Across the country, government agencies, partners and stakeholders are taking action to prepare for, and respond to, the impacts of a changing climate on the nation’s valuable natural resources and the people who depend on them.
Next Steps, a report on implementation, September 2015
This Next Steps Report provides a sampling of the many ways in which federal, state, and tribal agencies are undertaking climate adaptation and resilience efforts in FY 2015 and 2016 to implement the recommendations of the Strategy. This report builds on the 2014 Taking Action report, but is more forward looking and emphasizes a broader picture of the climate adaptation and resilience work currently underway or planned in the near future.
Next Steps provides a brief summary of some of the top actions that federal, state, and tribal wildlife resource agencies are taking in FY 2015 and/or 2016 that help implement the goals of the National Strategy. This report should be viewed as a sampling of implementation efforts, not a comprehensive survey. It is meant to identify and highlight leading examples of where agencies are engaging, within existing resources, on climate change adaptation and resilience enhancing efforts.
This summary is intended to help illustrate how these issues are being incorporated into agency programs and activities, identify points of contact for further information, and to inform participating agencies and partners of opportunities for coordination and collaboration. It also serves to highlight major areas where work is underway and areas that may need greater attention. The report includes recommendations for how participating agencies can continue to work together to promote implementation of the recommendations identified in the Strategy, track and share progress and lessons learned, and continue to engage with the public.
As noted in the report, there is much room for both expanded efforts and for much closer coordination and collaboration between agencies and with partners. The National Strategy’s Joint Implementation Working Group can and should continue play a role in overseeing and promoting implementation efforts and fostering coordination/collaboration.
The diverse adaptation work highlighted in this report is part of a larger collective effort by a wide range of partners to safeguard the nation’s fish, wildlife, plants, and the communities and economies that depend on them in a changing climate. The success of climate adaptation relies on continuing collaborations and actions by federal, tribal, state, and local governments and many partners.
