Central Appalachians Climate Change Response Framework

Project Summary

The Central Appalachians Climate Change Response Framework covers almost 26 million acres in eastern Ohio, West Virginia, and western Maryland within Ecological Provinces M221 (Central Appalachian Broadleaf Forest) and 221 (Eastern Broadleaf Forest – Oceanic) of the National Hierarchical Framework of Ecological Units. Provinces are broad geographic areas that share similar coarse features, such as climate, glacial history, and vegetation types. The portions of M221 and 221 within the assessment area is a landscape comprised of some of the oldest and most biologically diverse forests in North America. Understanding and managing the impacts of climate change on the Central Appalachians’ diverse forests will help us maintain their many environmental, cultural, and economic benefits.

Outcomes

To meet the challenges posed by climate change, a team of federal and state land management agencies, private forest owners, conservation organizations and others have come together to accomplish three objectives:

• Provide a forum in which the experiences and lessons learned of those working across the Central Appalachians can be effectively and efficiently shared with all.
• Develop new user-friendly tools that can help public and private land managers to factor climate change considerations into their decision making, including a forest ecosystem vulnerability assessment and a forest adaptation resources document.
• Support efforts by public land managers, private landowners, and others to implement adaptive responses to climate change impacts in the Central Appalachians.

Collaborators

• Monongahela National Forest
• MTU School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science
• Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science
• Ohio Department of Natural Resources
• The Nature Conservancy LANDFIRE Team
• USDA Forest Service Eastern Region
• USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry
• USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station
• USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station: Climate, Fire, and Carbon Cycle Sciences
• Wayne National Forest