The City of Missoula and the City of Bozeman in Montana have both released assessments focused on climate change vulnerabilities and impacts to their respective communities in the past month.
In Missoula, the City, County, and non-profit Climate Smart Missoula partnered to develop a draft vulnerability assessment that envisions what the greater Missoula area may look like by mid-century based on future climate projections. The report, which is part of the "Climate Ready Communities: Building Resiliency in Missoula County" planning initiative, describes possible impacts ranging from increasing wildfires and smoke to possible crop damage from more intense rains and changing freeze cycles. The lead organizations hosted two informal open houses on May 8th and May 16th to gather feedback and give the public an opportunity to comment on the draft assessment. Individuals can also continue to provide input online at https://www.missoulaclimate.org/resiliency-planning.html.
The Bozeman Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Resiliency Strategy was developed by the City in partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), National League of Cities, and MSU-Extension and will serve as a precursor to the City's upcoming Climate Action & Resiliency Plan, which will be completed by August 2020. Like Missoula's climate vulnerability assessment, this report describes local climate change impacts while also outlining steps to improve Bozeman's ability to "prepare and plan for, absorb, respond to, recover from, and more successfully adapt to climate change" (Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Resiliency Strategy Memorandum).