Climate Change
Climate Adaptation Plan
The Forest Service has been actively engaged in climate adaptation for many years, using lessons learned that help us take meaningful actions.
As stewards of National Forest Lands, the USDA Forest Service is committed to actively work in collaboration with diverse stakeholders to prepare national forest lands for impacts related to climate change, and proactively respond to ongoing effects of climate related disturbances.
Climate change presents a major challenge for the Forest Service. From longer fire seasons to more intense rainstorms to record-breaking temperatures, national forests in the Pacific Northwest are experiencing a diverse set of impacts, which will intensify in the future.
The following Forest Service direction guides the integration of climate change adaptation into agency-wide policies:
- The National Roadmap for Responding to Climate Change (2011)
- Forest Service Strategic Framework for Responding to Climate Change (2008)
- The U.S. Forest Service 2012 Planning Rule (219.6 Assessment, pg. 21263)
- Executive Order 14008 – Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad (2021)
- USDA Action Plan for Climate Adaptation and Resilience - (2021)
- Forest Service Climate Adaptation Plan - (2022)
- USDA Secretary’s Memorandum 1077-004 – Climate Resilience and Carbon Stewardship of America’s National Forests and Grasslands (2022)
Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments
Adapting ecosystems and associated resources to climate change requires having access to science on how climate change is impacting these ecosystems and resources. To address this need, the Pacific Northwest Region has worked with the Forest Service and university researchers to develop a series of climate change vulnerability assessments. These peer-reviewed scientific reports include climate change projections and descriptions of potential effects of climate change on areas within the Pacific Northwest Region. They also include descriptions of adaptation actions that managers can implement to address expected effects.
View a national map of completed climate change vulnerability assessments. Links to climate change vulnerability assessments for the Pacific Northwest Region are provided below:
- Adapting to Climate Change at Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park (2011)
- Adaptations to Climate Change: Colville and Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forests (2012)
- Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation in the North Cascades Region, Washington (2014)
- Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation in the Blue Mountains Region (2017)
- Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation in Southwest Washington (2019)
- Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation in South-Central Oregon (2019)
- Climate change vulnerability and adaptation in Southwest Oregon (2022)
- Climate change vulnerability and adaptation in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Mount Hood National Forest, and Willamette National Forest (2022)
Climate Change Fact Sheets
A series of regional fact sheets summaries information on key topics on climate change national forests.
- The Big Picture – Pacific Northwest Forests (PDF)
- Water Resource Impacts – Pacific Northwest Forests (PDF)
- Vegetation Changes – Pacific Northwest Forests (PDF)
- Climate Change and Wildlife Management – Pacific Northwest Forests (PDF)
Carbon Stewardship
For more information on carbon stocks in the Pacific Northwest Region, see this assessment. Learn more about the effects of disturbances on carbon.
Adaptation Examples
Take a look at the following to learn more about how the Forest Service is taking on climate change in the Pacific Northwest.
- Opportunities and Challenges to Planting a Sugar Pine Assisted Migration Seed Source Study in Southwest Oregon
- Integrating Climate Change into Watershed Planning on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest