Resource managers have traditionally looked to historical records to inform modern decision making. Yet as climate change creates unprecedented thermal and hydrological conditions around the globe, there are no longer always past analogues to draw knowledge from. The National Parks Service (NPS) and partner agencies recently published a report describing the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework, a decision-making tool that helps resource managers create strategic plans when faced with ecological changes caused by climate change. This framework assists managers in considering how climate will affect valuable resources and how to craft feasible strategies that meet their priorities. 

Researchers within the CASC network have already incorporated the RAD framework into their thinking. “We often think about this RAD framework,” says Alisa Wade, Research Coordinator at the North Central CASC. 

Wade explains, “Where do you resist changes and really kind of dig in and try to restore habitat? Where do we accept that it’s unlikely that this will be climate friendly habitat in the future and maybe we should focus elsewhere? And then I think the most interesting one is this idea of ‘direct’, where do we start to direct the changes that we see? We may not be able to get the original natural community type back, it's been too invaded or changed, but can we start to think about what we can do on the landscape instead that gets us closer to where we want to be.” 

The NPS hopes that this tool is useful for resource managers planning for different future conditions under a changing climate. 

Learn more about the CASCs work on the Resist-Accept-Direct Framework here.