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Increasing flexibility: Because of the uncertainty, changing information, and potential for unexpected climatic shifts, climate change adaptation calls for increased flexibility and nimbleness from federal and state wildlife manage- ment agencies. Agencies will be forced to adjust timeframes, plan for alternative future scenarios, and revise plans, actions, and objectives more actively than in the past. 5 6 'rtr, r t I) e der al and d Sit X111 t Ad�a��lll ��la,l iiion 11 A number of state and federal agencies are taking critical first steps towards developing climate change adaptation plans, coordinating regional stakeholders, and developing regional -scale data. Here, we high- light a few of state and federal efforts that may be of interest for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission ( NCWRC) and identify potential opportunities and resources that may support North Carolina State Wildlife Action Plan climate change revisions. 7('' -, E6 l! f 6q 111 F,ilo m / 6 /E'!f Ar /hl, E'!7 (4'p r, //r /lf E'i "' l9lli'S,� /'1r i k`i'E'!, r (,I JIr,`.Vi b ity 6qn (4 Il/%1111 b r Ili',y, lrr,,I,Eq 6'!n /'!r f6gIc X,i 6'!n 6,f! c z,11111 c f E'! F'r,'' / 5,67 F c" c ro/ Ilr rtc If )rts The National USGS Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC) was estab- lished by Congress to "provide the science and technical support needed to help fish and wild- life resource managers anticipate climate change impacts and evaluate options that will facili- tate adaptation to changing landscapes" (USGS 2010). According to the 5 -year strategic plan, the NCCSWC intends to pursue three goals: (1) work in close partnership with the natural resource manage- ment communities to understand high priority science needs and what is needed to fill those knowl- edge gaps; (2) work with the scientific community to develop science information and tools that can inform management strategies for responding to climate change; (3) deliver these relevant tools and information in a timely way directly to resource managers. Center activities will focus on providing habitat and population modeling and forecasting information and tools, integrating physical climate models with ecological models, assessing vulnerabili- ties and forecasting changes, and developing stan- dardized approaches (USGS 2010). In 2009, the NCCWSC funded 17 proposals that will advance our understanding of how climate change may affect wildlife, fish, and terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Of these, 2 projects will be particu- larly beneficial for NCWRC (Box 5 -1). Additional projects will provide important insights on species vulnerability, genetic adaptations, forecasting climate impacts, and multi -scale responses to climate change. The NCCWSC also funded the launch of an inte- grated Southeast Assessment pilot that will provide a suite of regional analyses and an interdisciplinary framework for adaptive management and strategic conservation (USGS 2010).