September 15, 2021

U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit launches new section for the Northern Great Plains Region

In September 2021, the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit announced the publication of a new Northern Great Plains Region section. The section features narratives, tools, case studies, and reports related to the impacts of climate change across the Northern Great Plains and information on how people can build resilience to them. Used with the Climate Resilience Toolkit’s Steps to Resilience, the new section can help communities and managers of agricultural and natural lands across the Northern Great Plains recognize their climate hazards, assess their vulnerabilities, and confront their climate risks.

Content for the new section—which includes discussions about water, agriculture, ecosystems and biodiversity, recreation and tourism, and Indigenous peoples—was built upon vetted information from the Fourth National Climate Assessment and other high-level reports, with regional experts adding information from recent research. The section offers plain-language narratives about climate impacts that are already occurring and projected to continue across the region, and describes efforts to build resilience.

The Climate Resilience Toolkit team adds new regions to its website as regional experts from federal agencies, academic institutions, and public, private, and non-profit organizations volunteer to work with the toolkit’s editorial team. Currently, regional experts are developing content for the U.S. Caribbean region. The Climate Resilience Toolkit team is actively seeking collaborators to help them develop information for the Northwest, Southwest, and Southern Great Plains regions.

The Northern Great Plains Region content reflects the contributions of a team of experts; thanks to NOAA’s Doug Kluck (NCEI) for recruiting and assembling the team.

Thank you to all who contributed to the Northern Great Plains Regional content:

• Doug Kluck (NOAA/NCEI)
• Verlon Barnes (USDA/NRCS)
• Wylie Carr (National Park Service Climate Change Response Program)
• Laura Edwards (South Dakota State University Extension)
• Mark Junker (Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska)
• Windy Kay Kelley (University of Wyoming Extension, USDA/Northern Plains Climate Hub)
• Britt Parker (NOAA/NIDIS, University of Colorado Boulder, CIRES)
• Dannele Peck (USDA/Northern Plains Climate Hub)
• James Rattling Leaf, Sr. (Great Plains Tribal Water Alliance/Rosebud Sioux Tribe)
• Imtiaz Rangwala (CIRES/North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center/University of Colorado Boulder)
• Valerie Small (Colorado State University)
• Mark Svoboda (National Drought Mitigation Center/University of Nebraska Lincoln)
• Stefan Tangen (Great Plains Tribal Water Alliance/North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center)
• Natalie Umphlett (High Plains Regional Climate Center)
• Iree Wheeler (Utah State University)
• Emily Wilkins (USGS)