Climate Change in the Southwest Region

The Southwest Region developed an emblem representative of the region's Climate Change initiatives.

Climate change is already affecting fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats around the globe. The Service's Southwest Region has been working with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the academic community, and other natural resource management agencies and interest groups to translate available and emerging science into concrete actions that reduce the impacts of a changing climate on the broadly diverse ecosystems in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. In the coming months, we will be initiating innovative climate change projects in several key southwestern habitats.

Climate Change Advisory Committee Selected

May 2013
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced the selection of 25 members to a newly created federal advisory committee who will provide guidance on climate change adaptation science initiatives. Committee members represent federal agencies; tribal, state, and local governments; nongovernmental organizations; academic institutions; and the private sector. Secretary Jewell says, “This committee embodies our commitment to working closely with our partners to strengthen our efforts to develop sound science that will help inform policymakers, land managers and the public in making important resource management decisions.”

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Photo credit: Bill Radke, USFWS.

Wildlife Refuge Manager Bill Radke Protects Rare Species with the Help of Science

February 2013
Effort builds win-win relationships with Border Patrol, landowners, and vulnerable habitat. For Bill Radke, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and the Leslie Canyon NWR  in Arizona, a day’s work could be anything from monitoring wildlife trends with digital photography, to collaborating with local ranchers on restoring wetland habitat, to seeking cooperative solutions in a border region where landscape protection and national security interests sometimes clash.  Find out how he is working to address the impacts of climate change in the Sonoran desert.

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The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with
others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and
their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

All images Credit to and Courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service unless specified otherwise.