AFWA Releases Two Resource Guides to Federal and NGO Climate Adaptation Programs

Fish and wildlife provide many important ecosystem and cultural services that support people, communities and economies across the country. Many observed changes in the global climate are impacting valuable natural resources. These impacts are expected to compound existing threats to fish and wildlife and their habitats, making it more difficult and costly for state fish and wildlife agencies to manage.

Climate change adaptation, defined as an adjustment in natural and/or human systems to a new or changing environment that exploits beneficial opportunities and moderates negative impacts, is a new and rapidly expanding part of fish and wildlife conservation.

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Climate Change Committee cited a need for a greater understanding of the available resources from federal agencies and natural resource conservation non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and universities to which state fish and wildlife agency managers can refer for climate adaptation information and assistance.

As a result, the Association has released two, new publications–the Resource Guide to Federal Adaptation Climate Programs for State Fish & WildlifeAgencies and the Resource Guide to NGO Climate Adaptation Resources andTools for State Fish & Wildlife Agencies. Each guide summarizes available tools or resources and provides a brief description and link.  

The federal government has emphasized the importance of preparing fish and wildlife for future climate conditions as well as improving preparedness among human communities. For example, the Executive Order—Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change, created a federal Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience. It also created a State, Local and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, indicating that states will have an invaluable role in adaptation. State fish and wildlife agencies, having the major responsibility for fish and wildlife management, can lead the nation in facilitating fish and wildlife adaptation to novel climate and other conditions.

In addition, natural resource conservation NGOs and universities have made significant investments in climate adaptation planning and data management. This has led to a vast and growing system of resources that state fish and wildlife managers can use in conservation planning, including in the revision of State Wildlife Action Plans.

The goal of the NGO Resource Guide is to provide that understanding and to encourage state fish and wildlife managers to fully engage with NGOs on climate adaptation work on the state level. This guide is organized in a generalized framework for stepping through a planning process starting with resources that provide free access to data for download and visualization followed by resources for completing vulnerability assessments; adaptation frameworks and planning resources; and digital adaptation networks including forums for collaboration and communication on climate adaptation.

The specific implications of climate change on fish and wildlife are uncertain and vary on a regional and state basis. The resources and tools suggested throughout both guides can be combined with information from state climatologists and state-wide climate adaptation plans to support efforts to understand and respond to the anticipated impacts of a changing climate on fish and wildlife.

For more information about AFWA’s Climate Change focus area, go to http://www.fishwildlife.org/index.php?section=climate_change&activator=50. 


> Download the Resource Guide to Federal Adaptation Climate Programs for State Fish & WildlifeAgencies 

> Download the Resource Guide to NGO Climate Adaptation Resources andTools for State Fish & Wildlife Agencies

April 30th is the Deadline to Apply for Cohort 9 of the National Conservation Leadership Institute

Today’s conservation leaders are starting to retire – who will fill their seats?

The National Conservation Leadership Institute (NCLI) is calling for state fish and wildlife agencies, federal conservation agencies, Tribes, industry and non-governmental organizations in the natural resources community to nominate their “rising stars” or individuals with high potential for leveraging their leadership capacity to be considered for acceptance as a Fellow for Cohort 9 starting in Fall 2014.

Online applications for are due by April 30, 2014, and applicants must be nominated by their organization's chief executive.

The NCLI was created to train tomorrow’s conservation leaders in the latest leadership thinking and practice, and each Fellow will focus on a variety of issues, including a specific leadership challenge from each participant’s own agency or organization. Becoming an NCLI Fellow is a major step in career advancement and contributing to the future of conservation. 

Visit www.conservationleadership.orgfor further information on the nomination process. The NCLI was established by the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agency’s Management Assistance Team. 
 

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The Management Assistance Team (MAT) is the Association's most unique and diverse program. Located at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, WV, MAT is a leadership development resource for the nation's fish and wildlife agencies. MAT is responsible for program development and administration of the National Conservation Leadership Institute.

AFWA Urges President Obama to Improve Coordination with State Fish and Wildlife Agencies on the Administration’s Energy, Climate and Natural Resource Conservation Policies

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Tuesday asking him to pause and better integrate state fish and wildlife agency considerations into his Administration’s energy, climate and conservation initiatives and processes to avoid unintended consequence to the management of the nation’s fish and wildlife resources.

In the letter, AFWA extends its appreciation to the President for promoting the outdoor recreational economy and natural resource conservation, particularly America’s Great Outdoors and the administration’s Climate Action Plan.

However, the Association expresses concern over the need and desire for improved coordination with state agencies on several of the President’s priorities including Executive Order 13604 on Improving Performance of Federal Permitting and Review of Infrastructure Projects; the U.S. Department of Energy’s Quadrennial Assessment; the clean energy economy and similar initiatives. Through greater alignment, early in the planning process, state and federal agencies can ensure they do not work at cross-purposes, and that fish and wildlife resources are conserved in the Administration’s “All of the Above Energy Strategy.”

AFWA’s letter requests a meeting with the President’s senior advisors on energy, the environment and climate change to discuss perspectives and determine a collaborative path forward.  

> View the Association's letter online

> Download a copy of AFWA's letter