Working together to build resilience to hurricanes on working lands
Hurricane impacts on the timber and agriculture sectors have increased in recent years and that trend is predicted to continue. Responding to the increased need for training on working land resilience management, the USDA Southeast Climate Hub hosted a hurricane workshop for Extension, USDA staff, and other public and private sector employees. Participants rated the workshop highly, and their feedback has led to development of a working lands hurricane resilience manual for the southeastern coastal states.
Following billions of dollars of losses to the timber and agriculture sectors during the 2017 and 2018 hurricane seasons, the Southeast Regional Climate Hub (SERCH) hosted a workshop in Gainesville, Florida to train Extension, USDA staff, and other public and private sector experts on hurricane resilience. The one-day workshop had over 60 participants from ten states and two territories. These participants heard presentations from a variety of experts sharing the latest science on hurricanes as well as best management practices for building hurricane resilience. Listening sessions were also conducted to better understand on-the-ground challenges, inform research, and help direct SERCH priorities. A survey of participants was conducted after the workshop, and more than half of respondents ranked each individual session as “very valuable” or “extremely valuable.” Further, 69% of respondents indicated that a technical manual for hurricane preparedness and recovery would be the most important product to come out of the workshop. In response, SERCH is currently developing this manual. The workshop and the products that followed it exemplify science communication on an urgent and timely issue.
Pictured: SERCH Director Steve McNulty welcomes participants to the hurricane resilience workshop. Photo by Michael Gavazzi, USDA Forest Service.
External Partners/Collaborators: Clyde Fraisse and Angela Lindsay, University of Florida
Contact: Steve McNulty, Ecologist and Team Leader, Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center, steve.mcnulty@usda.gov.
