North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center

NC CASC tribal partners participate in development of NIDIS' Tribal Drought Engagement Strategy for the Missouri River Basin & Midwest Drought Early Warning Systems (DEWS)

In order to ensure the inclusion of indigenous perspectives in the implementation of our Drought Early Warning System (DEWS), NIDIS launched a Tribal Drought Engagement initiative in January 2019 in collaboration with the Masters of the Environment Program at University of Colorado-Boulder.

Stefan Tangen co-author on ATNI-led tribal review of the Congressional Action Plan on the climate crisis

The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) has released its Tribal Review of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis' Congressional Action Plan, co-authored by NC CASC Tribal Liaison, Stefan Tangen.

CU Regents vote to approve in-state tuition status for out-of-state Indigenous peoples

At its regular meeting on Thursday, Nov. 12, which was hosted remotely, the University of Colorado Board of Regents heard updates on financial aid and student debt, as well as efforts on the Boulder campus to improve the student experience.

James Rattling Leaf, Sr. to present at NTGISC's 11th Annual National Tribal GIS Conference

NC CASC PI James Rattling Leaf, Sr. will present "Every Tribe has a Climate Story: Climate Assessment Planning on Tribal Lands in the Great Plains" on November 19.

NC CASC welcomes Dr. Jilmarie Stephens

Dr. Jilmarie Stephens is a bio-micro-meteorologist studying plant-atmosphere interactions in a changing climate, from surface layer turbulence to ecosystem scale climate, carbon, and water fluxes.

When

“Building Relational and Effective Partnerships with Indigenous Communities” with James Rattling Leaf, Sr.

Tue, November 17, 2020

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM MST

James Rattling Leaf Sr. will outline recommendations for working with Indigenous communities based on the knowledge that long term relationship building with these communities is the foundation upon which educational programs, research collaborations, and other initiatives must be co-created.

James Rattling Leaf, Sr. elected Chair, ESA Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Section

NC CASC PI James Rattling, Sr. has been elected Chair of ESA's Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Section. James will bring his knowledge and expertise to lead suggested activities with a theme of increased collaboration.

When

Presenters: Joseph J. Barsugli (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO; NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory) Stephen Torbit (United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Lakewood, CO - retired) John M. Guinotte (United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Lakewood, CO) Abstract: Persistent spring snowpack has been proposed to be an important factor to determine suitable habitat for wolverine, particularly for denning by pregnant females, based on correlative studies from the northern Rocky Mountains. Reduction in deep snow for denning resulting from climate change was cited in proposals to list wolverine under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and in subsequent litigation to force a listing under the ESA and a federal court agreed this component was a significant factor for the Fish and Wildlife Service to consider. An earlier climate change assessment had revealed significant loss of snowpack in the future in lower elevations in the Rocky Mountains, but the spatial resolution of modeling mountain snowpack was coarse enough to have limited value for assessing impacts on a scale relevant for wolverine conservation. We modeled the future impacts of climate change on persistent snow in occupied and historical wolverine habitats at a 250 meter resolution in order to explicitly understand the effects of topography, slope and aspect on snow cover persistence. We then compared those snow cover projections to existing data on known wolverine den locations and potential wolverine denning locations in the two study areas. The results demonstrate significant retention of snow cover at higher elevations within documented and predicted wolverine denning habitat in both study areas. We project persistent spring snow cover is significant, abundant, widely dispersed and available for wolverines across both study areas, and across several climate scenarios for the mid 21st century.

Small-Scale Droughts Limit Sagebrush Recovery After Wildfires

A new study supported by the Southwest, Northwest, and North Central CASCs found that a few days of water scarcity during critical growth periods dramatically limited post-fire sagebrush regeneration across the Great Basin.