Climate Change Impacts
Key projected climate change impacts that the project team considered in developing treatments for the Flathead National Forest/Coram Experimental Forest include:
Uncertain precipitation patterns; expect drier in the summer and wetter in winter and spring
Earlier snowpack melts
Longer fire seasons with higher fire frequencies and severities
Increase in insect and disease outbreaks
Climate change will present challenges and opportunities for accomplishing the management objectives of the Flathead National Forest including:
Possible increase of wildfire in ecosystems where fire exclusion has led to an abundance of forest fuels and high crown fire hazard
Western larch may decline in areas with lower water availability and declining groundwater flows
Growth rates in western larch may increase if warmer temperatures coincide with more growing season precipitation
Possible changes in species distribution due to an increase in the number of frost-free days and warmer conditions