As anthropogenic climate change pushes forests outside of their climatic envelopes and extant ranges, forest managers need information about what actions and strategies will maintain forests now and into the future. Research has shown a number of meaningful actions that can protect forests by reducing disturbance hazards and, in some cases, enhance them by increasing their carbon storage potential.
Because there are many questions about implementation, effectiveness, and tradeoffs of management strategies, the only way to answer those questions is through modeling. The most robust approach though is to consider multiple models so as to 1) understand the differences in the processes modeled and scales represented which can lead to understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the model frameworks used, and 2) better understand the sources and magnitudes of the uncertainty of a future projection. This is why INR is working on a modeling inter-comparison project with other researchers from the USDA Pacific Northwest Research Station.