Eastern WA University - Small Urban Rural and TRIBAL Center on Mobility (SURTCOM)

By Kerry Brooks and Margo Hill

The Urban and Regional Planning Programs (BAURP & MURP) have a long history of research and community engagement. Professor Margo Hill provides an overview of EUU’s work on the multi-state and tribe SURTCOM project.

Eastern Washington University's Tribal Planning Programs are very pleased to join the effort for research and scholarly support as part of SURTCOM, within the Montana State University Western Transportation Institute, and to focus on research related to tribal transportation and Native American mobility. Our tribal programs are part of the Department of Urban Planning and Public Administration and carried out in conjunction with the EWU Tribal Planning Programs, led by Margo Hill, JD, EWU Assistant Professor of Planning. The team includes: Dr. Jason Scully, Dr. Ning Li, Dr. Dick Winchell and Richard Rolland.

We have 2 EWU Graduate students Zack Becker and Landon Baldwin who assist the faculty in completing research in Transportation and Mobility. We are working on a number of research projects and reports but here are a couple to share:

“Tribal Mobility and access to Health in Washington State” Authors: Scully, Becker.
Overview: A detailed analysis of tribal mobility, isolation, and access to healthcare through GIS analysis for land parcels on-reservation and off-reservation in Washington State and their access to healthcare. Building on analysis of GIS data for American Indian Reservations in the Western US, this study emphasizes detailed land parcel data with respect to distance and time to health care facilities, identifying health care deserts in the State of Washington located on key reservation lands.

“Tribal-State Relations in Transportation: A Western States Analysis” Authors: Li, Baldwin, Winchell, Hill, Rolland.
Overview: Federal relations to tribes led to establishment of American Indian reservations and recognition of tribal sovereignty, while state relations with tribes has uniquely evolved, often not recognizing the federal-tribal relations in tribes within state boundaries. A critical issue to identify and create positive relations and contexts of understanding transportation for tribes, state-tribal relations are examined through analysis of state and tribal websites, and follow-up analysis of state recognition and collaboration with tribes, especially around transportation and transportation safety.

In addition to class engagement with this and similar projects, we are also fortunate to support a number of graduate students with this and other projects. We are still accepting applications for the Fall 2019 m class. Please contact Professor Kerry Brooks for additional information on admissions ([email protected])

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