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Preparing Oregon's Fish, Wildlife, and Habitats for Future Climate Change: A Guide for State Adaptation Efforts

This report outlines a plan for preparing for climate change in natural systems in the state of Oregon, with a focus on managing fish and wildlife populations and their habitats. It was prepared by the Oregon Global Warming Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Adaptation Subcommittee, of which Defenders staff are members. Although written for an Oregon audience, climate change is the primary long-term challenge facing all people, ecosystems and economies.

Climate Change Adaptation


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Action is needed to prepare for and proactively adapt to the consequences of climate change. State-level preparedness will be critical in coping with projected changes such as increased temperatures, rising sea levels and increased storm surges, declining snowpack, more frequent extreme precipitation events, and an increased risk of drought and heat waves. These changes have already created a broad array of secondary effects in Oregon’s ecosystems.

An Oregon Example

As the effects of a changing climate become increasingly apparent, Oregon needs a strategy for preparing for, managing, and responding to climate change impacts. In light of the pressing need for techniques and strategies for adapting to climate change, members of the Oregon Global Warming Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Adaptation Subcommittee have outlined a set of basic guiding principles for managing fish, wildlife, and habitats in a changing climate:

  1. Maintain and restore key ecosystem processes;
  2. Establish an interconnected network of lands and waters that support fish and wildlife adaptation;
  3. Acknowledge, evaluate, and weigh the risks involved with proposed management actions in the context of anticipated climate conditions;
  4. Coordinate across political and jurisdictional boundaries. 

Each of these guiding principles carries significant policy implications. In the short term, getting needed resources to agencies should be a high priority in any adaptation strategy. In the long term, however, more significant policy changes will be needed to help agencies manage the effects of climate change. Adaptation efforts should capitalize on existing policies and strategies whenever possible, but many existing plans and policies will need to be updated to account for climate change impacts. The subcommittee offers the following recommendations for developing policy to support fish and wildlife adaptation.

How is Defenders involved?

Defenders partnered with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to lead a Fish, Wildlife, and Habitats Subcommittee under the state's Global Warming Commission. Adaptation experts from state agencies, universities, and non-profits gathered for two half-day meetings to define the problem of wildlife adaptation in the state and outline adaptation priorities and policy recommendations. Defenders and ODFW co-authored this report based on the consensus conclusions of the subcommittee.