Climate Change

Changing climates in the Pacific Northwest will result in lower snowpacks, warmer summers, and changes in distributions of plants and animals. North Coast and Cascades Parks are looking science to proactively manage parks with warming climates. We have conducted Vulnerabilty Assessments and develop Adaptation Strategies with adjacent US Forests in the northern Cascades and on the Olympic Peninsula. The Olympic Project was a collaborative effort between Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest. The North Cascadia Adaptation Partnership (NCAP) was a partnership across 6 million acres in the northern Cascades: North Cascades National Park Service Complex, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, and Mount Rainier National Park. Projections of future climates, impacts on protected lands resources, and adaptation strategies and tactics are found in our publications from each project.