Climate Change Response Program

Angie RichmanCommunication Specialist

Climate change is the most important,

incredibly complex issue affecting work

across all scales of the National Park

Service – NPS Director, Jon Jarvis

To address the seriousness of this issue the

NPS Leadership established and funded

Climate Change Response Program (CCRP)

in FY 2010 for $10M.

NPS Climate Change

Response$10M Total

DOI Initiatives

$3M Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

ClimateScienceCenters

WRD, BRMD$0.3M

Communi-cations Science

Adaptation

Mitigation

Policy

Natural Resource Stewardship & Science

Park Projects

$2M

Climate Change

Response Program$1.7M

Enhanced Monitoring

$3M $3M

Internships

NPS Climate Change

Response$10M Total

Natural Resource Stewardship & Science

NPS Climate Change

Response$10M Total

DOI Initiatives

$3M Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

ClimateScienceCenters

Mitigation

Policy

Natural Resource Stewardship & Science

Internships

5 Landscape AdaptationCoordinators Northern RockiesPacific Islands South AtlanticNorth AtlanticUrban Parks

Climate Science Centers 2 FTE in 2010

Coordinated science and data deliveryClimate modelingMonitoring / Data integrationDownscaled modelingForecastingUnified Monitoring and Data Collection

Regional Climate Science Centers

Biological Carbon Sequestration

Assessing carbon storage potential of DOI lands

Promoting management strategies to enhance carbon benefits of natural landscapes

Geologic Carbon SequestrationCapture and geologic

storage

Public Lands Carbon Project

Unified GHG Emissions Reduction Program

Efficiency programs across all DOI Bureaus

Assessing visitor and concessions

Activities on public lands

Carbon Footprint

Project

DOI Climate Change Response CouncilSecretary (Chair); Deputy Secretary (Co-Chair); Assistant Secretaries;

Bureau Directors

Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

Adaptation planning and decision support Vulnerability and risk

assessmentsEcosystem monitoring

/modelingStrategic habitat

conservationScenario planning

Climate Change and Energy Task Force(Deputy Asst. Sec. & Senior Level Bureau Staff)

Department of the Interior CC Program

Regional Climate Science Centers (CSC)

Northcentral

SoutheastSouthcentralSouthwest

NorthwestNortheast

Alaska

Pacific Islands

“Fuzzy Boundaries”

NPS Climate Change

Response$10M Total

DOI Initiatives

$3M Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

ClimateScienceCenters

Natural Resource Stewardship & Science

Park Projects

$2M

Internships

SCC projects: 149 submitted, 17 funded

Internships: 37 submitted, 13 funded

Fellowships: 140 submitted, ?? funded

SCC projects:

• Impacts of Fire Management on Carbon Stock Stability in Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National

• Ice Patches as Sources of Archeological and Paleoecological Data in Climate Change Research

Internships:

•Development of curriculum based climate change education programs and podcasts

• Build and showcase a photovoltaic array to showcase sustainable energy throughout the park

NPS Climate Change

Response$10M Total

DOI Initiatives

$3M Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

ClimateScienceCenters

Adaptation

Mitigation

Natural Resource Stewardship & Science

Park Projects

$2M

Enhanced Monitoring

$3M $3M

Internships

Enhance Existing Network Monitoring Capacity - $3M

• Climate Change Monitoring Coordinator (Shawn Carter)• Climate Change Ecologist (John Gross)• Enhanced Monitoring ($1.6 M)

– High Elevation– North Atlantic Coastal– South Atlantic Coastal– Pacific Island– High Latitude (Alaska)– Arid Lands

• Ecosystem Modeling ($200 K)– Joint project with NSF, NASA, FWS, USGS

• Unified Monitoring and Data Collection ($550 K)

Leverage Vital Signs network capacity; partner

with others to enhance monitoring and data

integration

NPS Climate Change

Response$10M Total

DOI Initiatives

$3M Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

ClimateScienceCenters

WRD, BRMD$0.3M

Communi-cations Science

Adaptation

Mitigation

Policy

Natural Resource Stewardship & Science

Park Projects

$2M

Climate Change

Response Program$1.7M

Enhanced Monitoring

$3M $3M

Internships

Core Office• Climate Change Program Manager (Leigh Welling)• Climate Scientist • Climate Change Communication Specialist (Angie Richman)• Program Analyst • Climate Change Assistant (Melanie Graham)• CESU/RLC Coordinator• National Adaptation Coordinator

NRPC• Landscape Ecologist (BRMD)• Resource Planner (WRD)

Provide service-wide coordination for policy, science, planning,

mitigation, adaptation, and communication; seed money for

prototype assessment and scenario planning

Policy

Develop interim policy guidance for superintendants and the field – how to make an informed decision

Establish a policy working group that reflects the servicewide interest (including Cultural Resources)

Support policy needs of ongoing adaptation and mitigation planning

4 Key Components

•Mitigation

•Adaptation

•Communication

•Science

Adaptation Strategies and Scenario Planning

One Dimensional vs Scenario Planning

One-Dimensional Planning

Outcomes

B

A

C

D

Scenario Planning

B

A

C

D

Possible Futures

ElementsCommon to A-B

ElementsCommon to A-C

ElementsCommon to A-D

Assateague Island National Seashore

Wind Cave National Park

“Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable”

Peering Into the Fog

Communication Products

Website: www.nps.gov/climatechange

Intranet: http://nrpcsharepoint/climatechange

Webinar Speaker Series

Monthly Newsletter

Bioregional Talking Points

Communication Messages

Climate change is happening and human activities are contributing to and

accelerating it.

Changing climate has consequences for parks, people, and the planet.

The NPS is responding with practices that address climate change.

The choices we make now may help to avoid catastrophic impacts

in the future.