In late January, the Department of the Interior and partners representing federal, state and tribal agencies released a draft strategy for managing natural resources in the face of a changing climate. The strategy is intended to provide a framework for actions that can be taken immediately and over the next five to ten years to support fish, wildlife and plant adaptation and recommendations for government and non-government partners to work together on these efforts. The plan does not mandate activities or suggest regulatory actions focusing instead on voluntary collaboration. The draft is available for comment until March 5, 2012, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

"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."

The draft National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy is the result of a 2009 call by Congress for the President's Council on Environmental Quality and the Department of the Interior to direct the development of a national, government-wide strategy. 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 steering committee is made up of the leadership of 16 federal, five state, and two tribal fish and wildlife conservation agencies.

"Our objective is to produce a collective, national (not federal) Strategy that identifies and defines principles and methods to maintain key terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems and functions needed to sustain fish, wildlife and plant resources in the face of accelerating climate change," the Steering Committee states. "Ultimately, the Strategy will be a blueprint for common action that outlines needed scientific support, policy and legal frameworks, best management practices, processes for integration and communication, and a framework for stepping down and implementing these approaches."

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.

The partners have hosted several public workshops to outline details of the plan. On February 14, there will be an in-person meeting from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET at the Department of the Interior Building in Washington, DC, and on February 22 there will be an online webinar from 1 to 2:30 p.m. ET. Public comments will be taken at these workshops, or you may submit them online, or mail written comments 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.(jas)