DOI PREPS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

Interior Department Invites Proposals for Northeast, South Central and Pacific Climate Science Centers
February 28, 2011 (U.S. Department of the Interior)

"The Department of the Interior…invited proposals…to host DOI Climate Science Centers (CSCs) in the Northeast, South Central, and Pacific regions. These CSCs are the last three in a network of eight existing or planned centers around the nation that will serve as regional hubs of the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center.

"The CSCs will provide managers of natural, cultural and historic resources with the information and tools they need to plan for the challenges posed by climate change and other landscape-scale stressors -- including fire, invasive species and changing land use. Interior has established centers in the Northwest, Alaska, and Southeast, and has announced plans for CSCs in the North Central and Southwest regions in partnership with universities…"

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"Secretary Salazar initiated a coordinated climate change strategy…for establishing not only regional CSCs but also a network of “Landscape Conservation Cooperatives” that engage federal agencies, local and state partners, and the public in using the best available science to craft practical, landscape-level strategies for managing the impacts of stressors such as climate change on natural, cultural, and historic resources.

"Each of the five existing or planned CSCs is a cooperative endeavor between the Interior Department and one or several universities acting as a consortium…Once fully instituted, the CSCs will form a network with the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center to access the best science available to help managers in the Interior Department, states, other federal agencies, and the private and nonprofit sectors."

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"The National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center, established by Congress in 2008, is located at the headquarters of Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey which is taking the lead on establishing the CSCs and providing initial staffing. Ultimately, funds and staff from multiple Interior bureaus will be pooled to support these centers and ensure collaborative sharing of research results and data.

"Within their respective regions, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives will focus on impacts that typically extend beyond the borders of any single national wildlife refuge, national park or Bureau of Land Management unit—such as the effects of climate change on wildlife migration patterns, wildfire risk, drought or invasive species. Twenty-one LCCs are planned through FY 2012, with 15 already established across the nation."