Project Title: Provide Critical Care to Cultural Resources at Risk in Alaska from Climate Change

Inflation Reduction Act
Resilience | FY24: $3,500,000

The National Park Service (NPS) will combat the increasing detrimental effects of climate change on cultural resources spanning 10,000 years and across 54 million acres of parklands in Alaska. The goal is to prevent anticipated loss or extensive damage and prepare the next generation of Alaska’s cultural resource professionals to respond to climate change. The project includes identifying, inventorying, and conducting condition assessments of the most threatened geographic areas, developing monitoring protocols and adaptation plans, addressing Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act responsibilities, creating a regional disaster response program, and implementing plans.

Why? Floods, wildfire, permafrost melt, erosion, snow and ice patch fluctuations, increased storm frequency and intensity, and precipitation changes due to climate change threaten cultural resources in Alaska. This project will prepare parks to respond to Alaskan climate stressors by prioritizing the most severely impacted and critically threatened cultural resources and developing monitoring protocols and adaptation plans.

What Else? This project emphasizes collaboration with Indigenous and local communities and incorporates youth employment and internships. Indigenous knowledge holders will help guide the inventories and share past traditional practices. This critical cultural resilience project goes beyond preserving cultural heritage in Alaska by providing a dynamic example for addressing climate-related challenges in other NPS regions – emphasizing the importance of collaboration, youth engagement, and adaptive strategies for protecting cultural resources for years to come.

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