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Field Hearing at Joshua Tree National Park to Explore Effects of Climate Change |
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April 2, 2009
CONTACT: Allyson Groff or Blake Androff, 202-226-9019
Washington, D.C. - In an effort to better understand how the National Park Service (NPS) and the new Administration are preparing for the impacts of climate change on federal lands, the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, led by Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), will hold an oversight hearing at Joshua Tree National Park in California on "The Impact of Climate Change on America's National Parks."
Of great concern to Joshua Tree National Park is the threat posed to its namesake species, the Joshua tree, by a warming climate. Other high profile park units have also been affected; damages include melting glaciers at Glacier National Park, dying forests at Rocky Mountain National Park, and flooding at Mount Rainier National Park.
Witnesses are expected to discuss current and anticipated impacts to resources in our National Parks as a result of climate change, and possible strategies for combating the effects of climate change on these lands.
The Subcommittee is conducting a series of hearings to explore the role of federal lands in combating and adapting to climate change; this field hearing is the second in the series and the first to focus on National Park Service lands and resources.
Subject:
House Natural Resources Committee
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands
Oversight Field Hearing on "The Impact of Climate Change on America's National Parks"
When:
Tuesday, April 7, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. PST
Where:
City Council chambers
6136 Adobe Road
Twentynine Palms, California
*Hearing site is adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park*
Witnesses:
Panel 1
Jonathan B Jarvis
Regional Director, Pacific West Region
National Park Service
Oakland, CA
Panel 2
John Harja
Co-Chair
Western Governors' Association Wildlife Corridors Initiative Steering Committee
Salt Lake City, UT
Rebecca Shaw
Director of Conservation Science
The Nature Conservancy of California
San Francisco, CA
Professor Thomas W. Swetnam
Director, Tree Ring Laboratory
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ
John Coleman
Senior Meteorologist
KUSI
San Diego, CA
Panel 3
Robert B. Keiter
Director
Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources, and the Environment
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT
Melyssa Watson
Director
Wilderness Support Center
Durango, CA
Michael Cipra
California Desert Program Manager
National Parks Conservation Association
Joshua Tree, CA
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