National Climate Partnerships in the Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest Climate Science Conference Panel Discussion:

Panel Members: Philip Mote – Climate Impacts Research Consortium Kevin Whalen – Northwest Climate Science Center Sean Finn – Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative Mary Mahaffy – North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative Chris Lauver – Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

Why Partnership Efforts?

Report - Large Landscape Conservation: A Strategic Framework for Policy and Action

McKinney, Scarlett & Kemmis, 2010

“…there is a gap in governance and a corresponding need to create informal and formal ways to work more effectively across boundaries.”

Barriers to Landscape Conservation• Lack of scientific information• Lack of capacity to organize• Lack of a strategy to coordinate• Fragmented financial investments

http://www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/1808_Large-Landscape-Conservation

National Climate Partnerships in the Pacific Northwest

CIRC

CESUs

Other Agency/ Organizations’

Regional Efforts

NW LCCs

NW CSC

CoordinationCollaboration

Philip MoteOregon Climate Change Research Institute Director

Oregon State University

IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE

Climate Research Impacts Consortium (CIRC)

NOAA Regional Integrated Science and Assessments Projects

Climate Impacts Research Consortium (CIRC)*

• NOAA-funded RISA project (9/2010-) renewable after 5 years, one of 11 nationally

• Focused on applying climate research to landscape and watershed mgmt decisions for adaptation

• OSU (lead), UO, UW, BSU, UI

• Coordinating with other RISA projects, CSCs, and National Climate Assessment

• Developing research and action agenda in concert with CSC, sharing 2 staff, 5 Council members (and the map) with NW CSC

*formerly CDSC

NW Climate Science Center

• DoI-funded Center (9/2010-) renewable after 5 years, one of 8 nationally

• Focused on applying climate research to habitat, species, and other resource mgmt decisions

• In the process of implementing research agenda

• Universities (OSU-UW-UI): $0.7m/yr for grad student training, additional $?/yr for science

• Coordinating with other CSCs, RISAs esp CIRC

• Connections within and beyond region

• Building knowledge-to-action networks

• Balance of natural and social science

CIRC Emphasis

Providing the Science for Natural and Cultural Resource Adaptation to Climate Change

U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological Survey

Kevin WhalenInterim NW Climate Science Center Director

USGS National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center

IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE

NW Climate Science Center

Climate Science Centers--Regions

North Central

SoutheastSouth Central

Southwest

Northwest

Northeast

Alaska

Pacific Islands

“Fuzzy Boundaries”

National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center

2011

2011

2010

2010

20102012

2012

2012

• University/federal cooperative – access capabilities feds don’t have

• Training of grad students – pipeline

• Small federal staff • Filling regional gaps• Synthesis / assessment / aggregation

• $3-4 m/year, majority in flexible federal funds

• Will build significant cyber infrastructure network• At each CSC: university federal node• Eight nodes plus NCCWSC• Feeding LCCs and other application-oriented efforts

(e.g. designed for more than researchers)

Key CSC Characteristics

Forecasting Habitat & Species

Response(Food,Habitat,

Recruitment)Adaptive Management & Monitoring

Site Specific Species or Populations Response

Impact Science DOI Climate Science Centers

Resource Management-based Partnerships

Science-based, university collaborationEcosystem Response

&Forecasting

(Landscape Conservation Cooperatives + others)

Atmospheric Research and Modeling(primarily universities)

Downscaled GlobalClimate Models andDerivative Products

Regional Habitat &Population Response

DOI Climate Science Center

Great Basin LCC

Great Northern LCC

North Pacific LCC

Other Resource Management

Partners

Science Partnerships:

(Federal, state, university, other)

Prioritized Science Agenda

Stakeholder Advisory

Committee

Sean FinnScience Coordinator

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE

Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative

(GNLCC)

Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs)

• 1.16 million KM2

• 5 States, 2 Provinces• Integrated Partnerships

with neighboring LCCs, NW and NC Climate Science Centers, PNW and RM CESUs, Province of British Columbia

GNLCC Goal:Coordinate, facilitate, promote and add value to large landscape conservation to build resource resilience in the face of climate change and other landscape-level stressors through:

• Support Science Development• Effect Coordination• Inform Conservation Action• Monitor and Evaluate• Communicate and Educate

PURPOSE: Initiate dialogue and identify strategies for effective landscape

conservation by Federal Land Managers Strengthen relationships among Federal Land Managers in the Great

Northern Area OUTCOMES: Status of AGO, GNLCC and other Federal landscape programs Brainstorm and identify strategies about how to create a system of

connected Federal lands Useful applications for emerging landscape tools and science products

available to your staff Recommended priorities for AGO, GNLCC and other landscape initiatives

and programs

GNLCC Climate-related Projects

2010-2011, GNLCC funded 14 climate science and data delivery projects totaling $1.67 million

Title Funds in thousands

Assemblage, Format and Delivery of Downscaled Climate Data and Projections for the GNLCC

Development of a Regional Stream Temperature Model for Mapping Thermal Habitats and Understanding Effects of Climate Change in Pacific Northwest Streams

Forecasting the impacts of Climate Change in the Columbia River Basin: Threats to Fish Habitat Connectivity

Development of a Transboundary Decision Support System to Guide and Implement Conservation, Land Use, Energy, Transportation, and Climate Change Management and Monitoring

$ 30

$122

$130

$135

Partner Forums – an engagement of conservation practitioners and partnerships that share conservation challenges in an eco-geographic context to identify specific conservation needs for priorities

•Ecologically relevant geography•Similar ecological process or systems•Related landscape issues

Columbia Basin

Shrubsteppe

Rocky Mountains

Mary MahaffyInterim Science Coordinator

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE

North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative

(NPLCC)

North Pacific LCC

Includes:4 States2 Provinces

• Extends over 2,200 miles from north to south

• Coastline: 38,200 miles

• Area: ~ 204,000 mi2

• Public lands: ~ 78%

• Ocean Boundary - not defined

Base Funded This Year - USFWS

NPLCC Governance & Structure

Interim Planning Team• January 2011 - Drafted Governance and Structure

Charter Steering Committee• Federal (U.S. & B.C.), State, Provincial &Tribal • First Meeting May 2011• Framing Workshop October 2011

Capitalize on Existing Partnerships/Strategies and Plans

Feedback Partner Meetings

• Primary focuses/roles included: Information resource Promote common decision base Management focus Coordinate efforts/Communication forum Help focus and pool resources; avoid duplication Adaptation strategies Large-scale connectivity

• Organization Different roles Build on partnerships Framework – communication between resource managers and scientists/information providers

Climate Related Projects

$800,000 – 11 Science Projects• Landscape-scale analyses and information (wetland ecosystems hydrology, sea-level

rise, and forest soils)• Vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning• Conservation planning and priority tools• Habitat connectivity• Cross boundary data integration • Forum discussions – coastal/marine, freshwater habitats

$63,000 – Additional Efforts• Support 2 students Univ. Washington and Univ. Alaska, SE – synthesis of

existing research/tools• Support 3 regional climate science workshops

http://www.fws.gov/pacific/Climatechange/nplcc/

Example of Discussion of Stressors

DRAFT

Chris LauverPacific Northwest CESU Research Coordinator

National Park Service

IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE

Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units(CESUs)

What are CESUs ?

Government - academic partnerships

Cooperative: federal agencies and partners work together on projects in many disciplines (biological, physical, social and cultural sciences)

Purpose: provide resource managers with high-quality science by linking agencies to academic partners

Operate under a local “master” Cooperative Agreement allows agencies to transfer project funds to partners

Benefits: Low overhead rates; agencies can select researchers; 5 year projects

COOPERATIVE ECOSYSTEM STUDIES UNITS form a national network to provide research, technical assistance and education to federal agency resource managers

Current Participation

17 CESUs 13 Federal Agencies over 240 universities (including more than 40

minority serving institutions), state, tribal and non-governmental partners

Since 1999, approximately 5,000 projects involving over $100M

Some agencies have duty-stationed employees at CESU host universities

17 units, 13 Federal Agencies, 250+ academics and NGOs

Many projects are run through CESU’s

Preliminary Figures for 10 CESUs, 2001-2010

CESU $ thru CESU # Projects

CHWA 9,198,645 145

DESO 17,253,846 358

GRPL 9,672,601 340

GRRI 11,152,894 232

HAPI 37,596,121 145

NOAT 8,752,993. 277

Pacific NW 28,397,228 347

PSAC 10,779,167 180

Rocky Mountain 88,464,215 1436

SOAP 9,491,591 238

Totals $ 230,759,301 3698

PENDING: CALI, COPL, GRBA, GLNF, GUCO, NWAK, SOFL

Academic Partners• University of Washington (host)• Eastern Washington University• Washington State University• Western Washington University• Central Washington University• Heritage University• Oregon State University• University of Oregon• Southern Oregon University• Oregon Institute of Technology• Portland State University• University of Idaho• St. Mary’s University of Minnesota• University of Vermont• University of Alaska-Anchorage• University of Alaska-Southeast• Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game• University of British Columbia

Federal Partners• Bureau of Land Management • National Park Service• US Geological Survey• US Forest Service, Research• US Fish and Wildlife Service• Natural Resource Conservation

Service• NOAA• Bureau of Reclamation• Bureau of Ocean Energy

Management, Regulation and Enforcement

• US Army Corps of Engineers

28 PARTNERS FOR THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST CESU

Pacific Northwest CESURecent Collaborations

• More than 40 climate change projects (poster)

• Support to North Cascadia Adaptation Partnership project; joint FS-NPS collaboration on CC; http://www.northcascadia.org/

• Collaborating with graduate student at CSC and Alan Hamlet (UW) on project assessing CC impacts to access to federal lands

• Serving on North Pacific LCC and C3 group

• LCCs (FWS) using CESU network to fund science projects

National CESU web site: http://www.cesu.psu.edu/

PNW CESU web site: http://www.cfr.washington.edu/research.cesu/

Partnerships Working Together

Partnerships enable a level of conservation that no single agency or organization can accomplish alone.

Engage in collaborative and complementary efforts together.

Coordination

Steering/Advisory Committees:NW CSC – includes CIRC and LCCsCIRC – includes NW CSCNPLCC – includes NW CSC

National Workgroup LCCs and CSCs:• Engagement• Kind of science each responsible for

Integrated Science & ManagementNorthwest Climate Science Center FY 2011 Science Funding Allocations

Science Projects Principal Investigators/Organizations Priority* Funding

Disentangling the effects of climate and landscape change on bird population trends in the western U.S. and Canada

M. Betts (OSU), S. Shirley (OSU), and J. Hagar (USGS) NPLCC $74,640

Range-wide climate vulnerability assessment for threatened bull trout

J. Dunham (USGS), S. Zylstra (USFWS), and T. Mayer (USFWS) NPLCC, GNLCC $100,000

Uncertainty and extreme events in future climate and hydrologic projections for the Pacific Northwest: providing a basis for vulnerability and core/corridor assessments.

J. Littell, A. Hamlet, N. Mantua, and E. Salathe (UW) NPLCC, GNLCC $150,000

Climate change threats to fish habitat connectivity: Growth and predation

A. Maule, P. Connolly, M. Mesa, J. Hardiman, and J.Hatten (USGS)

GNLCC, NCCWSC $89,500

Science Projects Funded in FY11 by both Great Northern and North Pacific LCCs

Science Projects Principal Investigators/Organizations Priority* Funding

Applying Vulnerability Assessment Tools to Plan for Climate Adaption: Case Studies J. Lawler (UW), J. Withey (UW) NPLCC, GNLCC $72,900 NPLCC

$95,000 GNLCC

The Washington Connected Landscapes Project B. McRae (TNC) M. Krosby (UW), J. Schuett-Hames (WDFW) NPLCC, GNLCC $76,000 NPLCC

$150,000 GNLCC

Integration

Data Management

Data Delivery

IntegrationAccess and Visualization

Analysis and Interoperability

LC MAPLandscape

Conservation Management and

Analysis Portal

Collaborations

Pacific Northwest CESU• University of Washington (3 NPLCC, 1 GNLCC)• University of Alaska, SE (1 NPLCC)

Rocky Mountains CESU• University of Montana (1 NPLCC, 2 GNLCC)

How can we better meet your needs? How can we better connect with your efforts? How can we help place useful tools in the hands of managers? What regional collaborations should we be aware of that

we are not working with?

Panel Discussion