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Friday, 11:15am

This panel will address the impacts of climate change on forests, watersheds, grasslands, and wildlife habitat.  Panelists will talk about work being done to apply climate change science to the basin level, climate-change mitigation and adaptation strategies for forest lands, and the challenges of restoring landscapes in a changing climate.  

Speakers

• Rick Brown, Senior Resource Specialist, Defenders of Wildlife - Oregon Chapter
  The implications of climate change on national forest lands
• Bob Hamilton, Director, Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, The Nature Conservancy
  Climate change and the challenges of restoring process-driven Great Plains grasslands
  
• Cindy Deacon Williams, Senior Scientist, National Center for Conservation Science & Policy
  Use of downscaling to guide integrated preparation planning

Moderator

Randi Spivak, Executive Director, American Lands Alliance

Recommended Readings

The Implications of Climate Change for Conservation, Restoration, and Management of National Forest Lands by Rick Brown, Defenders of Wildlife for the National Forest Restoration Collaborative

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Rick Brown

Rick Brown is a biologist by training and has been a Senior Resource Specialist in Defenders of Wildlife’s Northwest Office in Oregon since October, 2000. He has spent 30 years working in and for forests of the Northwest, first as a graduate student at PSU, then with the Forest Service, and some 20 years with conservation NGOs.  He has served on several advisory committees for the State of Oregon and the Oregon Department of Forestry.  He currently works to implement a state-wide strategy for conserving biological diversity, focusing on forest-related issues and emphasizing collaborative and incentive-based approaches.  In 2001, Defenders published his report “Thinning, Fire and Forest Restoration: A Science-based Approach for National Forests in the Interior Northwest,” and the National Forest Restoration Collaborative and Defenders jointly published "Implications of Climate Change for Conservation, Restoration and Management of National Forest Lands" in 2008.

Bob Hamilton

Bob grew up in Wellington, Kansas.  He attended Southwestern College, Winfield, KS (1980 BA in Biology) and Emporia State University, Emporia, KS (1986 MS in Biology).

Bob was fortunate to start working for The Nature Conservancy in the summer of 1982 as a seasonal intern at the Samuel H. Ordway Memorial Prairie in South Dakota.  Later that summer, he accepted the permanent position of North Dakota Land Steward and moved to the Cross Ranch north of Bismarck.  During his tenure, he introduced cattle and bison grazing, prescribed burning, and coordinated the preserve’s research, monitoring and public use programs.

In 1988, Bob moved to Oklahoma when he accepted the position of Director of Science and Stewardship with the Conservancy’s Oklahoma Field Office in Tulsa.  This position involved designing and managing a wide variety of nature preserves around the state.  In 1991, he became the Assistant Director and Director of Science and Stewardship for the 39,000 acre Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, and recently became the preserve Director.  He directs the preserve science, land management and protection programs, as well as regional conservation planning and outreach.

Bob’s conservation work is focused upon protecting our remaining intact native landscapes, and restoring the natural dynamics (such as grazing and fire) that are needed to preserve our natural heritage.

Bob lives in Bartlesville, OK with his wife, Sharon, and their 15 year old daughter, Katy.

Cindy Deacon Williams

Cindy Deacon Williams is a Senior Scientist with the National Center for Conservation Science & Policy in Ashland, Oregon.  A fisheries biologist by training, Cindy has over 25 years experience as a natural resources policy analyst and working biologist.  Her career has seen stints in private practice, with non-profit organizations, and in state and federal governments.  Cindy has dealt with a number of natural resource issues including integrating climate change adaptation strategies for natural and human systems; the conservation of native aquatic species and their ecosystems; the ecology, economics and ethics of sustainable fisheries; the role of federal land management agencies in resource conservation; agriculture and the nation’s wetlands; California water law; state and federal Endangered Species Acts; citizen involvement in the political process at the state and national levels; California and the public trust; and technical fisheries subjects.  She has authored numerous peer-reviewed technical and policy publications, including reports, journal articles, and book chapters.  Cindy currently serves as a member of the Fish, Wildlife and Habitat Adaptation Subcommittee of the Oregon Global Warming Commission.  Ms. Williams received her BS in Biology from Oregon State University in 1980, and her MS in Biology from California State University, Sacramento in 1986.

Randi Spivak

Randi Spivak served as board president of American Lands Alliance before becoming Executive Director in 2001. Randi is a long-time forest advocate with extensive experience in national campaigns, advocacy and marketing. American Lands was formed by forest activists to ensure that their voices and issues are raised in Washington DC. American Lands provides national and regional leadership on federal forest policy issues by combining local grassroots experience with a deep understanding of national politics.

During her tenure Randi has been a leader in efforts by American Lands and its allies to protect national forest roadless areas, old growth and limit the severity of legislation to roll back environmental protections by a very anti-environmental majority in Congress. American Lands unified the forest community’s voice around conservation positions that were critical to success, and brought hundreds of forest activists, scientists and other allies back to Washington DC to educate Members of Congress.

Randi was previously Campaign Manager for the extremely successful $319 million Los Angeles County park and open space bond measure, Division Chief for a California State Lands’ Conservancy, member of the executive committee of Earth Communications Office, the communication industry’s environmental advocacy group, and a board member of environmental organizations in California. Previously, Randi was an advertising and marketing executive responsible for several leading national brands.