NETT LAKE — As Congress moved last week to eliminate more than a billion dollars in federal funding for public broadcasting, KBFT – the Bois Forte Band’s tribal community radio station – appears to have narrowly escaped the chopping block. However, the reprieve may be short-lived without long-term congressional support.
President Donald Trump last week signed a bill rescinding $9 billion in previously allocated federal spending, including $1.1 billion earmarked for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That money had been intended to fund NPR, PBS, and their member stations – including dozens of small tribal stations – for the next two years.
The impact of the cut drew immediate backlash. NPR CEO Katherine Maher called it an “irreversible loss,” and PBS President Paula Kerger warned that many small, rural stations could face hard decisions about layoffs or closure. A Harris Poll conducted prior to the vote found that 66 percent of Americans support federal funding for public media.
Although NPR and PBS rely on direct federal funds for only a small portion of their national budgets, many local stations depend heavily on CPB’s community service grants to operate – especially those in rural areas serving underserved audiences like Native Americans.
That includes KBFT, which broadcasts from Nett Lake Elementary School. The station operates on an annual budget of around $330,000, with more than half of that historically coming from CPB grants, according to station manager George Strong.
The station’s programming includes daily weather forecasts – a key service in a region with limited broadband access – and Ojibwe language segments featuring local elders.
“We utilize our local elders here in the village and we share with the community, the listeners, a daily word they can utilize in their homes, and the community as a whole,” Strong said.
He emphasized the station’s role in public safety and resource management, particularly around fire prevention.
“We get a lot of people that are concerned, of course, about this area,” Strong said. “Forestry here, in particular, where it concerns wildfire and burning permits and our resources as far as how we’re managing those wood products. It’s very important, because it’s important to the livelihood of each individual member here.”
While KBFT and other Native stations were initially swept up in the funding cuts, South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds announced he had worked out a deal with the Trump administration to provide a stopgap: $9.4 million in unspent climate change funds from the Interior Department will be reallocated to temporarily sustain grants for 28 tribal radio stations across 11 states.
“In order for me to support this legislation, we had to find a way to continue support for these radio stations which offer potentially lifesaving information in some of the most rural parts of our nation,” Rounds said in a press release. “I’m pleased we secured $9.4 million to make certain the dozens of tribal radio stations receiving CPB community service grants can continue operating without interruption.”
However, the deal is not part of the legislation itself – it’s an administrative workaround with no assurance of future funding. Native Public Media, which advocates for tribal broadcasters, warned the compromise is “structurally impractical” and promised to continue pushing Congress for more permanent support.
For KBFT, the short-term relief may buy time – but Strong isn’t taking anything for granted.
“Maybe we wouldn’t be able to carry as much national programming, but we might be able to find some funds to do some more alternative type of programming,” he said.
He added that he and other station leaders will likely need to reassess the station’s current programming to ensure it can continue operating should a long-term funding solution not be found.

MPR News contributed to this article