Resist, Accept, Direct: Climate Resilient Land Management Strategies in Homer, Alaska

Abstract

Climate change has posed a threat to what has been the status quo for people, plants, and animals in Homer, Alaska. Through desktop research and field tests, this project developed land use recommendations using the United States Fish and Wildlife’s Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) Framework that can be implemented on private and public plots in Homer, AK to achieve desired environmental resilience based on projected changes in climatic variables and ecological baselines. We assessed the extent of climate-induced changes in plant life cycles and developed management strategies within the RAD framework. Our methodology included town hall events and surveys to encourage public engagement and community-based planning, a citizen science initiative for continued data collection, and remote sensing combined with statistical analysis to correlate phenology with climate variables. We created a community-informed recommendations “menu” for management strategies for local plant species. Deliverables include a climate report assessing Homer's climatic changes over 75 years, a white paper consolidating climate change effects and vulnerabilities in the South Central region of Alaska, and an adaptive ecosystem management plan detailing research findings and conservation strategies that can be implemented on both public and private lands.