“Despite the enormity of the many challenges associated with this issue, the Service is committed to addressing climate change and its potential impacts on our Nation’s fish, wildlife, and habitat. ” Sam Hamilton, Director

Rising to the Challenge -- Strategic Plan for Responding to Accelerating Climate Change

Sam D. Hamilton, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the plan lays the foundation for the Service’s role in national efforts to conserve fish and wildlife in a rapidly changing climate “but the plan is not yet complete. It needs constructive input from our most powerful partners—the American public. The public’s involvement is critical, because climate change is bigger than any one agency, department, or government.”

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We are taking action.

 

The Challenge

A basic biological fact is that species’ abundance and distribution are dynamic, relative to a variety of factors, including climate. As climate changes, the abundance and distribution of wildlife and fish will also change. However, in wildlife management, it is difficult to estimate with any degree of precision which species will be affected by environmental change, or exactly how. The Fish and Wildlife Service is monitoring our trust resources to see how they are affected by the changing climate.

 

What We're Doing

In general, Service programs are already addressing climate change. Read more about our actions.