New Hampshire Climate Resilient Forest Management Workshops

Vista overlooking the White Mountains from Green Hills preserve (TNC)

A brook flowing over rocks at Surry Mountain Preserve (TNC)

Vista overlooking a lake at Surry Mountain Preserve in Southwest NH (TNC)

Date

Mon, 4/10/2023, 9:30am - Tue, 4/11/2023, 4:30pm ET
Wed, 4/12/2023, 9:30am - Thu, 4/13/2023, 4:30pm ET

Location

Harris Center for Conservation Education (83 Kings Hwy, Hancock, NH 03449) and Tin Mountain Conservation Center Inc. (1245 Bald Hill Rd, Albany, NH 03818)

Description

New Hampshire Climate Resilient Forest Management Workshops

Background: This project is facilitating shared learning on climate-resilient forest/habitat management and climate adaptation planning in a series of workshops to support implementation of adaptation actions following the resistance, resilience, and transition (R-R-T) adaptation concepts within two New Hampshire landscapes (Mount Washington Valley and Southwest NH). This project is funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Forest and Rivers Fund and the Wildlife Conservation Societies Climate Adaptation Fund.

Partners involved in the project include the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS), University of Vermont (UVM), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), NH Fish and Game (NHFG), Society for the Protection of NH Forests (SPNHF), NH Audubon, Harris Center for Conservation Education, Tin Mountain Conservation Center (TMCC), and UNH Cooperative Extension (UNH).

Workshop description: This series of facilitated workshops helped managers to develop forest management plans using the Forest Adaptation Resources: Climate change tools and approaches for land managers, 2nd Edition, and the Adaptation Workbook. The workshops engaged key landowners and land managers in Southwest New Hampshire and Mount Washington Valley landscapes. The workshops were led and facilitated by staff from NIACS, UVM, and TNC.

In each workshop, we:

Provided information on the current and anticipated effects of climate change on New England forests
Described resources and tools that can be used to integrate climate change into management
Outlined adaptation concepts and strategies in the context of sustainable forest management
Identified actions that enhance the ability of forests and wildlife to adapt to changing conditions
Engaged participants in a variety of interactive activities to identify climate change issues and potential adaptation actions
Built connections between natural resource managers across two New Hampshire forested landscapes

Desired outcomes

Develop forest management plans that include consideration of climate-resilient habitats, and forest management strategies and approaches
Increase awareness of climate-adapted forest management techniques across the landscape to improve forest habitat across New Hampshire; to promote wildlife habitat diversity, adaptation and resilience for native biota, and carbon sequestration and storage in a changing climate

Agenda

April 10-11: Southwest NH Landscape Workshop, Harris Center for Conservation Education

April 12-13: Mount Washington Valley Landscape Workshop, Tin Mountain Conservation Center Inc.

During each 2-day workshop, we heard regional natural resource managers speak about how climate change threats are impacting New Hampshire forests and wildlife and how managers can successfully respond to those changes. Then, natural resource managers incorporated climate change considerations and identified actions for adaptation into their own real-world forest management projects. This active, hands-on training used the Adaptation Workbook and menus of strategies and approaches to create custom adaptation plans with consideration of local and landscape-scale impacts to New Hampshire forests.

See a more detailed agenda on the Save the Date

Workshop Resources/Presentations

Adaptation Workbook Materials

Go to the Online Adaptation Workbook

Download Word/Excel Version of the Adaptation Workbook

Workshop Presentations

A regional synthesis of climate data to inform the 2025 State Wildlife Action Plans in the Northeast U.S., Kevin Burgio (Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center)
Impacts of climate change on emerging forest pests and pathogens in New Hampshire, Kyle Lombard (NH DNCR, Division of Forests & Lands)
Managing for forest carbon benefits, Maria Janowiak (Northern Institute for Applied Climate Science)
Monitoring adaptation outcomes in northern forests, Tony D'Amato (University of Vermont)

Climate Change Tree Atlas

Tour of the USDA Forest Service Climate Change Tree Atlas tool

View the Climate Change Tree Atlas for species in New England

Climate Change Resources by Topic Area

Browse New England climate impacts by forest type

Review New England climate vulnerability resources

Additional resources for New Hampshire natural resources management by topic area

Topic

Reference

CHANGES IN CLIMATE (Regional)

Janowiak et al. 2018. New England and New York Forest Ecosystem Vulnerability Assessment and Synthesis: A Report from the New England Climate Change Response Framework – Chapter 2 of the report summarizes regional changes in climate.
US Forest Service. 2018. A Gallery of Data and Resources Related to the New England and Northern New York Vulnerability Assessments – The Office of Sustainability and Climate has compiled web-based maps and resources related to the New England forest vulnerability assessment.
Trends in Extreme Precipitation for the Northeast United States, 1948-2007
Trends in Wintertime Climate in the Northeast United States, 1965-2005

CHANGES IN CLIMATE (New Hampshire specific)

New Hampshire State Climate Summary (NOAA/Runkle et al.: 2017) – Provides a nice overview and figures related to past climate trends and future projections.
The University of New Hampshire produced several state-level reports:
Climate Change in Northern New Hampshire: Past, Present, and Future
Climate Change in Southern New Hampshire: Past, Present, and Future
Climate Change and Human Health in New Hampshire
NOAA’s Climate-at-a-Glance interface provides an easy way to look up historical data and make figures.

Forests

New England and New York Forest Ecosystem Vulnerability Assessment and Synthesis: A Report from the New England Climate Change Response Framework (Janowiak et al: 2018) – Summarizes current understanding of climate change impacts on forests ecosystems and provides model projections of tree species and forest change (see appendices 4-6 for additional model results).
A Gallery of Data and Resources Related to the New England and Northern New York Vulnerability Assessments (US Forest Service: 2018) –The Office of Sustainability and Climate has compiled web-based maps and resources related to the New England forest vulnerability assessment.
Changing Climate, Changing Forests: The Impacts of Climate Change on Forests of the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada (Rustad et al.: 2012) – This report also provided a regional overview.
Good Forestry in the Granite State - Recommended Voluntary Forest Management Practices for New Hampshire (2010, UNH Extension)

Wildlife

(incl. fish and aquatic orgs.)

Littlefield, C. E., & D'Amato, A. W. (2022). Identifying trade-offs and opportunities for forest carbon and wildlife using a climate change adaptation lens. Conservation Science and Practice, 4( 4), e12631.
New Hampshire Wildlife Action Plan (New Hampshire Fish and Game Department: 2015) – Chapter 4 includes a section on Climate Change and Severe Weather.
NH Fish and Game Climate Change and Wildlife Resources – includes 2021 webinars that provide an intro to climate change with particular focus on NH, climate change impacts on moose, and on brook trout.
Staudinger et al. 2015. Integrating Climate Change into Northeast and Midwest State Wildlife Action Plans – Summarizes regional climate change impacts on wildlife and identifies ecosystems and species at greatest risk. Potentially most relevant is Chapter 3: Biological Responses to Climate Impacts with a Focus on Northeast and Midwest Regional Species of Conservation Need, which highlights vulnerable terrestrial and aquatic species.
Janowiak et al. 2018. New England and New York Forest Ecosystem Vulnerability Assessment and Synthesis: A Report from the New England Climate Change Response Framework – Appendix 8 contains additional description of some impacts to wildlife.
USFS Climate Change Bird Atlas – Maps and numerical summary data that show how each species' suitable habitat is projected to change under three different climate models, for both high and low emissions scenarios.
Brook Trout Atlas – Interactive atlases that allow users to explore mapped data related to brook trout populations, habitats, and threats in local watersheds and across their eastern range.

Water Resources

Streamflow responses to past and projected future changes in climate at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, USA (Campbell et al.: 2011) – Modeled response of Hubbard Brook watershed to future changes in climate.
Regional climate change projections of streamflow characteristics in the Northeast & Midwest U.S. (Demaria et al.: 2016) – Includes coarse-scale projections of stream changes in New England and New York using more recent climate models.

Riparian Areas

Incorporating climate change projections into riparian restoration planning and design (Perry et al: 2015) – Review paper that discusses how restoration activities can respond to anticipated climate impacts.

Invasives

Do invasive alien plants benefit more from global environmental change than native plants? (Liu et al: 2016) – Review paper showing that invasive plants are better able to take advantage of increased temperature and carbon dioxide levels relative to native plants.

Additional materials

Workshop Step 1.docx (28.31 KB)

Co-hosts and collaborators

Partners involved in the project include the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS), University of Vermont (UVM), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), NH Fish and Game (NHFG), NH Department of Natural and Cultural Resources- Division of Forest and Lands, Society for the Protection of NH Forests (SPNHF), NH Audubon, Harris Center for Conservation Education, Tin Mountain Conservation Center (TMCC), and UNH Cooperative Extension (UNH).