Coastal Adaptation

A white shack it leaning dangerously into water lapping over pavement
The National Park Service protects natural resources, cultural resources, and facilities in over 120 coastal and Great Lakes parks that are vulnerable to a range of impacts, including coastal erosion, sea and lake level changes, coastal flooding and storm surge inundation, saltwater intrusion, rising groundwater tables, ocean acidification, and changing temperature and precipitation regimes. These parks compose a network of protected areas that are critical to maintaining threatened coastal resources and values, preserving coastal heritage and providing visitor experiences. The National Park Service must prepare for and adapt to coastal change in order to protect irreplaceable resources to the extent possible and ensure safe and enjoyable opportunities to connect visitors to the resources and the potential impacts of climate change.

Scientists, data managers, decision-making specialists, and others within the NPS are working to improve understanding of climate and weather phenomena that is impacting or threatening to impact coastal parks, as well as provide resources and tools to guide park management decisions. Work being conducted within the NPS includes the development of park-specific plausible climate futures summaries based on changing temperature and precipitation. Another example is the Coastal Adaptation Strategies Handbook that summarizes NPS climate adaptation and key approaches, along with accompanying case studies to highlight examples across the NPS. Furthermore, the report and resulting data detailing the number of shoreline miles and waters acres for 88 coastal and Great Lakes parks provides managers with context and a more comprehensive understanding of the extent of park resources. On-going inventory and monitoring activities help track observed changes, such as shoreline position and salt marsh elevation, and understand both gradual trends and event-scale disturbances, such as from storms.

Other work is performed collaboratively with partners, including from academia and other Federal Agencies. For example, the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) Framework to guide decision-making was developed by the NPS, USGS, USFWS, and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute. The NPS also supports park-specific Coastal Facilities Vulnerability Assessments to identify projected impacts of climate and other stressors on park resources and operations. Prior to those, assets exposed to 1 meter of sea level rise were assessed for 40 coastal parks. Additionally, the USGS Coastal Change Likelihood assessment framework was prepared in cooperation with NPS and synthesizes factors that drive coastal change in the next decade.

The NPS also leverages relevant work conducted by others, such as future sea level projections provided by the U.S. Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flood Hazard Scenarios and Tools Interagency Task Force and shown in the interactive NOAA Sea Level Rise Viewer (visit the NPS Sea Level Change webpage to learn more). The USGS Coastal Change Hazards Portal and Total Water Level and Coastal Change Forecast Viewer (USGS, NOAA, and the National Weather Service) also provide valuable information on coastal conditions.

Collectively, these data, guidance, and tools can help NPS managers better understand coastal resiliency and vulnerability of park resources and assets and provide confidence in taking effective and appropriate management actions that are compatible with the dynamic coastal environment. These actions include those that increase coastal resiliency and mitigate impacts (such as erosion), as well as actions that consider alternative options, including relocation or retreat.

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Last updated: January 7, 2025

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