Southwest Climate Hub Bulletin
News and events for the Southwest Hub region
October 2020
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The Native American Rangeland Training Initiative
Tribal representatives recommend that culturally relevant training and capacity building should be a priority for any comprehensive rangeland conservation strategy on Native American rangelands. The Native American Rangeland Training Initiative project aims to address training and education needs by providing online and field courses, rangeland management toolkits for outreach, an inter-tribal informational website, and an assessment for an accredited online soil and rangeland ecology course for tribal students. Read more.
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Supporting Climate Change Mitigation Through K-12 Student Education
 The Southwest Climate Hub supports climate change mitigation through the education of K-12 students, who are both future decision-makers and powerful agents of change within their own families. Our team has developed three scientifically rigorous, hands-on, and freely available climate change units for secondary students in informal or formal education settings.
Learn more.
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Feral swine bomb?
 Feral pigs, wild hogs, razorbacks, old world swine, wild boar… feral swine go by many names but they are all the same species as domesticated pigs found on farms: Sus scrofa. Feral swine are dangerous, destructive and invasive and they are a nationwide problem. The damage they do to agricultural crops reduces productivity, and the disturbance they cause in natural ecosystems reduces resilience to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events. Read more about where these wild hogs originated from, what APHIS is doing in response to expanding feral swine populations, and access a list of feral swine resources.
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Planting Gardens of Breadfruit
The Melai Mai initiative is an innovative partnership between communities, traditional leaders, local governments, research extensions, and the U.S. Forest Service to promote agroforestry, local food production, sustainability, and food security for local island communities in the Western Pacific. Read more about why the project started and its achievements so far.
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Wildfire Awareness and Prevention in the Western Pacific
Wildfires caused by humans, climatic shifts, and increases in fire-prone vegetation are a growing issue within the U.S. affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI). Island wildfires might burn a smaller area than the fires we see in the mainland U.S. but relatively speaking, they burn a much greater percentage of the available land. Read more about the U.S. Forest Service Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry’s strategies for tackling the wildfire problem in the USAPI.
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Navigating Covid-19 for NM Beef Producers, Part III: Options for Selling Beef Off the Ranch
“COVID-19 disrupted beef supply chains and now I can’t get my cattle off the ranch!” In July, the Sustainable Southwest Beef Project and New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Services responded to requests from cattle growers who are encountering difficulties marketing their livestock through their usual supply chains by hosting a webinar Navigating Covid-19 for NM Beef Producers, Part III: Options for Selling Beef Off the Ranch. A recorded version of the webinar is available here.
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New Grass-fed Beef Producers Map
The Extension team of the Sustainable Southwest Beef Project has been working to better understand the characteristics of grass-fed operations in the southwest and southern plains regions. As part of this work, we developed a dynamic map of grass-fed beef producers. The map can be accessed here. To add your operation to the map, please contact Skye Aney.
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Western Drought Resilience Workshop
Engaging with stakeholders throughout the research process ensures research efforts meet the informational needs of communities combating drought and other climate impacts. On August 12th, the Southwest Climate Hub hosted a Western Drought Resilience workshop to share preliminary research findings with leading rangeland technical and service providers from Cooperative Extension, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Farm-Service Agency across the West. Following short presentations from the research team on annual forage production and climate predictions, participants provided feedback on information usability and visions for accessible and effective product sharing. Workshop recordings and other information can be found here.
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Final Grass-Cast Map Released for Arizona and New Mexico
The final Grass-Cast map for the Southwest growing season, released September 1, 2020, estimates significantly lower grassland productivity than average for summer 2020 in New Mexico and Arizona. Across most of the region, peak standing forage biomass is estimated to be at least 15% less than the region’s 36-year average. Check back in Spring 2021 for new maps and other resources at https://grasscast.unl.edu/.
Thanks to the team at Arizona Water Facts for sharing information about Grass-Cast. Here’s a link to their recently published article featuring Grass-Cast and its expansion to the Southwest.
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Come Rain or Shine!
The Southwest Climate Hub and the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center have partnered up to produce a monthly podcast, Come Rain or Shine. We highlight stories to share the most recent advances in climate science, weather and climate adaptation, and innovative practices to support resilient landscapes and communities. You can also find our podcast on iHeartRadio, Pandora, or Spotify. Stay tuned for a new topic each month!
This month's episode is 2020 Fire Season: Grim, Smoky, Flexible. Tim Brown, Royce Fontenot, and Megan Friggens share their impressions of the current fire season and discuss their work with pre-fire preparedness, active fire management, and post-fire recovery.
Here are the other episodes that are available: The Sustainable Southwest Beef Project, Precision Ranching Technologies, and USDA Rural Development: Financing Climate Adaptation.
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The Drought Learning Network
At least 95% of resource managers want to hear from peers about lessons learned during drought. The Drought Learning Network (DLN) is a new consortium of climate service providers and resource managers building resilience to drought with intentional peer-to-peer knowledge exchange: read more here about recent DLN activities.
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Climate Reporting for the Southwest
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El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
As of September 10, 2020, ENSO was has been updated to La Niña Advisory. La Niña conditions are here and are likely to continue through winter at about 75% chance. Learn more about additional ENSO perspectives and analysis available at the NOAA ENSO Blog and the ENSO Tracker - September 2020, an analysis by CLIMAS.
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1-month outlook
As of September 30, the one-month outlook for October shows a 50-70% chance for above-normal temperature for the entire southwestern U.S. There will be a 50% chance for below-normal precipitation for New Mexico and a 33-40% chance of below-normal precipitation for Arizona, Utah, and the eastern half of Nevada.
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3-month outlook
As of September 17, the three-month outlook (Oct-Nov-Dec 2020) shows a 50-70% chance of above-normal temperatures for the southwestern U.S. There will be an equal chance of precipitation for northern Nevada and a 33-50% chance for below-normal precipitation for much of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.
These outlooks are created monthly by NOAA Climate Prediction Center and based on departures from the 1981-2010 base period. To view more short-term outlooks, please visit the NOAA's National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center.
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Drought
Over the last 2 months, drought conditions have intensified across Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico. In Hawaiʻi, drought conditions have remained in the D0-D3 conditions. You can also view the U.S. Drought Monitor Class Change map to see how conditions have improved or degraded in your area over a period of time. For a more detailed drought summary, visit the U.S. Drought Monitor website.
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Online Adaptation Planning and Practices for Hawai’i Forests and Native Ecosystems
The Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science and USDA Northern Forests and Southwest Climate Hubs are offering the Adaptation Planning and Practices training as an online course for land managers in Hawai’i (in a series of seven 1-hour sessions beginning in January 2021). This unique opportunity provides hands-on training in considering climate change information and identifying adaptation actions for natural resources management professionals working in forests and native ecosystems of Hawai’i. Participants will receive coaching and feedback on their own real-world climate adaptation projects throughout the course.
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Identify locally-important climate change impacts, challenges, and opportunities
- Develop specific actions to adapt forests and native ecosystems to changing conditions
- Use the Adaptation Workbook to create their own “climate-informed” projects
- Better communicate with stakeholders about key climate change impacts, challenges, and opportunities
- Access post-training support from NIACS and Climate Hub staff during project planning and implementation
Register here! For more information, contact Courtney Peterson.
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Sustainable Southwest Beef Project Virtual On-Ranch Demo
December 1st, 2020, 9:00-11:00 am MT.
Highlights from the Sustainable Southwest Beef Project, virtual tour of the Clayton Livestock Research Center, and presentations on wheat, soil health, and local aquifers. Contact Skye Aney for a Zoom link.
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Invitation to Join NIDIS Stakeholder Feedback Sessions
National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) will be holding a series of virtual discussions for stakeholders in the Intermountain West, each focused on a topic area.
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Wednesday, 28 October @ 10:00am (MDT) — Colorado River
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Thursday, 29 October @ 10:00am (MDT) — Water Managers (outside colorado river management)
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Friday, 30 October @ 10:00am (MDT) — Energy and Industry
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Monday, 2 November @ 10:00 (MST) — Agriculture: Farming, cropping, horticulture and irrigation
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Monday, 2 November @ 2:30pm (MST) — Agriculture: Livestock, dairy, poultry, etc.
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Tuesday, 3 November @ 1:00pm (MST) — Natural Lands—Ecology, forestry, fish/wildlife, wildfire, etc.
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Thursday, 5 November @ 10:00am (MST) — Rec and Tourism
Each discussion will run for about an hour, with excess time built in to the meeting in case the discussions run over the hour. Please come prepared to share your frank perspectives on Drought Early Warning: What’s working, what’s not working and what changes are the priority?
Please RSVP using this form or you can email Joel Lisonbee.
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Funding Opportunities
Announcement for Program Funding for NRCS’ Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2021
Award Ceiling: $1,500,000
Deadline: November 05, 2020
WaterSMART Cooperative Watershed Management Program Phase II
Award Ceiling: $300,000
Deadline: November 17, 2020
Water Conservation Services, Lower Colorado Basin Region
Award Ceiling: $100,000
Deadline: December 7, 2020, for FY 2021 proposals and October 8, 2021, for FY 2022 proposals.
Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Foundational and Applied Science
Estimated Total Program Funding: $290,000,000
Deadline: July 29, 2021, Conference Grants - Letter of Intent required, Letter of Intent Deadline - Minimum of 195 days before the conference begins; Application Deadline Dates - Dates vary by program.
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Webinars and Virtual Conferences
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2020 Empowering Tribal Culture, Ecology, And Food Systems Webinar Series, September 30 - October 28 at 12:00 pm MT
Rocky Mountain Research Station Land Manager-Focused Fall Webinar Series, October 14 - December 9 at 10:00 am MT
National Adaptation Forum: Climate Displacement Forum Series, October 15 - November 5 at 12:00 pm MT
NOAA's 45th Climate Diagnostics and Predictions Workshop, October 20-22
65th Annual New Mexico Water Conference, October 26-29
Virtual Adaptive Ag Water Symposium, November 6
2020 Jornada Virtual Symposium, November 12
The Cultural Significance of Humpback Whales in Hawaiʻi, November 30 at 3:00 pm ET
AGU Fall Meeting 2020, December 1-17
Intertribal Agriculture Council, December 8-10
AMS 101st Annual Meeting, January 10-14, 2021
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