Integrating Climate Adaptation Strategies into Local Collaborative Forest Management in Northern Colorado

Climate change is altering western dry forests, including the forests of the Upper South Platte Watershed in Colorado, underscoring the need for climate adaptation. There are numerous resources available to land and forest managers designed to support climate adaptation efforts. In fact, the sheer number of available tools makes it challenging to determine which are most useful. This project synthesized resources most critical to climate adaptation into a streamlined climate adaptation workflow for use by land and forest managers working in the Upper South Platte Watershed. Alongside actions for ecological adaptation, the workflow includes recommendations for incorporating equity and environmental justice into forest adaptation. Additionally, we assessed the current state of climate adaptation in forest management and barriers to improved implementation through structured interviews with representatives from the Upper South Platte Partnership.

Acknowledgements

UC Santa Barbara Bren School: Dr. Joan Dudney, Assistant Professor; Dr. Sarah Anderson, Professor and Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Dr. Naomi Tague, Professor; Dr. Bruce Kendall, Professor and Associate Dean; Brian Lee, PhD Student; Sloane Stephenson, PhD Student

Upper South Platte Partnership (USPP): Audrey Miles-Cherney, Watershed Coordinator, members of the Goals, Strategy, and Funding Team (GSFT), and members of the Management and Science Team (MST)

Rob Addington, M.S., Director of Forest and Fire Program, The Nature Conservancy, Colorado

Summer Gray, PhD, Associate Professor, UC Santa Barbara Environmental Studies Department

Courtney Peterson, M.S., Climate Adaptation Specialist, Research Associate in the Forest and Rangeland Stewardship Department, and Coordinator and Instructor for the Advanced Silviculture Certificate, Northern Institute of Applied Climate Sciences (NIACS)

Lynn Scarlett, M.A., Bren Dean’s Leadership Council Chair, former Deputy Secretary of the Interior, and head of TNC’s Government Relations, Bren Dean’s Leadership Council