[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline solid” sep_color=”#000000″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]US Forest Service releases new report on effects of drought on forests and rangelands in US[/title][fusion_text]Monday, February 1st 2016
The U.S. Forest Service today released a new report, Effects of Drought on Forests and Rangelands in the United States: A Comprehensive Science Synthesis, that provides a national assessment of peer-reviewed scientific research on the impacts of drought on U.S. forests and rangelands. This report will help the Forest Service better manage forests and grasslands impacted by climate change. “Our forests and rangelands are national treasures, and because they are threatened, we are threatened,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This report confirms what we are seeing, that every region of the country is impacted by the direct and indirect effects of drought conditions and volatile weather patterns. Sixty million Americans rely on drinking water that originates on our 193 million acres of national forest and grasslands. They support 200,000 jobs and contribute over $13 billion to local economies every year.” The report establishes a comprehensive baseline of available data that land managers can use to test how well their efforts to improve drought resilience and adaptation practices are working nationwide. The assessment, a broad review of existing drought research, provides input to the reauthorized National Integrated Drought Information System ( NIDIS), established by Congress in 2006, and the National Climate Assessment ( NCA), produced every four years to project major trends and evaluate the effects of global climate change on forests, agriculture, rangelands, land and water resources, human health and welfare, and biological diversity. Together these serve as key, science-based, resources for anyone working to maintain or improve public and private lands in the face of a changing environment. Edited by Forest Service scientists in partnership with Duke University, the document provides a valuable new tool to inform discussion, planning and implementation of adaptation strategies for land managers and policy makers. The collaborative effort, authored by 77 scientists from the Forest Service, other Federal agencies, research institutions and universities across the United States, examines ways to understand and mitigate the effects of drought on forests and rangeland including the 193 million acres of National Forest System lands. The implications of the findings of this report are likely to have far-reaching effects on the environment for the foreseeable future. As climate change drives temperatures increases and precipitation patterns change, drought–and associated disturbances such as insect outbreaks and wildfires-will only get worse across many areas of the United States.
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