Task I Findings and Recommendations
I1
Finding Support for full-cycle climate planning. ■ The funding support for adaptation has been focused on the adaptation planning process and vulnerability assessments. There has been less emphasis on funding the implementation of risk-based strategies, priority-setting and allocation, monitoring, on-the-ground adaptation activities, and learning. Forest and woodland systems adaptation should become a more prominent player in this phase given their pivotal roles in economic, water, biodiversity, human health, and carbon values. Finding Consistent standards for forest adaptation planning and integration. ■ Adaptation plans are funded through a variety of sources, including the BIA Resilience program and other programs in DOI, USDA, and other agencies and non-governmental entities. Guidance on planning is provided in coordination with outside partners. The overall scope, focus and quality of the plans are shaped by the funders’ objectives and the expertise and grant writers in the tribes and partner institutions. Most of the plans so far have been directed at vulnerabilities for human, cultural, environmental, and other values at the tribal level. There have been important contributions from forestry, however most tribes do not have vulnerability assessments and adaptation strategies or plans that address forest system changes and risks, their linkages to overall tribal vulnerabilities, and their integration into forest planning and operational processes. ■ Some forestry managers have noted a lack of interdisciplinary involvement in tribal level adaptation planning. This encourages siloed approaches in selecting and ranking climate vulnerabilities that does not address interactions and tradeoffs in choosing adaptation options. Tribes with active and connected forest and IRMP (continued on next page)
Recommendation ■ Provide technical and financial assistance throughout the climate adaptive management cycle from vulnerability assessment through planning, program integration, and implementation. This is especially important for smaller tribes. ■ Much of the current work has been focused on the necessary risk assessment and planning but attention should now shift to action, outcome, learning, and adjustment. Intertribal organizations and the federal government should sponsor collaborations to compare lessons learned and other feedback from adaptation efforts and begin to develop best practices for integration into forest planning and management. Recommendation ■ Develop consistent standards in adaptation planning and for BIA technical services to support the integration of forestry, including silviculture and other strategies for climate adaptation into IRMP or other tribal level climate action plans.
I2
178 Assessment of Indian Forests and Forest Management in the United States
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