SCOAP map

SCOAPĀ is a Forest Service science-management collaboration with the goals of:

  1. Increasing climate change awareness;
  2. Assessing vulnerability of cultural and natural resources; and
  3. Developing science-based adaptation strategies and incorporating them into management of federal lands in south central Oregon.

SCOAP News

January 2018: Our General Technical Report has been published.
Halofsky, Jessica E.; Peterson, David L.; Ho, Joanne J., eds. 2019. Climate change vulnerability and adaptation in south-central Oregon. General Technical Report PNW-GTR-974. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 473 pp. doi:10.2737/PNW-GTR-974.

Project Overview

Objectives

  • Synthesize the best available scientific information to assess climate change vulnerability and develop adaption options in south central Oregon in order to understand and mitigate potentially adverse effects of climate change on natural resources and ecosystem services.
  • Develop a framework and tools for resource managers to incorporate the best available science into landscape/planning assessments, resource management and planning, resource monitoring, project design, NEPA analysis, conservation strategies, and State Wildlife Action Plan updates.

Approach/Timeline

  • Establish an effective long-term science-management partnership involving multiple agencies and stakeholders to assess climate change science and its implications for biophysical and social resources. (Winter 2015)
  • Conduct a vulnerability assessment of priority resources (Winter/Spring 2015) and develop associated adaptation strategies (Fall 2015) to help build resistance, enhance resilience, and facilitate ecological transitions for south central Oregon. The assessment will focus on climate trends, water resources, fisheries, wildlife, forested and non-forested vegetation, disturbance regimes, recreation, and ecosystem services. The assessment and adaptation strategy will be peer reviewed and published, providing the scientific foundation for operationalizing climate change in planning, ecological restoration, and project management.
  • Educate and engage with partners, stakeholders, decision makers, planners, and resource specialists to:
    • Build an enduring partnership to facilitate application of climate-smart management.
    • Provide tools to incorporate and apply adaptation options through assessment, planning, project implementation, and monitoring.
  • Conduct a workshop (Fall 2015) with scientists, land managers, conservation practitioners, and other stakeholders to review the vulnerability assessment.
    • Downscale information from the assessment to identify the most significant vulnerabilities to climate change for priority resources in each management unit.
    • Identify adaptation strategies and tactics to reduce resource vulnerabilities. Adaptation strategies and tactics will be linked to corresponding management operation levels at different spatial and temporal scales.