Project Profile: Expand Capacity to Address Large-Scale Climate Change Initiatives for Cultural Resources

National Mall staff at Hains Point Community Day in East Potomac Park.

NPS Photo

Inflation Reduction Act
Resilience | FY24-31 $3,459,750

The National Park Service (NPS) will hire cultural resource specialists to ensure successful implementation of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) projects. Individual IRA projects will develop park and region-specific guidance and models related to inventory and monitoring, vulnerability assessments of cultural resources, hazard mitigation and disaster planning, and adapting cultural resources in a changing climate. The additional staff will help protect cultural resources at risk through central support, integration of project outcomes into national cultural resource preservation initiatives, and dissemination of lessons learned.

Why? Climate change threatens cultural resources, historic buildings, archeological sites, battlefields, and historic landscapes. Additional staff will support the ability of the NPS to make meaningful progress toward providing direction, tools, and guidance for NPS regions, parks, and programs to effectively address the challenges presented by climate change.

What else? The NPS has already initiated several large-scale climate change-related projects in partnership with the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Offices. The addition of these positions greatly expands and enhances the capacity of the NPS to address large-scale climate change initiatives.

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 out nation—from Alaska to Florida to Maine.