2007 Summaries of Wildlife Research Findings - Minnesota State ...

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Section of Wildlife will continue
to accomplish its mission 1 in the face of climate change. Despite uncertainties
about the future, staff within the Section will be proactive in identifying and
implementing responsible, science-based strategies for mitigating climate change
and adapting to unavoidable climate changes. Staff, others in public service,
stakeholders, and the general public will understand the unprecedented
challenges to wildlife conservation posed by climate change, and they will
support the Section’s decisions and initiatives related to climate change.
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Populations of diverse wildlife species will continue to be a critical component of
the high quality of life of the citizens of Minnesota.
4.3. Recommendations to Section and Division leaders
First and foremost, we in the Wildlife Climate Change Working Group think the
significance of climate change to the management and conservation of wildlife—and natural
resources in general—warrants making a proactive response to climate change an explicit
priority of the Section, Division, and Department based upon our missions and legal mandates.
A few guiding principles—sufficiently important and general to be useful in most or all
situations—provide a good place to start when considering additional ideas and priorities for
approaching the unique challenge of climate change. The Section of Wildlife should:
(1) focus on objectives that help the Section accomplish its mission and mandates;
(2) acknowledge uncertainty when making decisions and confront it in a logical,
productive manner; and
(3) strive to work effectively with colleagues and stakeholders to achieve wildlife
management goals.
Options for addressing climate change fall into 2 broad categories—mitigation and
adaptation. Climate change mitigation includes actions taken to avoid or minimize the change.
Most directly, mitigation actions reduce emissions of greenhouse gases or reduce concentrations
of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (e.g., carbon sequestration). Adaptation refers to actions
1 The mission of the Section of Wildlife is “to work with the people of Minnesota to conserve and manage wildlife
populations and habitats, to provide wildlife-related recreation, and to preserve Minnesota's hunting and trapping
heritage.”