptions,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he disruptions that we were talking about on the way in were more things like flooding or wildfire smoke 鈥� but this disruption showed us, I think, that we were doing a good job building resilience and have ways to continue doing that moving forwards.鈥�
Wiley concluded: 鈥淏e on the lookout for more good things to come in these spaces."
Information about upcoming events can be found through the partner organizations or at .听
'Negative signals'
Flagstaff Mayor Becky Daggett criticized the EPA grant cancellation at a press conference in Wheeler Park on Wednesday, April 30, hosted by the Climate Action Campaign, to highlight the environmental consequences of President Donald Trump鈥檚 first 100 days in office. By undermining the city鈥檚 emergency preparedness work, Daggett said, the EPA鈥檚 decision increased the risks faced by Flagstaff residents.
鈥淲ithin the first year, the city had successfully spent about 40% of total grant funds, and each hub has been hosting approximately three workshops per week and distributing emergency response kits,鈥� she noted.
Daggett also spoke about the effect of staffing cuts to the Coconino National Forest.
鈥淔lagstaff is surrounded by the largest ponderosa pine forest in the world, making us ground zero in the fight to maintain federal investment in our forests,鈥� she said.
The Coconino National Forest has lost around 15% to 20% of its workforce to early retirement and deferred resignation offers, she said -- though the forest administration will not publicly confirm those numbers.
Although wildland firefighters have been exempt from layoffs or incentivized resignations so far, the loss of positions in other divisions of the U.S. Forest Service means a decrease in support staff and auxiliary firefighters in case of a major incident, and a potential decrease in proactive forest management work like thinning and fuels reduction.
鈥淔ederal uncertainty sends negative signals to all partners who have invested in forest health, watershed protection and catastrophic wildland [fire] preparedness,鈥� Daggett said. 鈥淭he reckless and thoughtless actions of the Trump administration have put Flagstaff and all of northern Arizona at additional risk of catastrophic wildland fire. Our communities deserve a steadfast president who has our backs, and right now it feels like we鈥檙e on our own.鈥�
After her remarks, Daggett praised the Forest Service personnel remaining with the agency.
鈥淲e have a strong relationship with Forest Service staff here, and bless them for working through this chaos,鈥� she said. But she added, 鈥淲hen you can鈥檛 count on your federal partners to have the money or the staff to carry out that forest health work, it鈥檚 terrifying.鈥�
Other speakers at the April 30 event included Sandy Bahr of the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter, Stefan Sommer of the Northern Arizona Climate Change Alliance, Northern Arizona University student Karly Barnes and former Arizona state Sen. Jamescita Peshlakai.
鈥淎ll the progress we thought we had made over the past 25 years is out the window,鈥� Peshlakai said. 鈥淎nd our short-term planning, everything is in danger. But the long-term consequences are going to be catastrophic.鈥�
Peshlakai resigned her state Senate seat in 2021 to serve as a tribal liaison for the Department of Interior. She was forced to resign from that position under the new administration, she said, and she warned of the ripple effects that federal job cuts would have across tribal communities.
鈥淭he only thing that I support for the knuckleheads in the White House and those that are trying to race to Mars and outer space,鈥� Peshlakai said, alluding to Mars colonization advocate and current presidential advisor Elon Musk, 鈥渋s that I would help buy them their one-way ticket off this planet and Mother Earth.鈥�