Federal public lands account for more than a quarter of the land area of the US, spanning approximately 640 million acres. From natural wonders like the Grand Canyon to iconic monuments like the Statue of Liberty, public lands make up some of our nation’s most important cultural and natural resources. Beyond their treasured status, America’s public lands are important economic engines and house hundreds of billions of dollars of assets and infrastructure that federal agencies must maintain. The outdoor recreation industry, largely supported by the use of public lands and assets, contributed over $450 billion to the economy in 2021.
As the economic importance of public lands grows, the threat they face from climate change is increasing as well. Between 2020 and 2022, 90 individual weather and climate events caused more than a billion dollars each, costing the US a combined $456 billion. Federal assets and infrastructure often bear the brunt of extreme weather events as well as the increased operations and maintenance costs. The Disaster Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2023 provides more than $6 billion to the US Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, and US Forest Service to address impacts from natural disasters.
However, impacts from climate-related weather events are compounding faster than federal budgets can increase. With the effects of climate change becoming more pronounced, federal agencies must evaluate how climate-related events impact asset health and maintenance requirements and adjust their portfolio management approaches accordingly. Agencies must identify new tools that will enable them to make forward-looking, risk-based decisions about how to improve the resilience of their asset portfolios.
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