National Fish Wildlife & Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy

[NaepcA1]

This is an update on a new direction for the National Fish Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy (link below). Tell me if you want to receive future updates on progress and opportunities to support the strategy.

NCAI, USET, NAFWS, got updates of the strategy during development. Iltf and NAEPC are tribal NGOs that I've spoken to on other issues that might have interest.

With the release of the NFWPCAS last spring, the congressional mandate was finished but the leaders of the group wanted to see what could be done to encourage implementation of the strategy. They decide to roll over into a "Joint Implementation Working Group" (JIWG) to cheerlead, encourage, highlight, and champion implementation. This might also work out great given the push from the White House on climate adaptation.

Currently there's an effort to stand up the JIWG in November 2013. The idea is that core leadership will continue to be a federal, tribal and state consensus run body (a Tribe being added as a co-chair to the old feds/state co-chairs). The JIWG leadership with then open door to interested NGOs and other supporters that want to work on promoting the strategy. Tribal and BIA staff were part of drafting the strategy and worked on every level of the organization. That carries over to the new organization. The tribal steering committee members agreed to stay on to help launch this group and define what the new group will focus on in the coming 1-2 years.

If you know of any tribal NGO, or inter-tribal organization that might be interested in supporting climate adaptation implementation in general, please tell me who they are and I'll contact them once the new leadership has picked a few areas to focus on. There's no money to support the effort but highlighting science and implementation needs, showing cooperative conservation/adaptation projects, and having a forum to build a future NFWPCAS plan would all be positive steps toward our goals of supporting adaptation planning and implementation for tribes.

Background:
http://www.wildlifeadaptationstrategy.gov/


Thanks.

Sean J. Hart
BIA Climate Change Coordinator
1849 C St. NW, MIB 4635
Washington DC, 20240
202-513-0337 desk
202-809-2070 cell
612-702-6719 personal
202-219-1255 fax