Climate Change Overview
Climate Change
“The nation's forests and grasslands are at risk due to the effects of climate change and other major drivers of landscape change. But the Forest Service is already doing much to help ecosystems adapt. We can and will do more, but we cannot succeed alone.” -- Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, 4/20/2010
See the latest from the climate change advisor.
The Forest Service has several inter-related programs to help forests, grasslands and humans mitigate and adapt to global climate change.
Visit the Climate Change Resource Center
The Climate Change Resource Center has been developed as a reference for US Forest Service resource managers and decision makers who need information and tools to address climate change in planning and project implementation on national forests.Learn more »
Research & Development
Forest Service scientists provide data, information and tools to help managers and policymakers address the effects of climate change on forests and grasslands. Learn more »
Land Management & Project Planning
The guidance documents Climate Change Considerations in Project Level NEPA Analysisand Climate Change Considerations in Land Management Plan Revisions, provide the Agency with the support needed to appropriately incorporate climate change into land management planning and project- level NEPA documentation. The guidance documents frame climate change with two fundamental challenges: how our management may influence climate change mainly through incremental changes to global pools of greenhouse gases and how climate change may affect our forests and grasslands. These guidance documents will be dynamic and adaptive as we discover more about climate change science, its application to adaptation and mitigation strategies, and appropriate analysis at the unit and project scales. Learn more »
Sustainable Operations
The concept of sustainability is embedded in the Forest Service mission to “sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.” Learn more »
Sustainable Resource Management
The Forest Service mission is to “Sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations." Learn more »
Ecological Restoration
The Forest Service is helping re-establish and maintain ecological processes and function in the national forests and grasslands to increase their resilience and capacity to provide goods and services such as clean water, clean air and wildlife habitat. Learn more »
Biomass Utilization
Woody biomass utilization is one of several forest management tools to help restore and maintain healthy ecosystem functions. Learn more »
Ecosystem Services: Carbon
Ecosystem services are the essential benefits that people obtain from healthy forests and grasslands. These include basic services like the delivery of food, fresh water, wood and fiber, and medicine, and other services that are less tangible but equally critical to human health and well-being, such as climate regulation, erosion control, soil formation, recreational opportunities, and scenic landscapes. Ecosystem change over the past century has had a measurable impact on our natural systems and their ability to supply ecosystem services. Learn more »
International Programs
International Programs of the US Forest Service promotes sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation internationally. By linking the skills of the field-based staff of the US Forest Service with partners overseas, the Agency can address the most critical forestry issues and concerns. Learn more »
Research Stations Map
See what the Forest Service’s Research & Development program is doing about climate change in your region of the country! Just click on the map!
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