How to Write Environmental Hazard Policy For Changing Climates

Going beyond trigger policy to use a system of resources to manage risks related to extreme weather events.

Outdoor activity programs have been managing environmental hazards since their inception. Risks imposed by the natural world are inherent and are generally accepted as such.

There are several strategies that work together to form a system to help manage climate- and weather-related risks. Policy planning is one component; and it is often in the form of trigger-based risk management.

Trigger-based risk management refers to the reliance on identifying apparent or impending hazards and reacting accordingly.

- JEFF JACKSON & JON HESHKA, MANAGING RISKS, 2020

For example, if it is 100°F outside, programming will not occur, or if the air quality index (AQI) is in an orange rating, participants will wear masks.

However, when used alone and without any other considerations or prompts, these policies may not establish a strong enough “container” in the face of more extreme climate and weather events. They do little to account for many nuances in managing these hazards, such as accounting for specific participant characteristics, rapidly evolving forecasts, and local norms and variances (95°F in hot and humid Houston, for example, is different than 95° in cool Seattle or Portland).

As the world experiences more frequent, more severe, and harder-to-predict extreme weather events, many outdoor activity programs are wondering what to do, what it means for their operational and business viability, and where to get help.

Consider recent and extreme events in North America, such as record-setting fires in Canada in 2023 and unprecedented AQI issues from these fires that blanketed the Eastern United States. In 2021, the Pacific Northwest region of the United States experienced a heat dome that melted the siding on buildings; a few months earlier, a cold snap in Texas caused pipes to burst throughout the state and left many without heat or power for days.

Hurricanes and summer storms are becoming stronger, and intense fires at the urban/wildland interface have become the new norm. More severe and more unpredictable weather events are impacting backcountry program operations, access to venues, and program infrastructure like base camps and other facilities.

After a recent Wilderness Risk Management Conference (WRMC), a group of smart and talented colleagues gathered and asked each other the same questions. We formed a small working group called the Wilderness Climate Action Lab to explore these questions and disseminate climate resiliency information across the sector.

The first thing we did was create a survey; the results are reported in the Journal of Wilderness & Environmental Medicine (Jackson et al., 2024).

As part of our research, I reviewed the policies that organizations voluntarily submitted to us and the survey data related to these policies.

Notably, we learned that many programs do not have established policies and protocols. Of those that did, survey respondents indicated they need to update their policies to reflect the changing climates of their program and activity venues.

If one thing from our research is certain, outdoor activity programs are living the impacts of climate change. Becoming a climate-resilient organization is essential for business continuity and to continue positively influencing the lives of the participants they serve.

Resources to Inform Policy

Being able to articulate to prospective and current participants, their families, and programming partners how your program makes weather and climate-related risk management decisions matter. Clear and transparent communication helps to establish informed consent and build trust. These two essential ingredients help programs keep participants’ best interests at the forefront of their decisions and actions.

Programs involved in the study provided several insights into their triggers and resources for crafting climate and weather risk management policies. Frameworks informed by the Systems Thinking Approach offer a way to organize these insights:

Resources for Policy Design

A myriad of resources exist to help programs establish or update their environmental hazard policies. These resources span the entire outdoor activity program "work system."

There are multitudes of government and industry resources available to help inform organizational policy. National and local weather administrations use triggers to pre-determine criteria for early warning systems. These are heat advisories, weather warnings, and air quality alerts, to name a few.

Public health authorities are sources of information and interpretation, and local fire and police agencies can be helpful, too. Although typically focused on mitigating events (like fighting fires), land managers are usually responsible for closing and re-routing access. Land managers can provide direction and insight to help program administrators foresee and prepare for venue access and rescue-related issues.

Several industry groups exist, and more are becoming established as the sector increasingly grows concerned about climate change (like the Wilderness Climate Action Lab).

Conferences, like the WRMC, regularly host sessions around related topics and offer venues for programs to share concerns and successes. The National Centre for Outdoor Risk and Readiness (Nat CORR) is an initiative hosted by Outward Bound Australia aimed at building climate resiliency across the Australian outdoor programming sector, and Outward Bound Canada’s Training Academy is becoming more active in this space via its Climate Social Innovation Labs, among other initiatives.   

Additionally, the NCAA provides air-quality guidance for school sporting activities that many outdoor programs may find relevant, and school board policies provide benchmarks for aligning with society’s risk tolerance for air quality concerns.

Many outdoor programming organizations and operators already have a wealth of insight. The institutional knowledge staff and program records contain shouldn’t be discounted, and collaboration with other organizations that operate in the same areas is highly encouraged.

Medical advisors help access and interpret public health guidance. They also provide guidance specific to a program’s participants’ characteristics and pre-existing conditions.

Invest in upskilling field staff in their weather prediction skills and in how to access and interpret public information and guidance. As a former field staff, some of the best weather training I ever received was from the ski world, as an avalanche forecaster and educator, not from the outdoor education sector. Luc Mehl has some worthwhile courses and resources for trip planning and monitoring along these lines.

These resources and strategies are not one-size-fits-all, nor are they static. Organizations should seek out many resources and create approaches that work specifically for them. Policies and protocols should be reviewed annually, especially as many programs are experiencing more severe and unpredictable fires, floods, wind events, heat and cold events, and air quality issues that are not native to their operating areas.

Key Components of Good Policy

Here’s a list of criteria we gathered from our survey of outdoor activity programs who are concerned about climate change and resiliency.

Well-rounded and thoughtful environmental hazard policies:

• Use triggers, or pre-determined criteria that inform a set of decisions or actions. Effective trigger policies should be specific to a program’s context and also be adopted or applied from public health advisories and warnings.

• Make collaborative decisions with participants and families, local authorities, school officials, and other programming partners.

• Emphasize continuous monitoring of conditions and forecasts. Owners of these tasks are technically skilled in weather prediction and analysis, and their responsibilities for ensuring forecasts and real-time field observations (often called now-casts) are continually monitored and communicated are clearly established. Protocols recognizing the inherent evolution of conditions and information are key to establishing dynamic and effective policy.

• Account for vulnerable populations. Of the protocols examined for our study, AQI policy was the only type of hazard to consider vulnerable populations, like folks with pre-existing conditions and children that, if exposed, health impacts could be exacerbated. However, extreme temperatures, like heat and cold, should also account for those more vulnerable to these health risks.

Outdoor activity programs are facing significant challenges due to climate change. Our research through the Wilderness Climate Action Lab has revealed that many organizations lack comprehensive environmental hazard policies, while others are scrambling to update existing protocols.

The increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events underscore the need for more nuanced and well-rounded approaches to risk management in this area, beyond the traditional trigger-based approach.

Climate resiliency is essential for outdoor programs’ business and operational continuity. While the challenges are significant and feel uncertain, the wilderness risk management community has the collective wisdom to adapt. By updating policies, sharing knowledge, and embracing innovative strategies, we can ensure the continued positive impact of outdoor experiences in a changing world.

References

Jackson, J. & Heshka, J. (2020). Managing Risk: Systems planning for outdoor adventure programs (2nd ed.) Algonquin University Press.

Jackson, J., Slay, S., Tartar, S. (2024). Present-day Impact of Climate Change on Outdoor Organizations (in press). Journal of Wilderness and Environmental Medicine.

The Wilderness Climate Action Lab comprises Brendan Madden, Head of Program at Outward Bound Canada; Shana Tarter, Managing Director of the Diploma in Climate Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine; Jeff Jackson, Professor of Outdoor Adventure at Algonquin College; Sam Daume, Executive Vice President at Assured Partners/Fred C. Church Insurance; Jon Heshka, Associate Professor of Adventure Studies and Law at Thompson Rivers University; and myself.

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