Re-Framing Forest and Resource Management Strategies for a Climate Change Context

Among the surprising developments during the 2007 year-of-climate-dawning was an abrupt change in the nature of dialog between scientists and natural-resource managers. In previous years the primary communication involved researchers talking with managers about climate change and its impacts on ecosystems. By early 2007 the significance of climate became widely embraced, and the conversation did an about-face. From national agency headquarters to local field offices, the collective voice of decision-makers echoed resoundingly back to science: “OK, we get that climate is important. Now, what do we do about it?”

That question initially silenced many in the research community, although serious efforts have been investigating resource management implications for some years (e,g., Dale et al. 2001, Spittlehouse and Stewart 2003, Willows and Connell 2003, Joyce et al. 2007). While field-proven conceptual frameworks and desktop manuals will be developed only through collaborative efforts of scientists and managers, we offer the following as an overarching framework of options for addressing climate change issues in resource contexts such as encountered in western mountain environments (Millar et al. 2007, Joyce et al., in press).