Managing for climate change on federal lands of the western United States: perceived usefulness of climate science, effectiveness of adaptation strategies, and barriers to implementation

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Recent mandates in the United States require federal agencies to incorporate climate change science into land management planning efforts. These mandates target possible adaptation and mitigation strategies. However, the degree to which climate change is actively being considered in agency planning and management decisions is largely unknown. We explored the usefulness of climate change science for federal resource managers, focusing on the efficacy of potential adaptation strategies and barriers limiting the use of climate change science in adaptation efforts. Our study was conducted in the northern Rocky Mountains region of the western United States, where we interacted with 77 U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management personnel through surveys, semistructured interviews, and four collaborative workshops at locations across Idaho and Montana. We used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate managers' perceptions about adapting to and mitigating for climate change. Although resource managers incorporate general language about climate change in regional and landscape-level planning documents, they are currently not planning on-the-ground adaptation or mitigation projects. However, managers felt that their organizations were most likely to adapt to climate change through use of existing management strategies that are already widely implemented for other non climate-related management goals. These existing strategies, (e.g., thinning and prescribed burning) are perceived as more feasible than new climate-specific methods (e.g., assisted migration) because they already have public and agency support, accomplish multiple goals, and require less anticipation of the future timing and probability of climate change impacts. Participants reported that the most common barriers to using climate change information included a lack of management-relevant climate change science, inconsistent agency guidance, and insufficient time and resources to access, interpret, and apply current climate science information to management plans.

Managers' perceptions of protected area outcomes in Madagascar highlight the need for species monitoring and knowledge transfer

“…While research partnerships exist between some universities and PAs in Madagascar, the lack of communication between researchers and local PA managers means that valuable data and information rarely ends up informing actual PA management (Rafidimanantsoa et al, 2018). Involving managers in research design means that findings are more likely to be relevant and used to improve management (Dilling & Lemos, 2011;Kemp et al, 2015) and we argue that methods for the co-production and exchange of knowledge between researchers, managers, and local communities offer a way to better address the complexities of PAs and their management for both beneficiaries and managers (Bouska, Lindner, Paukert, & Jacobson, 2016;Colloff et al, 2017;Gardner, 2012;Reyers et al, 2010). This echoes similar recommendations from other recent studies investigating drivers behind the "research-implementation" gap (Cvitanovic, Hobday, van Kerkhoff, & Marshall, 2015;Gossa, Fisher, & Milner-Gulland, 2015;McNie, 2007;Toomey, Knight, & Barlow, 2017;Walsh, Dicks, & Sutherland, 2015).…”

Stakeholder-led science: engaging resource managers to identify science needs for long-term management of floodplain conservation lands

“…Kemp et al (2015) found that federal agencies tasked with incorporating climate chance science into management of public lands were faced with similar limitations. Similarly, lack of information at relevant scales and budget constraints were the most limiting constraints for federal public land managers to adapt to climate change in mountainous Colorado (Archie et al 2014).…”

“…Although resource limitations of time and funding are often controlled by forces outside the realm of influence of individual managers and scientists, disconnections between research and management communities is a constraint that both resource managers and scientists can work to remove through regular communication and collaboration. The U.S. Forest Service has attempted to overcome this obstacle through the creation of climate change coordinator positions (Kemp et al 2015) and science-management partnerships (Littell et al 2012). The participating managers in our workshop were eager to help scientists understand the difficulties inherent to managing floodplains, and to aid in the identification of science products that meet their needs, suggesting partnerships between managers and researchers can identify science needs, specify relevant temporal and spatial scales, and determine user-friendly product formats.…”

“…As one survey participant responded, "If climate change is going to affect the properties I manage before I retire, I want to know about it." Recent U.S. Presidential executive orders (The White House 2013) guide and encourage all federal agencies to address climate change adaptation, however a lack of management-relevant climate change science, time, and funding remain obstacles to implementing adaptation (Kemp et al 2015).…”

Ponderosa Pine Forest Restoration Treatment Longevity: Implications of Regeneration on Fire Hazard

“…Dry forests of Western North America face increasingly extensive, frequent, and severe disturbances from insects, disease, and wildfire due to growing climatic and anthropogenic pressures [1][2][3]. These disturbances can have large social and financial implications for the communities that are reliant on the resources and ecological benefits provided by these systems [4].…”