Safeguarding America’s Future and Environment Safe Act - Fall

Team Members: Shira Yashphe (Manager), Daniel Chi Cook (Deputy Manager), M. Umar Ashfaq, Nina Gyourgis, Lisa Kubotera, Savannah Gentry Miller, Danny Scull, Tiffany Sieler, Averill Q. Wickland

Climate change poses a growing threat to biodiversity, ecosystem stability, and the economic benefits provided by natural systems. Rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events are disrupting habitats and threatening the survival of fish, wildlife, and plant species. These ecological disruptions also jeopardize essential ecosystem services, including pollination, water filtration, and carbon storage, which support economic activity and public well-being. Existing conservation efforts remain fragmented across federal, state, and local agencies, limiting their effectiveness in addressing large-scale climate impacts.

The legislation establishes a coordinated national strategy to improve conservation planning, data sharing, and adaptive management. A federal working group composed of government agencies, scientific experts, and stakeholders would implement adaptation programs, prioritize conservation efforts, and develop performance metrics to monitor progress. The proposed implementation framework allocates funding to expand scientific research, enhance agency capacity, and improve coordination across jurisdictions. These efforts would increase the resilience of ecosystems and species by strengthening conservation planning and improving decision-making. A coordinated national approach enables more efficient resource allocation, reduces duplication of efforts, and enhances the effectiveness of climate adaptation strategies, helping safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem services in the face of accelerating environmental change.

Learn more about the MPA-ESP Workshop in Applied Earth Systems Management.