Abstract: Climate change represents one of the most significant challenges facing forest managers tasked with sustaining the Northern Forests. Our goal is to understand and refine the application of restoration and climate-adaptive reforestation strategies that confer resilience to climate change, specifically related to red spruce (Picea rubens), while sustaining critical ecosystem services, carbon storage, and forest-based economies. Specific objectives are: 1) evaluate the effectiveness of climate-informed reforestation strategies to ameliorate/reduce the impacts of climate change on red spruce and associated forest communities, and 2) co-produce recommendations with resource managers on best practices for reforestation practices aimed at restoration, adaptation, and mitigation. Our proposed project leverages an unrivalled collection of climate-adapted red spruce genotypes applied among a large network of partner-developed experiments throughout Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont (20 sites) to generate a comprehensive understanding of adaptive

reforestation to address emerging impacts, in the near- and long-term. Informed by seedlot selection tools, we collected diverse local and climate-adapted genotypes to assess genetic, phenotypic, physiological, and ecological responses to elucidate relationships between red spruce populations x environment/silvicultural/climate offset. This approach allows us to document reforestation strategies that confer adaptation for spruce and associated Northern Forest ecosystems. Through our sustained partnerships with federal, state, private, and NGO partners, we will develop outreach materials that translate site-tailored reforestation practices for the region. Short-term benefits include management guidance and a broadened community of practice for operationalizing reforestation for restoration and climate adaptation, whereas long-term benefits include sustaining ecological and economic benefits of red spruce despite a changing climate.