Elizabeth Reinhardt Forest Service Climate Change Office Changing Forests…Enduring Values FOREST SERVICE CLIMATE CHANGE SCORECARD

Policy Context  Executive Order “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice” 1994  White House memo 2010 “Recommitment to Environmental Justice”  2011 Interagency MOU on Environmental Justice  USDA Environmental Justice Strategic Plan 2011  ensure that environmental burdens do not disproportionately affect any one community while also creating opportunities for underserved communities.

Policy Context  Executive Order Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, 2009  USDA Strategic Plan  FS Roadmap for Responding to Climate Change

Implementing Instructions EO13514  Require agencies to conduct a “high-level vulnerability assessment” and develop a strategic plan for responding to climate change  Rider on House Ag markup

S TRATEGIC G OAL 2 - Ensure our national forests and private working lands are conserved, restored, and made more resilient to climate change…. P ERFORMANCE M EASURE Percent of National Forests in compliance with a climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy USDA Strategic Plan

FS Roadmap for Responding to Climate Change

Roadmap Immediate Initiatives: Assess the impacts of climate change and associated policies on tribes, rural communities, and other resource-dependent communities. “Some groups of communities, such as American Indians, might be especially vulnerable because of location or cultural and economic circumstances.. Vulnerability assessments are needed for communities, their institutions, and their capacity to adapt to disturbances associated with climate change. Vulnerability assessments are the basis for defining the social, economic, and ecological costs of inaction as a reference point against which to compare proactive adaptation measures.”

 Measuring progress  Recording achievements  Sharing lessons learned  Accountability  Balance  Flexibility  Integration Performance Scorecard

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

Scorecard Element 6 Vulnerability assessment – Has the Unit developed relevant information about the vulnerability of human communities, key resources, and ecosystem elements to the impacts of climate change?  What key resources have you identified on your unit?  How have you reviewed and used existing scientific, social, and economic information about the exposure and sensitivity of those resources to climate change?  What current stressors are you observing on your unit? How do you expect these stressors might interact with a changing climate?  What historical climate data and climate projections have you examined? How might your key resources and their stressors be impacted by future climate change?  Who have you consulted to create or review your vulnerability assessment?  Have you used this vulnerability information to prioritize possible management actions?

Scanning the Conservation Horizon Vulnerability – 3 Components

Values at risk Health and extent of whitebark pine ecosystem S. Arno  Protects snowpack  Delays snowmelt  Provides high quality water  Provides critical habitat  Unique plant communities  Adds to landscape diversity  Provides important food Current Range of whitebark pine Example: Whitebark pine

Mountain pine beetle Wildfire Kendall, K.C Vulnerability -- Exposure White pine blister rust Will exposure to existing stressors change in a changing climate?

 White pine blister rust – natural rust resistance 1-5%  Mountain pine beetle – interaction with blister rust  Will increased moisture stress reduce resistance and defenses (increase sensitivity)? Vulnerability -- Sensitivity

Inherent Characteristics  Adapted to 3 fire regimes – stand replacing, mixed severity and low severity fires Management Opportunities  Restoration  Nutcrackers cache seeds in open areas  Seedlings survive well following fire  Fire reduces competition from spruce/fir  Prescribed fires  Silvicultural cuttings  Conserve genetic diversity Vulnerability – Adaptive Capacity

Vulnerability – 3 Dimensions Ecological SocialEconomic

FY2011 Baseline Scorecard Assessment