Workshop Approach for Developing Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and Actions for Natural Resource Management Agencies in the United States

Concrete ways to adapt to climate change are needed to help land-management agencies take steps to incorporate climate change into management and take advantage of opportunities to balance the negative effects of climate change. Because the development of adaptation tools and strategies is at an early stage, it is important that ideas and strategies are disseminated quickly to advance thinking and practice. Here, we offer an example of a successful workshop, focused on National Forests in the United States, which allowed quick dissemination of ideas and strategies for climate change adaptation in resource management through an interaction between scientists and managers. We share both the process used in the workshop and the outcome of facilitated dialogue at the workshop. By presenting concrete adaptation methods and showing the value of a focused scientist-manager dialogue, we hope to motivate the US Forest Service and other natural resource agencies to emulate our approach and begin the process of adapting to climate change.