doctors james doe, laura reed, daniel swain, jackie schuman and bill mahoney told me about their research into climate change's effect in the west, how vegetation is withering, how wildfires grow more frequent, have longer duration and are more intense, how hydrology changes as weather patterns shift and temperatures rise throughout the region and how extreme weather events like sudden downpours and prolonged droughts are becoming a new unfortunate normal. in fort collins, i met with truly dedicated public servants from across the federal government, people who specialize in land management and climate adaptation and had gotten together to coordinate their efforts. these exceptional public servants spent their careers protecting our public lands. they are witnessing firsthand the devastation wrought on our public lands by climate change. they described to me their battles to safeguard stands of old growth sequoyahs, a national treasure, to rebuild beaches and dunes in the face of rising seas and stronger oceanic storms. and even to cover melting glaciers with sheeting to try to help preve