Project Profile: Piloting Cultural Resources Strategies to Increase Wildfire Preparedness, Resilience, and Response

National Park Service wildland firefighters responded to a lightning caused wildfire that burned in the southwestern part of the park.

NPS / John Warfle

Inflation Reduction Act
Resilience | FY24 $1,792,000

The National Park Service (NPS) will address wildfire stressors through the development of tools and processes that inform cultural resource management decisions and assist in pre-, active- and post-fire management decisions Servicewide. The project includes resource risk assessments, the completion of cultural risk analyses, surveys conducted by Traditional Cultural Specialists and/or designated Tribal representatives, and the development of mitigation and protection strategies. The findings will be shared with the cultural resource and fire communities to expand and enhance actions aimed at protecting resources affected by wildfires.

Why? Increased wildfire and post-fire impacts have destroyed, damaged, or are currently threatening cultural resources in the nation’s parklands. The project will expand on existing knowledge of regional landscapes, their response to environmental stressors, and cultural resource sensitivities to develop strategies to mitigate these fire impacts. This science helps to make informed decisions that protect parks, restore ecosystems, and respond to climate change.

What else? The NPS believes that ecosystem restoration and the health of our shared environment depends on strong partnerships, collaboration, and the inclusion of many experiences and perspectives. This project reflects these by working together with Native American Tribes across the country. Tribes will be engaged to ensure that all resource values are considered in decision-making and traditional practices (ie Traditional Ecological Knowledge / Indigenous Knowledge) are included in protection strategies.

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.