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Lara Hansen

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Moving from Awareness to Action: Informing Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments and Adaptation Planning for Idaho and Montana National Forests
The rugged landscapes of northern Idaho and western Montana support biodiverse ecosystems, and provide a variety of natural resources and services for human communities. However, the benefits provided by these ecosystems may be at risk as changing climate magnifies existing stressors and allows new stressors to emerge. Preparation for and response to these potential changes can be most effectively addressed through multi-stakeholder partnerships, evaluating vulnerability of important resources to climate change, and developing response and preparation strategies for managing key natural resources in a changing world. This project supports climate-smart conservation and management across forests of northern Idaho...
Vulnerabilities of 27 resources were evaluated during the Vulnerability Assessment Workshop (held March 5-7, 2013); resources included 8 ecosystems (alpine/subalpine, yellow pine/mixed conifer, red fir, wet meadows and fens, oak woodlands, chaparral, sagebrush, and aquatic), 15 species (fisher, marten, bighorn sheep, wood rat, willow flycatcher, mountain quail, sage grouse, Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, mountain yellow-legged frog, red fir, blue oak, black oak, whitebark pine, bristlecone pine, and aspen), and 4 ecosystem services (timber and wood products, carbon, fire, and recreation). The vulnerability assessment results are comprised of evaluations and comments from a participant breakout group during the...
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Developing a Climate Adaptation Checklist to Inform Natural Resource Management
Scientific information about the risks of climate change to important natural and cultural resources is crucial for developing and implementing climate adaptation plans and management actions. Tools that incorporate both science and expert knowledge on adaptation actions can greatly benefit municipal, regional, and other decision makers, as they develop and implement their adaptation plans. In 2018, EcoAdapt created the Climate Change Adaptation Certification Tool, which was designed to support the implementation of climate adaptation plans. Discussions with the Washington State Interagency Climate Adaptation Network have confirmed that this tool was ideal for supporting decision making in the natural and cultural...
We propose to expand the collaborative, landscape-scale, climate change planning initiated last year to increase management application in the Rocky Mountain region. We will assess and build upon the results of the previous year’s work on climate change adaptation planning for cold-water fish and their habitats by either providing further assistance for implementation, or repeating the planning process for another natural resource priority conservation target (depending on the needs and interests of the partners involved). This project will be implemented through the Rocky Mountain Partner Forum as a way to create a learning network through which partners can share information about emerging practices and strategies...
This vulnerability assessment is an initial science-based effort to identify how and why focal resources (ecosystems, species populations, and ecosystem services) across the Sierra Nevada region are likely to be affected by future climate conditions. This assessment centers on the Sierra Nevada region of California, from foothills to crests, including ten national forests and two national parks. Twenty‐seven focal resources including eight ecosystems, populations of fifteen species, and four ecosystem services were identified as important by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) as part of their forest plan revision process or by Sierra Nevada stakeholders and are considered in this assessment. Vulnerabilities of these...
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