A working group approach to climate change and wildlife management in a state 
agency
Michael A. Larson*, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, MN   
Michelle Carstensen, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, MN  
Emily Dunbar, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, MN  
John Fieberg, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, MN  
Charlotte Roy Nielsen, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, MN  
Robert Wright, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, MN  
Kathy DonCarlos, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, MN 

In August 2007 the Section of Wildlife within the Minnesota Department of Natural 
Resources convened a working group to describe climate change in Minnesota, its effects 
on wildlife species and habitat, and wildlife management and monitoring actions needed to 
address impending changes in climate. A tentative goal is for the group to provide its 
findings and recommendations in a written document during spring 2008. In the interim, 
however, we can discuss the formation, approach, and activities of the working group. It 
consists of eight staff volunteers from research, disease, programs and operations subunits 
within the Section. The group is served by a trained facilitator and reports to an advisory 
group of three senior staff. The first meeting of the working group included presentations by 
people addressing climate change issues for other DNR administrative units, other state 
agencies, and a national organization. The group will rely on scientific evidence, document 
and consider important assumptions and uncertainties, and acknowledge normative 
decisions that might influence its recommendations. The group has begun by considering 
the most certain climate predictions and key wildlife species. We will work toward 
determining which species are most likely to be affected and which potential climate change 
issues are most likely to affect the key species. Given the likely but uncertain impact of 
climate change on many human systems that influence wildlife management, such as land 
use practices, similar groups may struggle to decide which large scale, long term changes 
to consider.
*Presenter