What is the US Forest Service Response to Climate Change?

1. What is the US Forest Service Response to Climate Change? Connecting the Forest Service Climate Change Roadmap & Scorecard with State Action Plans Sarah Hines Climate Change & Ecosystem Services Specialist Northeastern Area & Northern Research Station shines@fs.fed.us

2. Where is she going with all of this? • After a bit of context-setting background information, I’ll share the DRAFT Climate Change Scorecard that we’ve developed for State & Private Forestry, including Northeastern Area. • The State & Private Forestry Climate Change Scorecard would be a way for S&PF to benchmark and grade ourselves on our ability to deliver the resources and assistance that states need to deal with climate change issues. • It is NOT a report card by which S&PF grades the states! • It is a tool for S&PF to deliver, in an organized fashion, what states said they needed (for climate change) in the State Action Plans. • But I need YOUR engagement to make sure we’re getting it right and/or improve our approach!

3. Responding to climate change Responding to climate change 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.”

4. USDA Strategic Plan (2010-2015) Strategic Goal 2 - Ensure our national forests and private working lands are conserved, restored, and made more resilient to climate change, while enhancing our water resources. Objective 2.2 – Lead Efforts to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change Performance Measure 2.2.3 - Percent of National Forests in compliance with a climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy

5. Responding to climate change “This is an agency-wide effort. The regional offices, research stations, and national programs will support field units in an integrated agency response to climate change.” Chief Tidwell, July 2010 …The Roadmap is born.

6. Performance Scorecard To ensure accountability across the National Forest System, we have created a scorecard for measuring progress, recording achievements, and sharing lessons learned by each national forest and grassland. The reporting unit is the National Forest or Grassland. Support will be provided by ROs, Research Stations, and national programs.

7. Who is the Forest Service? 4 Program Divisions • International Programs • State and Private Forestry • National Forest Systems • Research and Development

8. USDA Strategic Plan (2010-2015) Strategic Goal 2 - Ensure our national forests and private working lands are conserved, restored, and made more resilient to climate change, while enhancing our water resources. Objective 2.2 – Lead Efforts to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change Performance Measure 2.2.3 - Percent of National Forests in compliance with a climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy

9. Climate Change Scorecard • Employee education • Climate change coordinators • Plans of work • Science and management • External partnerships • Vulnerability assessment • Adaptation activities • Monitoring • Carbon assessment • Sustainable operations Goal: 7/10 by 2015

10. Climate Change Scorecard

11. Scorecard Preliminary Assessment Climate change coordinators Integrate science & management Develop partnerships & alliances Reduce environmental footprint

12. Scorecard Successes Element 1 (Employee Education): The Chippewa National Forest (R9) held a Climate Change Workshop for all employees, and eighty-five employees from all units attended. Element 5 (External Partnerships): The Beaverhead-Deerlodge, Bridger-Teton, Caribou-Targhee, Custer, Gallatin, and Shoshone National Forests (R1) partnered with two National Parks and two National Wildlife Refuges to form the Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee (GYCC), which has created a Climate Change Adaptation Committee of agency staff to coordinate and advance climate change response in the Greater Yellowstone Area.

13. Toward an S&PF Scorecard • Goal Develop a parallel S&PF Scorecard that: • Targets elements appropriately toward the S&PF Deputy Area • Adds value to the program delivery and technical assistance that we provide to states. • Measures S&PF internal capacity and external progress toward delivery of appropriate climate change-related science and resources to the states, for reporting out and up (to WO & Congress) • The State & Private Forestry Climate Change Scorecard would be a way for S&PF to benchmark and grade ourselves on our ability to deliver the resources and assistance that states need. It is NOT a report card by which S&PF grades the states!

14. Toward an S&PF Scorecard

15. Discussion Questions • How have State needs with respect to climate change changed or evolved (or not) since the publication of the State Action Plan? • Are there goals / needs that were not captured in the plan? • Would the elements of the S&PF Climate Change Scorecard add value to your state’s efforts? Is there anything that’s missing? • If the S&PF Scorecard is implemented, how involved should NAASF (or its committees) be in assessing NA progress toward scorecard goals? Put differently, can ongoing dialogue with NAASF (or FRPC committee) help us “get to yes” on any of the scorecard elements?

16. Thank you! Feedback on the Draft Scorecard is welcome by June 24! shines@fs.fed.us 610-557-4218

18. Performance Scorecard Each National Forest and Grassland will be responsible reporting annually on the scorecard, with a target of 100% compliance by 2015.

19. Agency Capacity Mitigation Forest Service Response to Climate Change Partnerships and Education Adaptation .

20. Agency Capacity 1. Employee education 2. Designate climate change coordinators 3. Develop program guidance and training .

21. Partnerships and Education 4. Integrate science and management 5. Develop partnerships and alliances .

22. Adaptation 6. Assess vulnerability 7. Set priorities 8. Monitor change .

23. Mitigation and Sustainable Consumption 9. Assess and manage carbon 10. Reduce environmental footprint .