Across the state, we are seeing and feeling impacts related to a changing climate. Wildfire and smoke are threatening the health and welfare of people throughout the state. Orca and salmon runs are in decline. Communities are confronting coastal flooding, water shortages, and drought. As these impacts mount, already highly impacted communities and vulnerable populations will face increasing risks.
The importance of forests for sequestering carbon has created widespread interest among land managers for identifying actions that maintain or enhance carbon storage in forests. Managing for forest carbon under changing climatic conditions underscores a need for resources that help identify adaptation actions that align with carbon management. We developed the Forest Carbon Management Menu to help translate broad carbon management concepts into actionable tactics that help managers reduce risk from expected climate impacts in order to meet desired management goals.
Climate change can seem like an overwhelming challenge, and it can be diffcult to find meaningful ways to make a difference. The good news is that as a forest landowner, or as someone who helps to steward forests, you can have a significant impact on climate change through the land-use decisions you make—specifically your decisions about the future use and management of your forest. These land-use decisions play a regionally and globally important role in reducing the effects of climate change.
In recent years, concern has risen among western Washington communities about climate change and the impacts of increased wildfire risk in the region. This concern is motivated by large wildfires in eastern Washington and California, smoke events in western Washington, and growing evidence that changes in the climate are increasing the likelihood of wildfire in the Pacific Northwest.
The Iowa General Assembly enacted Senate File 485 in 2007 and House File 2571 in 2008. This legislation creates the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council (ICCAC) which consists of twenty-three (23) voting members appointed by the Governor that serve three-year staggered terms. The Council is also comprised of four (4) non-voting, ex-officio members from the General Assembly.
This Climate Plan is prepared pursuant to a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, from October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2016, with an update from the same fund planned for 2017. While the focus is on treaty natural resources, both because of the funding agency and this writer’s being housed in Quileute Natural Resources (hereinafter,sometimes, “QNR”), some sections will address the reservation needs as a whole, including infrastructure and ideas to sustain power, food, and water. Of necessity this Plan is limited by the information available up to the closing date.
