2009 Research Highlights
Integrating climate change science into land management planning
Scientists working with the Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center are developing the Template for Assessing Climate Change Impacts and Management Options (TACCIMO)—a tool intended to facilitate the integration of climate change science into land management planning. The overarching goals of TACCIMO are a) to provide land managers with the best available science they need to effectively and efficiently sustain forests and the services they provide under a changing climate; and b) to align with Forest Service policies at a strategic level, enhancing the overall usefulness and applicability of the final product. Project deliverables are designed to function within existing planning rules and policies, thus providing continuity with legal mandates, including the National Forest Management Act.
Throughout FY2009, TACCIMO development occurred on three mutually reinforcing fronts: web development of the template delivery system; literature and forest plan database development, including threats and mitigation/management options designed to meet the needs of forest planners at a planning unit scale; and issue meetings. The issue meetings planned for FY2010 will outline the project process and solicit feedback from forest planners and key public stakeholders. In the coming year the TACCIMO project will move beyond the research phase and will be deployed as a science delivery tool.
Contact: Steve McNulty, Southern Global Change Program team leader, steve.mcnulty@usda.gov
Partners: USDA Forest Service National Forest System Region 8 Planning, Cooperative Forestry, and Forest Management
