• Public Outreach. The FS has extensive involvement with the public and a strong connection to local communities concerning management of all National Forests. This network offers unparalleled opportunities to educate, inform, and elicit public preferences with respect to all aspects of adaptation to and mitigation of climate change.
• Extension Scientists. NFS and S&PF should hire scientists and technicians specifically to direct the science delivery into manager's hands so that it will be used in the correctly.

Costs: Implementing the programmatic goals enunciated in the four strategy elements above will take forests and grasslands in the US a considerable distance down the road of adapting to and mitigating current and future climate change impacts. The expenditure of approximately $75-$100 million each year for the next 10 years will be required to implement this program. The cost is moderate compared with many research programs of less obvious value, yet the cost is also real and must be met if this strategy is to be implemented effectively.

Concluding Thoughts.

Climate change is occurring and the FS Research and Development branch is well poised to address this issue on various fronts, as well as partner with other interested organizations to expand our knowledge base and capacity. The potential impacts on forests, woodlands and grasslands ecosystems and ways these systems can provide mitigation options are of the utmost importance.

The FS Global Change Research Strategy Synthesis provides an overall summary of the larger research strategy.This summary is intended to present our current and planned future research program on climate change with land manager and decision-maker needs at the forefront.The larger strategy will be made available and provides extensive detail for each of the suggested elements and topics.

For more information on this document please contact:
R. A. Birdsey, rbirdsey@fs.fed.us
L. A. Joyce, ljoyce@fs.fed.us
A. M. Solomon, allensolomon@fs.fed.us
J. Hayes, jenniferhayes@fs.fed.us

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