Case Studies | U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit

Communities, businesses, and individuals are taking action to document their vulnerabilities and build resilience to climate-related impacts. Click dots on the map to preview case studies, or browse stories below the map. Use the drop-down menus above to find stories of interest. To expand your results, click the Clear Filters link.

Standing man looking at a stand of trees in a forest

And the Trees Will Last Forever

In northern Wisconsin, tribal foresters from the Menominee Nation are working to speed regeneration of forest areas that have been treated for invasive diseases. Their efforts are also creating forests that are better adapted to future conditions.

Bear Mountain and tarn below the Devils Punchbowl tarn in the Siskiyou Wilderness.

Anticipating and Preventing the Spread of Invasive Plants

Finding and eradicating invasive plants is a tough job that requires constant vigilance. County-scale maps that show where invasive plants are and where they have the potential to spread in the future are helping on-the-ground efforts to build the resilience of natural vegetation.

Panorama of downtown Asheville, North Carolina

Asheville Makes a Plan for Climate Resilience

This western North Carolina city is using the Steps to Resilience to proactively plan for expected climate change impacts.

Morro Bay, Morro Rock, and the City of Morro Bay

Assessing Climate Risks in a National Estuary

Stakeholders of the Morro Bay National Estuary Program in California worked with resources from the EPA's Climate Ready Estuaries program to identify their climate risks. Their results helped them prioritize actions for building resilience.

Residential trees and one of Chicago's elevated commuter trains

Fortifying Chicago's Urban Forest

Trees within a city can help reduce urban heat, control stormwater, and provide habitat to local wildlife. As climate conditions change, a Chicago group is working to enhance its urban forest so that the city can continue to receive these benefits.

Green or Gray? Choosing to Preserve Water Quality

Faced with the potential of a large expense related to water quality, the Portland (Maine) Water District performed a thorough analysis of their options. Their choice came down to making an investment in conservation or concrete.

A view of a hot-cold map generated from the North Atlantic LCC Conservation Planning Atlas

Hot-Cold Map Provides Blueprint for Protecting Ecosystems

A regional conservation partnership in Massachusetts needed to update their approach to evaluating land acquisitions. Adding the complexity of climate change to their map helped resolve their vision.

How Vulnerable Are Salmon to a Changing Climate?

Researchers in Washington's South Fork Nooksack River are seeking to better understand the potential impacts of climate change on water quality and salmon recovery—a process they hope can be replicated and scaled in other watersheds across the country.

Restoring native longleaf pine ecosystems on the Francis Marion National Forest may include the use of management strategies like prescribed burning.

Incorporating Climate Change Into a New Forest Management Plan

Facing sea level rise, increasing numbers of wildfires, and encroachment of invasive species, managers of a national forest chose to integrate climate change into their new plan.

Mapping Wildland Values and Climate Change Vulnerability

Using climate change projections, conservationists can assess which of the wildest lands remaining in the contiguous United States are most vulnerable to the impacts of future climate change.

Fond du Lac Resource Management and Tribal Court Building

The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Combine Mitigation with Capacity Building

This Minnesota tribal community—which subscribes to the Seven Generations philosophy—is taking action to reduce its contributions to greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously building community capacity to adapt.

Controlled burn in the Klamath watershed

The Karuk’s Innate Relationship with Fire: Adapting to Climate Change on the Klamath

Members of the Karuk Tribe in northern California maintain that the age-old tradition of prescribed burning holds the answer to climate adaptation planning in the Klamath River range.

Cloudy sky over ocean and flat beach environment

Tribal Community Partners with Researchers to Monitor Food and Climate

Residents of a rural Alaska village are studying their environment to understand and protect their food. Their research partnership hires and trains students and local residents to contribute to high-quality research...and builds the capacity of the local workforce.

Image of drummers in a Salmon procession

Tulalip Tribes: Saving Their Sacred Salmon

People of the Salmon collaborate with farmers to ensure survival of their sacred fish.

UVM Students Offer Real-World Climate Recommendations to Vermont Town

The town of Underhill, Vermont, is considering climate-change recommendations developed and presented by some intrepid University of Vermont (UVM) students.