Please join the USDA Forest Service for an August 20, 2024, Tribal Forum on Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Policies. The USDA Forest Service is pursuing a range of climate change adaptation and mitigation policies to protect, conserve, and manage national forests and grasslands for climate resilience. This Tribal Forum will focus on the first series of policy revisions to address water quality best management practices, water data, recreation fee waivers, and fire management in wilderness, wild and scenic rivers.

Tribal Forum Details

Date: August 20, 2024
Time: 1:00 p.m. Eastern
Register in Advance: Meeting Registration – Zoom (zoomgov.com)

**If the above registration link does not work, please copy and paste this URL into your web browser: https://www.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsd-CvpjkvGo7coWnxDXm9rMTPI25k1Pk**

The Forest Service recently completed a climate-oriented review of national policies and procedures in response to Secretary Vilsack’s Memorandum on Climate Resilience and Carbon Stewardship and the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on Climate Resilient Forests and Grasslands. This review and input received during National Tribal engagement and public comment informed options for climate-adaptive changes to agency policy, guidance, and program implementation involving carbon stewardship, water and watersheds, wildlife, planning, wood product innovation, and outdoor recreation. Please note that opportunities to consult on the ANPR will remain available until its conclusion. More information on the ongoing opportunity to consult is available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/working-with-us/tribal-relations/national-consultation#CurrentConsultation. The Forest Service will extend separate invitations to consult on specific climate adaptation and mitigation policy revisions.

The agency is beginning to develop the first in this series of options to modernize and adapt current Forest Service internal guidance and procedures to better anticipate, identify, and respond to rapidly changing conditions associated with climate amplified impacts. The upcoming Tribal forum will focus on an initial set of four potential changes to the Forest Service Manual and Handbook. Over the next several years, we anticipate future opportunities for Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations to engage on additional climate adaptation and mitigation policy reforms.

For more information, or to request consultation on the proposed policies, please contact your regional Tribal relations program manager or Reed Robinson, Director of the Office of Tribal Relations in Washington, DC, at SM.FS.otrtribalcon@usda.gov. Thank you.