This report, required by state law under HB3543, provides a comprehensive assessment of the state of science of climate change as it pertains to Oregon, covering the physical, biological, and social dimensions. The first chapter summarizes the current state of knowledge of physical changes in climate and hydrology, focusing on...
This Guidebook follows a holistic approach to adaptation planning called community-driven climate resilience planning. Community-driven climate resilience planning is “the process by which residents of vulnerable and impacted communities define for themselves the complex climate challenges they face, and the climate solutions most relevant to their unique assets and threats.”...
Background: Tidal wetlands are important habitats for salmon and a diversity of other fish and wildlife species. They also trap sediment, buffer coastal communities from flooding and erosion, and perform other valued ecosystem services. Tidal wetlands currently exist just at and above sea level, and healthy tidal wetlands are able...
The Nearshore Assessment Tool for Alaska: Southeast (NATAK-SE) is a standardized protocol for rapidly assessing the habitat and functions of a particular marine or estuarine shore segment (intertidal zone and immediately adjoining upland) anywhere in Southeast Alaska. It consists of data forms and a spreadsheet. It has a Rapid component...
Contains ground-truthed wetland maps and scores representing ecosystem services of a large portion of the wetlands in Juneau, Alaska. LiDAR imagery was used extensively.
The Juneau Wetland Management Plan (JWMP), Volume 1, provides results of wetlands mapping and wetland functional assessments for currently undeveloped parcels within the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ). The study areas were selected for their potential for future development based on low elevation and proximity to existing infrastructure. During...
We compiled existing data and information to characterize the condition and trends in high priority natural resources in San Juan Island National Historical Park. We identified 37 indicators to evaluate the condition and trend of these resources. For each indicator we attempted to define reference conditions to which we could...
We compiled existing data and information to characterize the condition and trends in high priority natural resources in Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve (EBLA, or "the Reserve"). We identified 29 indicators to evaluate seven major resource concerns. For each indicator we attempted to define reference conditions to which we could...
Because studies of forestry effects on wetlands have been so infrequent in the Pacific Northwest, each section in this report drew heavily from studies of forestry impacts to streams and riparian zones. After assembly and synthesis, that information was extrapolated, mostly in the form of hypotheses, to the very different...
Climate Change in the Northwest: Implications for Our Landscapes, Waters, and Communities is a report aimed at assessing the state of knowledge about key climate impacts and consequences to various sectors and communities in the Northwest United States. This report draws on two recent state climate assessments in Washington in...
This document partially addresses the Wetlands component of San Juan County’s Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO). Drawing from a foundation in best available science, it describes important functions performed by the County's wetlands, effects of various activities on those functions, and strategies for protecting wetland functions from impacting activities, with an...
This document provides definitions and a general overview of streams and lakes of San Juan County (SJC) and then describes impacts to these water bodies and strategies for determining widths of buffers that protect their functions. It similarly provides definitions and a general overview of SJC upland (terrestrial) habitats, describes...
In a series of Willamette Valley wetlands, standardized protocols were used in 2009 and 2010 to primarily assess (a) vegetation species composition and (b) relative levels of ecosystem services. Of the 60 wetlands visited in one or both years, 34 were classified as riverine and 26 as flats. Of the...
This project defined criteria to allow only the use of existing spatial databases (and only those with comprehensive coverage of the ecoregion) to identify the HGM (hydrogeomorphic) class of mapped Willamette Ecoregion wetlands. The project then applied those criteria automatically and systematically to every mapped wetland in the ecoregion, resulting...
The group of scientists that make up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found in 2007 that the warming of Earth’s climate is unequivocal and largely due to human activity. Earth’s climate has changed in the past, though the recent magnitude and pace of changes are unprecedented in human existence....