Adapting infrastructure and recreation in the Sierra Nevada to climate change
| Authors: | Benjamin S. Soderquist |
| Year: | 2021 |
| Type: | General Technical Report |
| Station: | Pacific Southwest Research Station |
| Source: | Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-272. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: 245-266. Chapter 6. |
Abstract
Climate change is currently affecting ecosystems and natural resources in forest ecosystems across the Western United States (Dettinger et al. 2018, Halofsky and Peterson 2017, Wuebbles et al. 2017). To prepare for the effects of increasing temperatures and shifts in precipitation, resource managers working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (USFS) are currently mandated to integrate climate change information into decisionmaking during land management planning (USDA FS 2012). Climate change adaptation, or taking actions to reduce risks from changing climatic conditions and prepare for the effects of future changes (Lempert et al. 2018), will be necessary to maintain resilient ecosystems and sustainable natural resources on National Forest System lands. Implementing effective climate-informed management actions across large landscapes will require increased coordination between federal and state agencies, nongovernmental organizations, industry partners, and private landowners.
This chapter describes adaptation options that were developed to support sustainable management for recreation and infrastructure resources on National Forest System lands across the Sierra Nevada. We provide background on key climate sensitivities and discuss adaptation options identified during each of the workshops. Although the adaptation strategies and tactics presented here are not an exhaustive list, they represent diverse high-priority climate sensitivities and actions that are relevant for the Sierra Nevada, and, in many cases, other regions of the Western United States.