As climate change continues to create shifts in precipitation patterns and increases to temperature, wildlife managers are faced with the growing challenge of helping wildlife populations respond to these changing conditions. Stephen Handler, a climate change specialist with the Northern Research Station and Northern Institute for Applied Climate Science, and Olivia LeDee, Acting Director of the Midwest CASC, teamed up with researchers and wildlife managers to create a guide for understanding and selecting from a wide variety of climate-informed actions that support wildlife and habitat management. The resulting Wildlife Adaptation Menu draws from an extensive literature review to provide a collection of 80 climate change adaptation approaches for wildlife managers, organized into tiers of general and more specific ideas.  

“This is not a one-size-fits-all strategy,” says LeDee. “Rather, we are excited to offer a tool to help wildlife managers make their own informed choices and make a clear rationale for climate adaptation.” 

This study is a product of Northeast CASC funded project, Development of the Wildlife Adaptation Menu for Resource Managers.