The worth of the Strategy will be largely determined by how effectively it is implemented. To advance the implementation process, the Strategy calls for two key steps:
- Incorporation of appropriate elements of the Strategy into plans and actions of federal, state, and tribal governments and other partners at national to local levels.
- Establishment of an inter-jurisdictional body (Joint Implementation Working Group) to promote coordination on implementation, evaluation, and reporting on Strategy progress.
Mission
The mission of the JIWG is to:
- Promote implementation of the Strategy by providing leadership, coordination, and collaboration to facilitate and support implementation by appropriate entities at national to local scales.
- Facilitate use of the Strategy as a resource for guiding future climate science and adaptation agendas and activities. Provide a forum to discuss needs, opportunities, challenges and progress in implementing the Strategy.
Objectives
The following are key objectives for fulfilling the JIWG mission. Facilitate intergovernmental communication and collaboration on climate change adaptation for fish, wildlife, plants and habitats.
- Encourage support for and implementation of Strategy actions by participating agencies and partners at national, regional, and local levels.
- Promote coordinated and collaborative activities to implement the Strategy across government (e.g., Federal, State, Tribal agencies) and non-government entities at a variety of levels and scales.
- Identify mechanisms to assess and report on Strategy implementation and accomplishments.
- Guide updates or revisions of the Strategy.
Membership
The JIWG is designed to function as a round-table venue to help facilitate and promote implementation of the Strategy across multiple governmental and non-governmental organizations at national to local scales. The intent is to obtain information or viewpoints from individual attendees and to share information among participants, but not to develop or provide consensus or collective advice, opinions or recommendations. Participants are expected to provide only their individual opinions and no consensus advice or recommendations resulting from group deliberation or interaction are expected or will be solicited.
To fulfill this mission and function, the JIWG membership continues the 22 member structure of the Strategy Steering Committee that led the successful completion of the Strategy. Thus the JIWG membership includes senior representatives from the following organizations (actual members may change over time):
- Fifteen senior representatives from federal agencies with major natural resource management responsibilities including a representative from the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ):
- Council Environmental Quality
- Department of Agriculture
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
- Farm Service Agency
- Natural Resources Conservation Service
- U.S. Forest Service
- Department of Defense
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- Department of Commerce
- National Marine Fisheries Service
- National Ocean Service
- Department of the Interior
- Bureau of Indian Affairs
- Bureau of Land Management
- Bureau of Reclamation
- National Park Service
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- U.S. Geological Survey
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Five senior representatives from state wildlife agencies, one from each of the four regional state fish and wildlife conservation associations (the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and West regions of the United States) and one at large.
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
- Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
- A senior representative from tribal/indigenous fish and wildlife agencies or commissions.
- Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission
Current co-chairs
- Department of Interior - Michael Bean, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks
- NOAA - Richard Merrick, Chief Scientist for NOAA Fisheries
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife – Kevin Hunting, Deputy Director
- Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission – Jim Zorn, Executive Administrator
The JIWG is staffed by a Management Team made up of staff representatives from DOI, NOAA, EPA, and AFWA.
Learn about upcoming meetings and opportunities to engage with the work of the JIWG here.
