Feds Develop Climate Change Adaptation Strategies

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA recently announced the release of the first national strategy to help decision makers and resource managers prepare for the impacts of climate change on species and ecosystems. The National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy describes the effects of climate change that we can soon expect to see in our natural systems and provides a blueprint for wildlife and habitat management agencies to develop a coordinated set of goals, strategies and responses to climate change impacts. The draft report was prepared by a team of more than 100 people from federal, state, and tribal conservation agencies.

The U.S. Forest Service has developed its own guidelines for climate change adaptation specifically related to forest management. Responding to Climate Change on National Forests: A Guidebook for Developing Adaptation Options is published by the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station and provides managers with decision tools, models, and planning instruments—based on current climate change science—for managing forests sustainably.