Villages will receive $50 million in federal aid toward relocation

WASHINGTON — Two Alaska Native villages will receive $25 million each from the federal government to help fund their ongoing efforts to relocate to safer ground.

The funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law will go to Newtok and Napakiak in Western Alaska, where, as permafrost thaws and erodes, encroaching rivers threaten the communities. The communities will use the money to move essential facilities to safer ground.

Eight other tribes will receive $5 million to fund planning for potential relocation, including four in Alaska: Point Lay, Huslia, Fort Yukon and Nelson Lagoon. The Biden a...