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TNC’s Knowledge Base for Climate Change Adaptation

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

The mission of the USDA is providing leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management.

USDA plays a pivotal role in protecting and restoring America's forests, farms, ranches, and grasslands while making them more resilient to threats such as climate change and enhancing natural resources. The Department partners with private landowners to help protect the Nation's 1.3 billion acres of farm, ranch, and private forestlands. As public land stewards, USDA works to conserve and restore 193 million acres of National Forests and Grasslands in the National Forest System.

USDA also partners with Federal, tribal, and State governments and non-governmental organizations to assist land and natural resource managers and connect people to the Nation's magnificent lands. The Department provides technical, financial, and planning assistance to its public and private partners and uses a collaborative, "all-lands" approach to bring public and private owners together across landscapes and ecosystems.

 

> Strategic Plan

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack believes climate change is a central issue for the Department, and addressing climate change is a core aspect of the USDA 2010-2015 Strategic Plan. The plan has a four goal framework, and one goal is to ‘ensure our national forests and private working lands are conserved, restored, and made more resilient to climate change, while enhancing our water resources.' One objective within this goal is to ‘lead efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.'

Secretary Vilsack highlights role of agriculture in climate change (Copenhagen, Den. 12/12/09)

 

> Research, Resources, Products

USDA offices or services involved with global and climate change issues and research, including effects on agriculture, natural resources and the environment and response or adaptation strategies:

USDA Office of the Chief Economist

USDA Economic Research Service, briefing rooms, newsroom and other

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

USDA National Agricultural Library

 

U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and Synthesis and Assessment Products (SAPs)

USDA conducts and sponsors a broad range of research that supports the U.S. Global Change Research Program. USGCRP is a Congressionally-authorized consortium of 13 federal agencies responsible for various aspects of global change research, including coordinating climate change research activities of the agencies. It has produced important products related to climate adaptation for wildlife and ecosystems and maintains a comprehensive website with a variety of climate change science resources and publications. USGCRP is steered by the Subcommittee on Global Change Research and was known as the U.S. Climate Change Science Program from 2002 through 2008.

  • http://www.globalchange.gov/, for the USGCRP homepage; with links to Federal Agencies and their roles in climate research and to news, publications and resources; also links to Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation Options, Extreme Weather and other pages; includes October 2010 ICCATF progress report to President Obama 
  • http://www.globalchange.gov/resources/educators/toolkit, for the USGCRP resources page and "Climate Change Wildlife and Wildlands, A Toolkit for Formal and Informal Educators"

USGCRP released a series of 21 Synthesis and Assessment Products (SAPs) from 2006 to 2009. The SAPs aimed at providing current assessments of climate change science to inform public debate, policy, and operational decisions. These reports also are intended to help USGCRP develop future program research priorities.

USGCRP's guiding vision is to provide the nation and global community with the science-based knowledge needed to manage the risks and capture the opportunities associated with climate and related environmental changes. The SAPs are important steps toward achieving that vision and help to translate USGCRP's extensive observational and research database into informational tools that directly address key questions being asked of the research community.

Of particular interest for wildlife and ecosystem adaptation are SAP 4.3 The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture, Land Resources, Water Resources, and Biodiversity in the United States and SAP 4.4 Preliminary Review of Adaptation Options for Climate-Sensitive Ecosystems and Resources. USDA was the lead department involved in SAP 4.3 (released May 2008). Also of interest is the June 2009 USGCRP report, Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, mostly based on the 21 SAPs and providing an extensive evaluation of climate change impacts at the regional level. It was (and largely still is) the most comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis of climate change information on a range of scientific topics for the nation at the time.

The U.S. Global Change Research Act of 1990 requires USGCRP to report and interpret the findings of research conducted by the agencies every four years as National Climate Assessment reports. In 1997 the program began a national assessment of the impacts of climate variability and change on the Nation's resources, and in 2000 the first National Assessment report was released. USGCRP has not regularly produced these assessments (2000 was the last formal assessment); however, a new report is planned for release in 2013. National climate assessments "act as a status report on climate change science and impacts" and "will help evaluate the effectiveness of our mitigation and adaptation activities and identify economic opportunities that arise as the climate changes."

 

USDA Technical Report, "The Effects of Climate Change on U.S. Ecosystems"

This climate impact report (11/2009) includes sections on 1) global and U.S. climate context; 2) impacts to agricultural, land resources, water resources, biodiversity; 3) designing systems to monitor impacts; 4) key questions and answers; 5) overarching conclusions. Climate change-related effects on resources are summarized. SAP 4.3 provided the basis for this concise report.

 

USDA Presentation, "Climate Change and Agriculture: a Summary of USDA Activities"

This presentation was (11/06/2008) given to USDA Agricultural Air Quality Task Force by William Hohenstein, USDA Global Change Program Office. Topics include effects of climate change on agriculture, agricultural sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and USDA climate change science strategic plan.      

 

Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force (Task Force): meetings, reports

USDA in conjunction with the Task Force hosted a meeting in Denver in July 2010, "to present the science behind climate change and its impacts on agriculture, highlight the potential for adaptation, layout Federal adaptation efforts and future plans, and solicit much needed input from agricultural producers." Timeline and content for a USDA adaptation strategy are unclear.

The Task Force is a pan-federal and pan-sectoral group co-chaired by the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is comprised of over 200 federal agency staff, broken into various workgroups that conducted public listening sessions throughout the country during summer 2010. By executive order the CEQ Chair, following consultation with the agencies and Task Force, provided a progress report in October 2010 to President Obama on agency actions in support of the national adaptation strategy and outlining recommendations for how Federal Agency policies and programs can better prepare the United States to respond to the impacts of climate change.

 

Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) Network

The CESU national network has been established with an overarching goal of improving the scientific base for managing federal lands by providing high-quality scientific research, technical assistance, and education to resource and environmental managers. It is a nationwide consortium of federal agencies, universities, conservation organizations, and other partners working together to support agency missions and informed public trust resource stewardship. One objective is to build capacity and enhance coordination of climate change management and adaptation efforts among management agencies.

CESUs are based at host universities and focused on biogeographic regions of the country. To date the nation had been divided into 17 biogeographic regions, each served by a distinct CESU that is structured as a working collaboration among partners. Each regional unit operates independently and in association with one national network and is directed by specific mission, vision, goals and objectives and a strategic plan.

 

> USDA Agency Links

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) are USDA agencies addressing climate change in land management planning and activities. The following pages have related information on these two agencies:

 

 
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