Community Climate Resiliency

Wisconsin’s Green Fire and partners launched the Monroe County Climate Readiness and Rural Economic Opportunity Assessment (CRREOA) in Monroe County, Wisconsin in May, 2021 and completed the current project in February 2022. 

While state and federal governments play an essential role in developing climate policy, leading climate research, and delivering climate-focused resources, the on-the ground actions most needed to address climate change impacts still occur at the community level. With our deep expertise in conservation of natural resources, Wisconsin’s Green Fire brings a unique capacity to address many of the primary climate risks and vulnerabilities experienced by both rural and urban communities.

For this pilot project, WGF recruited a team of specialists and collaborators who together helped craft an assessment of conservation and climate resilience in a western Wisconsin county. Our project was led by a 12-member Core Team, complemented by more than 40 subject matter experts and county-based resource experts who contributed their efforts to ensure that our findings were realistic and grounded in local knowledge. Collectively, our team reflects some of the best expertise in climate change in conservation and natural resources available in Wisconsin.

 

Our partner organizations include:

• Monroe County Climate Change Task Force
• Monroe County Land Conservation Department
• Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science
• The Nature Conservancy in Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Land and Water
• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
• Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection
• Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts
• United States Army, Fort McCoy
• University of Wisconsin – Madison

  

Monroe County Climate Readiness and Rural Economic Opportunity Assessment – Information Products

Media Advisory 

Full Report (74 pp)

Summary Report (20 pp)

Recommendations –  All 

Recommendations – Resilient Agriculture 

Recommendations – Resilient Forests 

Recommendations – Resilient Infrastructure 

Recommendations – Resilient Watersheds 

Recommendations – State and Federal Policy 

Appendices – All

Appendix I – Main Report References

Appendix II – Technical Teams

Appendix III – Climate Data

Appendix IV – Hydrological Modeling

Appendix V – Watershed Vulnerability Assessment Modeling

Appendix VI – Climate Resilient Conservation and Restoration

Appendix VII – Integrated Approaches to Slowing the Flow

Appendix VIII – Opportunity Assessment Methods and Maps

Appendix IX – Understanding Urban Climate Vulnerability