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partners, the Obama Administration today released the first draft national
strategy to help decision makers and resource managers prepare for and
help reduce the impacts of climate change on species, ecosystems, and the
people and economies that depend on them.
The draft National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy,
available for public review and comment through March 5, 2012, can be
found on the web at www.
The strategy represents a draft framework for unified action to safeguard
fish, wildlife and plants, as well as the important benefits and services
the natural world provides the nation every day, including jobs, food,
clean water, clean air, building materials, storm protection, and
recreation.
“The impacts of climate change are already here and those who manage our
landscapes are already dealing with them,” said Deputy Secretary of the
Interior David J. Hayes. “The reality is that rising sea levels, warmer
temperatures, loss of sea ice and changing precipitation patterns – trends
scientists have definitively connected to climate change – are already
affecting the species we care about, the services we value, and the places
we call home. A national strategy will help us prepare and adapt.”
Congress called for a national, government-wide strategy in 2010,
directing the President’s Council on Environmental Quality and the
Department of the Interior to develop it. CEQ and Interior responded by
assembling an unprecedented partnership of federal, state and tribal fish
and wildlife conservation agencies to draft the strategy. More than 100
diverse researchers and managers from across the country participated in
the drafting for the partnership.
The partnership is co-led by Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, and the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation, representing state fish and wildlife agencies.
The strategy will guide the nation’s efforts during the next five years to
respond to current and future climate change impacts such as changing
species distributions and migration patterns, the spread of wildlife
diseases and invasive species, the inundation of coastal habitats with
rising sea levels, and changes in freshwater availability with shifting
precipitation and habitat types. The strategy does not prescribe mandatory
activities that agencies must take nor suggest regulatory actions; rather,
it provides a roadmap for decision makers and resource managers to use in
considering climate change implications to their ongoing wildlife and
habitat management activities.
Elements of the draft strategy include:
Descriptions of current and projected impacts of climate change on
the eight major ecosystems of the United States, the fish, wildlife and
plant species those ecosystems support and the vital ecosystem services
they provide;
Goals, strategies, and actions to reduce the vulnerability and
increase the resilience of fish, wildlife, plants and the communities that
depend on them in the face of climate change;
Collaborative strategies and actions that agriculture, energy,
transportation and other sectors can take to promote adaptation of fish,
wildlife and plants, and utilize the adaptive benefits of natural
resources in their climate adaptation efforts; and
A framework for coordinated implementation of the strategy among
government and non-governmental entities from national to local scales.
"For more than a century, state fish and wildlife agencies have been
entrusted by the public to be good stewards of their natural resources. To
do that, we constantly are called upon to address threats to our natural
resources,” said Patricia Riexinger, Director of the Division of Fish,
Wildlife and Marine Resources for the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation. “Today's pressures on fish and wildlife and
their habitats are exacerbated by climate change and together they
emphasize the need for increased conservation and science-based
management. The strategy is our nation's insurance for managing healthy
and robust ecosystems in uncertain future conditions."
“This strategy provides a framework for safeguarding America’s fish,
wildlife and plant resources and the valuable services they provide over
the long-term,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for
oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “NOAA is committed to
working with federal, state, tribal and local government agencies,
non-government organizations and the public in this process because we all
have important roles to play in preparing all regions of our nation in a
changing climate.”
Leading the development of the strategy is a Steering Committee that
includes government representatives from 16 federal agencies, five state
fish and wildlife agencies and two inter-tribal commissions. The Steering
Committee includes representatives from the California, Washington,
Wisconsin, New York and North Carolina fish and wildlife agencies to
ensure that all 50 states’ fish and wildlife concerns are considered. The
Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies is providing staff support for
developing the strategy.
Public comments can be submitted online through the strategy website via a
special link. Written comments may be submitted via the U.S. mail to the
Office of the Science Advisor, Attn: National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants
Climate Adaptation Strategy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 N.
Fairfax Drive Suite 222, Arlington, VA 22203. In addition, there will be
five public information sessions in various locations around the country
and two webinars to provide details and encourage dialogue on the strategy
and its development. To register for these meetings and for more
information on the public comment process, visit
http://www.
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