Project Profile: Develop Adaptation Plans for Coastal National Parks that are Highly-Exposed to Sea Level Rise

Guy Bradley Visitor Center, Everglades National Park.

NPS / Anthony Sleiman

Inflation Reduction Act
Resilience | FY23-26 $2,995,000

Leveraging the best available climate change vulnerability assessment (CCVA) data, the National Park Service (NPS) aims to identify, prioritize, and strategically develop an adaptation planning rubric and planning process to implement at up to 20+ pilot parks in the Northeast Region and Southeast Region with high exposure to sea level rise. The goal is to develop portfolio level coastal adaptation strategies that will serve as actionable road maps to guide short-and long-term adaptation actions to transition to future conditions at each park unit.

Why? Climate change poses a substantial threat to coastal park units, impacting facilities, cultural and natural resources, and visitor experiences. The growing need for proactive, systematic, and science-informed strategic planning processes is evident. The rubric developed is intended to be consistently applied to inform existing planning and programming processes. The rubric and guided process will empower parks to preliminarily classify assets into the appropriate Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) category and timeframe for action considering:

• projected costs associated with risks;
• projected upper-level funding constraints;
• characteristics of the asset such as legislated, legal, operational, and cultural significance;
• alignment with NPS policies and goals;
• potential impacts to visitors;
• technical and economic feasibility; and
• overall sustainability.

What Else? Although the focus for this effort is coastal hazard adaptation, the intent is that the developed adaptation plan should be transferable to addressing additional natural hazards adaptation (i.e., wildland fire, drought, non-coastal flooding, etc.). Ultimately, the adaptation strategies/plans will generate high priority adaptation projects for submission to Bureau Infrastructure Review Board and community outreach. By addressing coastal hazard vulnerabilities in a systematic and replicable manner, the NPS is taking a significant step toward adapting to climate change impacts across all its park units, ensuring their long-term resilience and sustainability.

About the Inflation Reduction Act

The Inflation Reduction Act provides the National Park Service with an historic opportunity to address critical ecosystem resilience, restoration, and environmental planning needs. Projects funded in national parks represent broad-scale and impactful resource investments across every corner of our nation—from Alaska to Florida to Maine.