Building Resiliency in Missoula County

Missoula County, the City of Missoula and Climate Smart Missoula, a local climate focused non-profit have worked together over the past 18 months on a climate resilience planning process they christened Climate Ready Missoula.

The process was “inspired by, and generally followed, the guidelines of the Geos Institute’s Climate Ready Communities program.” This is one of the first county level climate resilience plans that has been completed using the Climate Ready Communities Practical Guide to Building Climate Resilience, which was released in 2018. The plan and prior documents (Climate and Community Primer, Vulnerability Assessment) created by the Missoula team showcase many of the core approaches suggested in the Guide; within the Guide’s framework, the team shaped the process and documents as needed for local requirements and added innovations such as the 12 Guiding Principles “to guide the process of prioritizing and implementing the climate adaptation goals and actions”.

The plan has been approved by the Missoula Consolidated Planning Board as of March 3 and will be reviewed in a county and city joint public hearing of City Council and the Board of County Commissioners on April 6. Assuming it’s approved there, an implementation team will then be formed to begin tackling the plan’s priority strategies and actions.

Access the plan here, and the Climate Ready Missoula website here, where you can find links to the other documents as well.