Editing United States Forest Service (section)

=== Climate adaptation ===

In April 2023, the U.S. Forest Service published a proposed rulemaking in response to [[climate change]] on the topic of improving [[climate resilience]] on the [[Public land#United States|public lands]] that it manages.<ref name=April2023 /> The agency introduced the need for such rulemaking as:<blockquote>

Climate change and related stressors, such as wildfire, drought, insects and disease, extreme weather events, and chronic stress on ecosystems are resulting in increasing impacts with rapid and variable rates of change on national forests and grasslands. These impacts can be compounded by fire suppression, development in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), and non-climate informed timber harvest and reforestation practices.<ref name=April2023>{{cite journal |last1=U.S. Forest Service |title=Forest and Grassland Climate Resilience (2023-08429) |journal=Federal Register |date=21 April 2023 |volume=88 |pages=24497–24503 |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/21/2023-08429/organization-functions-and-procedures-functions-and-procedures-forest-service-functions}}</ref></blockquote>

The foundational question pertained to [[climate adaptation]]: "How should the Forest Service adapt current policies and develop new policies and actions to conserve and manage the national forests and grasslands for climate resilience, so that the Agency can provide for ecological integrity and support social and economic sustainability over time?" Ancillary questions pertained to both "adaptation planning" and "adaptation practices".

The background section of the proposed rulemaking includes a short history of how agency responsibilities have grown and evolved over its 118-year history in accordance with "what the American people desire from their natural resources at any given point in time."<ref name=April2023 />