Welcome

Partner and Informational Webinar

Intermountain Adaptation Partnership (IAP)

Conference Call: 888-844-9904, Access: 1264527#

June 11, 2015, 10-11am MT

U.S. Forest Service Presenters

Natalie Little, Regional Sustainable Operations and

Climate Change Coordinator, Ogden, UT

nlittle@fs.fed.us

Dave Peterson, Research Biologist,

Seattle, WA, wild@uw.edu

Jeff Bruggink, Regional Soil Scientist, Ogden, UT

jbruggink@fs.fed.us

Forest Service Mission & Changing Climates

Responding to changing climates is essential if the Forest Service is to fulfill its mission:

“to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s forests and grasslands for the benefit of present and future generations.”

IAP Webinar Outline

Provide information about the Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Action Strategy:

Vision and Strategy Timeline Definitions Focus Areas (9) Geographic Areas (6) Focus Area Teams (9) Information Sources Adaptation Action Strategies and Downscaling to the Unit Products News releases Partnerships Next Steps

IAP Vision and Strategy

Guide planning, forest plan revision, and NEPA per 2012 Planning Rule

Identify key resources critical to adaptation action plans

Integrate FS NFS and Research into a highly productive platform

Create partnerships with similar benefiting projects

Climate Change Scorecard – Elements 6 & 7

Specialist training to apply climate change knowledge in land management

Synthesize information into a published General Technical Report (GTR)

IAP Vision and Strategy – Map

IAP Timeline

April 21, 2015: Forest Service Kickoff Meeting

May 2015 – April 2016: Compile information for vulnerability assessment

June 11, 2015: Partner and Informational Webinar

March 2016: Weekly webinars sharing focus area information

May 2016: Two-day workshops for each geographic area

June 2016 – June 2017: Complete final report, review, and submit for publication

Late 2017: Published General Technical Report (GTR)

Definitions

Vulnerability Assessment: Evaluation of the degree to which organisms and systems are susceptible to the effects of climate change

Adaptation Action: Adjustment in natural or human systems to mitigate harm, facilitate transitions, or exploit benefits of climate change

IAP Focus Areas

Physical Resources

Vegetation Resources

Terrestrial Species

Aquatic Species

Infrastructure

Recreational Uses

Cultural Heritage

Ecosystem Services

Disturbance

Stratifying Assessment into Geographic Areas

Purpose for stratification

Complexity of region

Distribution of resources

Current and future climates vary across the region

Responses will vary across the region to changing climate

Context for local assessment

Manageable assessment

R4 Geographic Areas (sources of information)

Land fire Geographic Areas 2001 National Land Cover Database

partitioning/mapping zones

FS National Hierarchy of Ecological Units (Province)

EPA Ecoregions Level III (similar to Province)

National GAP vegetation mapping

Level 2 Hydrologic Units

Geographic Areas

Ecomap Province, Landfire and National GAP (vegetation)

Good correlation Shows relation with existing climate, vegetation and ecological units

Geographic Areas

Ecomap Province, Landfire, and Surface Water

Good correlation with ecological boundaries

Stream and river density captured by ecological units

Hybrid of Landfire Geographic Areas and Ecomap

Province Level with some splits and merging to include all lands within boundaries of Intermountain Region of FS

Final Geographic Areas Map

IAP Geographic Areas

Great Basin and Semi Desert

Middle Rockies

Southern Greater Yellowstone

Plateaus

Uintas and Wasatch Front

Intermountain Semi-Desert

IAP Focus Area Teams

Approximately 10-12 people per team

Most team members are Forest Service, but other organizations are involved too such as USGS, universities, NPS, and others

IAP Informational Sources

Agencies databases

Agency research

University research

IAP Downscaling to the Unit

Vulnerability Assessment

Adaptation Action Strategies

Development of Adaptation Strategies & Tactics

Vulnerabilities and Adaptation – Water

Vulnerability

Higher peak flows in fall and winter

Adaptation strategy

Design infrastructure to accommodate higher peak flows

Vulnerabilities and Adaptation – Water

Vulnerability

Higher peak flows in fall and winter

Adaptation tactics

Install larger culverts

Decommission roads in floodplains

Relocate campgrounds subject to flooding

Vulnerabilities and Adaptation – Fisheries

Vulnerability

Higher stream temperatures will degrade habitat

Adaptation strategy

Restore and maintain cold-water habitat

Vulnerabilities and Adaptation – Fisheries

Vulnerability

Higher stream temperatures will degrade habitat

Adaptation tactics

Map cold-water habitat

Restore side channels

Increase shade in riparian areas

Vulnerabilities and Adaptation – Vegetation

Vulnerability

Wildfire will burn more area and over a longer fire season

Adaptation strategy

Increase resilience of forest ecosystems to more frequent fire

Vulnerabilities and Adaptation – Vegetation

Vulnerability

Wildfire will burn more area and over a longer fire season

Adaptation tactics

Reduce stand densities

Accelerate hazardous fuel treatments

Manage for diversity of stand ages

Products

General Technical Report (GTR) – Intermountain Region Goal – publish in 2017

Webinars

Workshop Opportunities and Webinars

Website - http://www.adaptationpartners.org/iap/

New Releases

Posted on IAP Website: http://www.adaptationpartners.org/iap

Press releases and newspaper articles

Partnerships

What partners to invite into process? Partners that want to collaborate alongside FS. Possible partners include: NPS BLM LCCs Tribes States Counties Cities NGOs Universities Conservation Groups

How can partners get involved? Informational Collaborative Writer and/or reviews of a focus area chapter Contact Natalie Little, nlittle@fs.fed.us, or Dave Peterson, dave@uw.edu,

for more information

Next Steps

Develop partnerships and communications

Develop IAP email distribution list

Website updates

Newsletter updates

Aim and prepare for March 2016 webinars and May 2016 2-day meetings – partners welcome to attend

Next Steps – Share Information

Forest Service Climate Change Resource Center, http://www.fs.usda.gov/ccrc/

IAP Contact Information

Natalie Little, nlittle@fs.fed.us

Dave Peterson, wild@uw.edu

Thanks for attending!

Intermountain Adaptation Partnership (IAP)

Partner and Informational Webinar

http://www.adaptationpartners.org/iap

June 11, 2015