Tribes & Climate Change

Native Americans rely on tribally important ecosystem services such as traditional foods, hunting, timber production, non-timber forest resources (recreation, water), and cultural resources. Unfortunately, many of these resources may be highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. A research team sought to answer the question: Where and which tribally-important ecosystem services will be affected by climate change in the Pacific Northwest? They used projections from climate and vegetation models and stakeholder input to demonstrate a generalizable approach for assessing possible climate change effects on nature’s benefits, also referred to as “ecosystem services.” Stakeholder consultations included tribal and federal land managers, tribal members and representatives of tribal organizations. Here, they present the data in a series of interactive maps and graphics along with text description of the research approach, results and suggestions for how this approach can be useful going forward. This project was supported by the Northwest Fire Science Consortium and OSU Extension's Forestry and Natural Resources Program.