Responding to climate change in national forests: a guidebook for developing adaptation options

Abstract

This guidebook contains science-based principles, processes, and tools necessary to assist with developing adaptation options for national forest lands. The adaptation process is based on partnerships between local resource managers and scientists who work collaboratively to understand potential climate change effects, identify important resource issues, and develop management options that can capitalize on new opportunities and reduce deleterious effects. Because management objectives and sensitivity of resources to climate change differ among national forests, appropriate processes and tools for developing adaptation options may also differ. Regardless of specific processes and tools, the following steps are recommended: (1) become aware of basic climate change science and integrate that understanding with knowledge of local resource conditions and issues (review), (2) evaluate sensitivity of specific natural resources to climate change (rank), (3) develop and implement strategic and tactical options for adapting resources to climate change (resolve), and (4) monitor the effectiveness of adaptation options (observe) and adjust management as needed. Results of recent case studies on adaptation in national forests and national parks can facilitate integration of climate change in resource management and planning and make the adaptation process more efficient. Adaptation to climate change will be successful only if it can be fully implemented in established planning processes and other operational aspects of national forest management.

The North Cascadia Adaptation Partnership: A Science-Management Collaboration for Responding to Climate Change

“…We also addressed uncertainty by focusing on similarities among models [3]. Although these projections show a range of future climate, many variables important for resource management are similar among projections [3]. The GCM projections differ in the magnitude of changes in temperature, snowpack, soil moisture, and flood risk, but generally agree on the direction of change, with the exception of precipitation.…”

“…During the workshops, climate scientists presented limitations and uncertainty associated with these GCM projections. We also addressed uncertainty by focusing on similarities among models [3]. Although these projections show a range of future climate, many variables important for resource management are similar among projections [3].…”

“…Adaptation strategies included actions to create resistance, promote resilience of resources and ecosystems, and enable natural and built systems to respond to changes in climate [19]. All three types of adaptation strategies were discussed because each is useful for different time frames and depending on the social, political, or economic value of the resources [3]. Strategies for increasing resistance include actions that enable natural and built systems to maintain their current state despite changes in climate.…”

“…We used projected changes in climate and hydrology from a range of models [3]-an ensemble of 10 GCMs and two bracketing GCMs that give a range of climate futures for the region [11]. Climate projections included temperature and precipitation, as well as variables simulated with a hydrologic model including snow depth, soil moisture, flood frequency, and streamflows.…”

“…Agency strategies focus on increasing climate change awareness, assessing the vulnerability of natural, social, and cultural systems, and developing adaptation strategies to reduce vulnerabilities and increase resilience. Several tools and process have been developed to achieve these goals [3][4][5], and one that has been shown to be successful is science-management partnerships [6,7]. Although effective collaboration across jurisdictional boundaries has been a significant challenge for federal agencies, science-management partnerships have been valuable in achieving cross-boundary coordination in climate change adaptation.…”