Many land and natural resource managers are preparing for the effects of climate change on natural and cultural resources. Integrating climate change information into decision making can be a challenge for land managers to balance with their other responsibilities. To help managers assess climate change risks and develop adaptation strategies, staff from the Northwest Climate Hub and Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Center collaborate to create climate change vulnerability assessments. We bring together scientists and managers within the USDA Forest Service and other groups to synthesize the best available science on climate change effects and adaptation options into comprehensive reports. These reports inform resource management plans, such as forest planning for national forests, which in turn guide on-the-ground management actions. These collaborative efforts between scientists and managers pool resources and expertise to enhance climate resilience in the region.
Over the past 15 years, the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station and Office of Sustainability and Climate have funded Adaptation Partnerships to complete over 20 climate change vulnerability assessment reports across the Western U.S. One recent example is the Oregon Coast Adaptation Partnership (OCAP), a collaboration between scientists and managers with the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service and Northwest Climate Hub, Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management, Cascade Head Biosphere Collaborative, and the University of Washington. The team assessed the vulnerability of water, fish, vegetation, wildlife, infrastructure, recreation, and ecosystem services to climate change in the Oregon Coast Range. Through collaborative workshops, team members developed adaptation strategies to reduce risks to resources. The draft report is now available and will help inform resource management plans, State Wildlife Action Plan updates, conservation strategies, and restoration plans for the Oregon Coast Range. For example, land managers with the Siuslaw National Forest are already integrating report findings into the design of the North Fork Smith Restoration project.