Posted February 10, 2014
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently announced
the creation of seven regional “climate hubs” for risk adaptation and
mitigation of climate change, according to the USDA news release available here.
The “climate hubs” will address risks such as fire,
invasive pests, floods, and droughts on a regional basis, “aiming to translate
science and research into information to farmers, ranchers, and forest
landowners on ways to adapt and adjust their resource management.”
“For generations, America’s farmers, ranchers and
forest landowners have innovated and adapted to challenges. Today, they face a new and more complex
threat in the form of a changing and shifting climate, which impacts both our
nation’s forests and our farmers’ bottom line,” said Vilsack.
The hubs will provide outreach information to producers
“on ways to mitigate risks; public education about the risks climate change
poses to agriculture, ranchlands and forests; regional climate risk and
vulnerability assessments; and centers of climate forecast data and
information.” They will also link universities,
nongovernmental organizations, federal agencies, Native Nations, state
departments of environment and agriculture research centers, and farm groups
working on climate change risk adaptation and mitigation.
For more information on climate change, please visit
the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
