Climate Change

“I believe history will judge the leaders of our age by how well we respond to climate change. It is time...(for) a coordinated, agency-wide response to climate change.” about Chief Kimbell's vision of the role the Forest Service can play in climate change. The Forest Service has several inter-related programs to help forests, grasslands and humans mitigate and adapt to global climate change. The Forest Service strategy for dealing with Climate Change is based on 20 years of targeted research and a century of science and management experience. The agency has internationally recognized climate scientists that are developing agency responses to climate change.

Forest Service scientists provide data, information and tools to help managers and policymakers address the effects of climate change on forests and grasslands See what the Forest Service’s Research & Development program is doing about climate change in your region of the country! Just click on the map! A Climate Change Resource Center has been developed as a reference for US Forest Service resource managers and decision makers who needinformation and tools to address climate change in planning and project implementation on western national forests.

The concept of sustainability is embedded in the Forest Service mission to “sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.” The Forest Service mission is to “Sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations." The Forest Service is helping re-establish and maintain ecological processes and function in the national forests and grasslands to increase their resilience and capacity to provide goods and services such as clean water, clean air and wildlife habitat.

Woody biomass utilization is one of several forest management tools to help restore and maintain healthy ecosystem functions Ecosystem services are the essential benefits that people obtain from healthy forests and grasslands. These include basic services like the delivery of food, fresh water, wood and fiber, and medicine, and other services that are less tangible but equally critical to human health and well-being, such as climate regulation, erosion control, soil formation, recreational opportunities, and scenic landscapes. By linking the skills of the field-based staff of the US Forest Service with partners overseas, the Agency can address the most critical forestry issues and concer