Appendix 5
Reference Document 5-1
Executive Summary
The 2024 NC Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) Climate Resilience Strategy Report is the first iteration of the agency’s planning effort to address climate related impacts to our state’s fish and wildlife resources. As the largest landholding agency in the state, NCWRC is in a paramount position to support the state’s commitment through Executive Orders 80, 246, and 305 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the conservation of natural lands. As of 2024, NCWRC currently maintains 2,093,664 acres of game lands, many of which are wetlands - including pocosins, forested floodplains, and upland forests. NCWRC’s forested land accounts for an estimated 9,042,368 tons of stored carbon and sequesters an average of 382.89 kg/acre/year. 1 NCWRC is committed to responsibly managing these resources to sustain our natural resources to support our state in becoming climate resilient.
Our approach to this planning effort has considered three goals.
1. How lands under our management support NC’s resiliency goals to store and sequester greenhouse gas emissions,
2. Strategies that address shifting ecological regimes and their impact on wildlife distribution, and
3. The impacts that climate change will have on access to state game lands.
The planning effort was led by the Habitat Conservation Division and involved leadership from the Inland Fisheries Division, Wildlife Management Division, Land and Water Access Division, and Habitat Conservation Division. The resulting 2024 NC Wildlife Resources Commission Climate Resilience Strategy Report is a “living document” that will be periodically updated as more divisions are consulted and as needed. This planning effort has helped our agency frame our work in a new perspective and reveals opportunities for our agency to contribute towards larger state (and international) goals. This report is also in support of the climate resilience priorities of the North Carolina Wildlife Action Plan.
These strategies were identified through the planning process and summarized on the following 5 pages.
• Evaluate the impacts of climate change into NCWRC programs and operations, and • Integrate climate change adaptation practices and resiliency planning into NCWRC policies and operations
1 This information was obtained from the NC Conservation Benefits Calculator (Duke University & Conservation Trust for North Carolina, 2023).
2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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