New Jersey

Changes in the climate, including warmer winters and increased precipitation during some parts of the year, are having a significant influence on the Northeast’s forest products supply chain. A recent report describes specifics of climate impacts and adaptations for three links in the Northeast’s forest products supply chain. Topics include: harvest scheduling, BMPs, roads, and forest health.

Evidence of climate change can already be observed in the Mid-Atlantic region. Understanding vulnerabilities is an important first step to sustaining healthy forests and ecosystems in the face of changing conditions. As part of the Mid-Atlantic Climate Change Response Framework project, more than 40 scientists and forest managers collaborated to assess the vulnerability of forest ecosystems in this region to the range of projected climate change

Forests are a prominent feature of the landscape across the Mid-Atlantic region. The first three sections of this story map highlight key themes from the report and describe the general effects of anticipated changes across the region. The final section shows what foresters and land managers are doing to protect these forests and all of the benefits they provide for us.

Many landowners have begun to ask how their forest management strategy affects the carbon within their forest and thus the forest’s ability to mitigate climate change. Every strategy has its tradeoffs; therefore, to meet all of society’s needs, we will ultimately need a mix of passive and active strategies across the region.

The tool provides a rapid and simple process to assess forest resiliency. This publication contains background information on important characteristics of resilient and healthy forests and examples of potential adaptation strategies. It is accompanied by a scorecard to be used in the field to evaluate the resiliency of a forest.

In this report, we describe several climate-driven problems that are projected to affect, or are already affecting, particular wildlife species and ecosystems, and solutions that conservation groups are implementing to help plants and animals respond and adapt. These projects are tangible examples of climate-informed conservation, and can serve as inspiration for others grappling with similar issues.

Your woods are always changing and adapting as they grow and mature, or regrow after agricultural abandonment, natural disturbances, or harvesting activities. Events like storms, droughts, insect and disease outbreaks, or other stressors can damage trees or slow their growth. A changing climate may make your woods more susceptible to the problems these events can cause.

Forests and other ecosystems act as carbon sinks, and they sequester carbon dioxide through plant growth, removing it from the atmosphere. The Forest Service is a leader in developing tools for carbon assessment, management, and forest carbon cycle science.

The Climate Smart Land Network (CSLN) provides forest landowners and managers with direct access to the forest and climate experts at Manomet, and the opportunity to benefit from other forest landowners in the Network. Bulletin series on climate change issues in forest management for forest landowners.