Please join us for this webinar hosted by the Great Northern, Southern Rockies, and North Pacific LCCs.

Date and Time: Jan 20, 2015 12 pm Mountain / 11 am Pacific Presenters: Dave Peterson, U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station and Jessica Halofsky, University of Washington

REGISTER HERE

The U.S. Forest Service is working with other federal agencies and stakeholders to develop climate change vulnerability assessments and adaptation strategies for national forests and adjacent lands in the western United States. Teams of research scientists and resource managers are working across large biogeographic landscapes to (1) identify sensitivities of natural resources to climatic variability and change, and (2) develop adaptation options that reduce negative outcomes and transition systems to new conditions.

The results of recent science-management partnerships in the West have been compiled in the Climate Change Adaptation Library, which summarizes adaptation strategies and on-the-ground tactics for water resources, fisheries, vegetation, wildlife, and recreation. Partnerships and the Library are helping to fine-tune restoration and other aspects of sustainable resource management while accelerating on-the-ground implementation of climate-smart practices. Slide comprised of images for NorWeST and Climate Shielf Implementation of adaptation strategies can help prevent or minimize damage to infrastructure and subsequent impacts to natural resources. This image shows the Nisqually River Road in Mount Rainier National Park that was severely damaged in November 2006, following 18 inches of rain in 36 hours. The park was closed to the public for six months because of flood damage to roads and facilities. About the presenters: Dave Peterson is a Senior Research Biologist with the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station. He has conducted research on fire science and climate change throughout western North America, has published over 220 scientific articles and three books, and is a contributing author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and U.S. National Climate Assessment. He recently published the book Climate Change and United States Forests, and currently works on climate change adaptation on federal lands throughout the West.

Jessica Halofsky is a Research Ecologist with the University of Washington and is affiliated with the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station. Her research interests include climate change, fire and disturbance ecology, and vegetation dynamics. She has led several climate change adaptation partnerships on federal lands throughout the West, and is working on a new book about the effects of climate change in the Rocky Mountains.