The Department of the Interior (DOI) is the federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of federal lands, natural resources, and historic places, as well as the administration of programs relating to Native communities residing within the United States. The CASC network partners with DOI bureaus across the department on diverse climate adaptation projects.
DOI Collaborators Include:
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The CASC network supports a network of Tribal Resilience Liaisons, a program funded largely by the BIA Tribal Resilience Program. This network connects Tribal and Indigenous communities to information, data, resources, and expertise that facilitate culturally appropriate research and planning. CASC Tribal Liaisons have worked with over 100 Tribes on adaptation plans and vulnerability assessments and have supported nearly 200 Tribal climate camps, summits, trainings, workshops, retreats, and presentations.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The CASC network works with the BLM to understand how climate change affects landscape dynamics and management strategies on BLM lands, particularly relating to fire risk and invasive species spread. For example, the Northwest CASC partnered with the BLM to perform a regional assessment for how altered disturbance regimes, including more frequent fires and droughts, are affecting lower-elevation aspen forests in the northern Great Basin.
The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR). The CASC network works with the BOR to understand how climate change affects the country’s water resources. For example, in a project supported by the South Central CASC, BOR and CASC researchers worked with over 500 organizations and stakeholders to develop a comprehensive data resource spatially depicting water conservation activities in the Great Basin region.
The National Park Service (NPS). The CASC network works with the NPS to help understand how climate change is affecting the nation’s national parks, seashores, and historical monuments. CASCs also contribute technical expertise to NPS strategic planning and assessment processes such as climate scenario planning activities. For example, to facilitate a longstanding partnership between regional CASCs and the NPS Climate Change Response Program, the North Central CASC created a tool to help download and parse climate change projections used in national park climate scenario planning workshops.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The CASC network works with the USFWS to understand how climate change affects the nation’s fish, wildlife, and national wildlife refuges and how management can help species and ecosystems adapt to changing conditions. This work includes developing species vulnerability assessments, evaluating species’ adaptive capacity to climate change, exploring the relationship between climate change and the spread of invasive species, and evaluating the effects of stressors such as droughts, fires, and sea level rise on wildlife populations. For example, CASC staff provide USFWS partners with training and technical expertise to support Species Status Assessments, such as project by the Southeast CASC to develop and test tools to help incorporate climate change into Species Status Assessments.
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