Northwest Natural Resource Group

grant award: $79,732; year awarded: 2022

Hotter, drier summers driven by climate change will increase water needs and aggravate moisture stress in trees. This can lead to reduced growth rates and increased mortality from insects and disease. These conditions also affect the intensity and frequency of wildfire. In Northwest forests, scientists and academics have established the broad outlines of how to adapt to climate change through autonomous and directed ecosystem transformation. But the application of that knowledge is limited by a lack of understanding of exactly how specific forestry practices ought to shift and by the limited availability of seedlings adapted to a warming climate. As part of this project, Northwest Natural Resource Group (NNRG) will teach key audiences about climate-adaptive management strategies such as sparser-than-usual thinning and snow-accumulation gaps and define best management practices for the use of climate-adapted seedlings. They will also establish a regional source of climate-adapted seedlings to spur their wider use alongside native plant materials by partnering with a nursery and jump-starting a regional supply of 15,000 climate-adapted seedlings, removing the two critical barriers to climate-adapted forestry being practiced at scale in this region.