Goals & Objectives

Goal of Inventory and Monitoring Climate Change Workshops
The goal of the workshops is to engage parks, Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) networks, and key partners in gaining critical input for developing multi-year strategies for long-term monitoring of ecological response to climate change relevant to park management and protection.

Objectives of Workshops

1. Enhance participant’s understanding of projected changes in climate variables (e.g., temperature, precipitation, snowpack, growing season) and resultant effects on ecosystem components (e.g., communities, disturbance regimes, ecological processes, species).
2. Engage parks, networks and other key staff in developing multi-year strategies and work plans for protocol development and implementing long-term monitoring of indicators of climate change.
3. Work collaboratively across parks, networks, and regions. Engage potential partners to discuss opportunities for collaboration on developing monitoring protocols and leveraging resources for monitoring indicators of climate change on federal lands.
4. Develop and describe a planning process and products that can serve as a prototype for other high-elevation parks and protected areas.

Final Products from Workshops
The final products of each workshop will be a set of criteria for prioritizing climate response monitoring variables and a preliminary prioritization of long-term monitoring projects for climate change response. These products will be used by networks following the workshop for work plan development in response to Secretarial Order No. 3289 of September 14, 2009. This order established a climate change strategy that integrates the efforts of individual Department of Interior (DOI) bureaus to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.