News

The following list is a compilation of various climate-related news releases from across the National Park System.

September 30, 2024
St. Croix National Scenic Riverway Earns Climate Friendly Park Status
The St. Croix National Scenic Riverway has recently been recognized as a Climate Friendly Park by the National Park Service. This means the park is now part of a group of more than 150 national parks that are working hard to protect the environment and reduce their negative impact on the planet.

September 5, 2024
Zion National Park shuttles are now electric 
Zero-emission electric visitor transportation is now operational at Zion National Park. National Park Service Director Chuck Sams was joined by General Services Administration Administrator Robin Carnahan, Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians Chairman Roland Maldonado, officials from the Zion National Park Forever Project, the National Park Foundation and local leaders to unveil the new fully electric fleet at an event in Zion National Park on Sept. 4.

August 16, 2024
Inflation Reduction Act Driving Historic Climate Action at National Parks
Since the Inflation Reduction Act became law two years ago, the National Park Service has invested $210 million into the health of parks, building climate resiliency and benefiting local economies.

March 5, 2024
National Park Service and National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation advance efforts to combat climate change in Lake Superior’s National Parks
From the unique ecosystem of Isle Royale to the historic lighthouses of the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior’s five national parks boast natural and cultural resources cherished by generations. Starting in 2023, the parks began modeling how to reduce carbon emissions through net-zero strategies.

April 21, 2023
National Park Service publishes updated Green Parks Plan
Just in time for Earth Day, the National Park Service (NPS) released the third edition of the Green Parks Plan, setting refreshed goals and objectives to advance sustainable park operations.

January 3, 2022
Park For Every Classroom Launching a Nationwide Program for Equity-Centered Climate Change Education
This pilot program, supported by WASO IE&V and co-facilitated by Shelburne Farms and the NPS Stewardship Institute, serves to complement and advance climate change response work across the NPS.

July 19, 2021
Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition Formed to Protect Iconic Trees from Threats of Climate Change and Catastrophic Wildfire
As fire once again sweeps through the American West, an interagency report formally released today estimates that 7,500 to 10,600 large giant sequoias were killed in last year’s Castle Fire. Today, the agencies united by stewardship of giant sequoias are officially coming together in partnership, under the new Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition, to save the remaining 90%.

April 22, 2021
National Park Service Publishes New Guidance to Support Planning for a Changing Climate
This new guide helps managers consider possible risks and impacts associated with climate change to make informed decisions to better protect parks in the future.

January 19, 2021
National Park Service Publishes New Report on the Resist-Accept-Direct Decision Framework for Natural Resources
The report presents and explores a simple set of distinct management options that decision makers can consider when responding to ecosystems facing the potential for rapid, irreversible ecological change.

January 24, 2020
National Park Service Releases Report Detailing Scenario Planning at Devils Tower
The National Park Service (NPS) recently published a report on advances in the use of scenario planning as a tool to evaluate the vulnerability of park features and develop potential management actions in light of climate change.

January 15, 2020
NPS Releases Chisos Basin Water Study
The NPS recently published a report examining the implications of current and projected climate on Oak Spring, an important source of water within Big Bend National Park. Oak Spring currently serves as the sole water source for the Chisos Basin--a hub of visitor infrastructure and services within Big Bend National Park. The area is served by an aging drinking water system dating back to the 1950s. Prior to investing in necessary infrastructure improvements, the NPS sought to examine the viability of Oak Spring in light of changing climatic conditions.

August 6, 2019
Arctic Lakes are Drying
The Arctic parks in Alaska are losing lake habitat important to birds and other species, even though precipitation has remained largely the same over time. Like many changes in the Arctic, the disappearance of lakes has been accelerated by warming temperatures.

July 25, 2019
Artist Seeks Local Faces for Watercolor Series
Brenda Zlamany, a New York–based artist and Fulbright scholar, is seeking watercolor portrait subjects for “Climate in America,” the latest chapter in her ongoing series The Itinerant Portraitist. Zlamany plans to paint portraits in Utqiagvik on August 2–5 and in Fairbanks on August 5 before continuing the project at Denali National Park during a ten-day residency beginning August 6. Additional sessions will be available August 16-23 when Zlamany begins a week-long, artist-in-residence at McKinley Chalet Resort.

August 28, 2017
National Park Service Announces Abbreviated Final General Management Plan for Assateague Island National Seashore
“The General Management Plan (GMP) will guide Assateague Island National Seashore managers for the next 15 to 20 years in protecting the Seashore's natural and cultural features," said Seashore Superintendent Deborah Darden. “The GMP sets the stage for managers to respond to island changes likely to occur due to natural processes, climate change, and sea level rise.”

January 6, 2017
National Park Service Cultural Resources Climate Change Strategy
The National Park Service released its Cultural Resources Climate Change Strategy, a landmark statement for the NPS and its historic preservation and climate change partners about how to anticipate, plan for, and respond to the effects of climate change on cultural resources.

October 31, 2016
National Park Service Releases Coastal Adaptation Strategies Handbook
Lessons from Sandy and other case studies are part of the Coastal Adaptation Strategies Handbook, a summary of what scientists and park managers know about climate adaptation in coastal areas. The handbook highlights the processes and tools parks have available for response and recovery from tropical storms and hurricanes and offers strategies to address rising sea levels.

October 6, 2016
Interior Secretary Jewell announces study showing spring starting earlier in 3/4 of national parks studied
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today announced a new study showing that spring is beginning earlier than its historical average in 75 percent of the national parks examined—providing further evidence that climate change is already impacting public lands. The announcement came during a visit to Shenandoah National Park, one of the sites identified in the study as experiencing the impacts of an early onset of spring.

September 22, 2016
Climate Change Dance Engages Youth to "Be the Change"
On Monday, September 12, Flathead Valley students experienced something a little different than your average school day. Nearly 900 students and their teachers participated in an educational dance performance on climate change. And, participated is not an exaggeration. In this dance, the audience is indeed a part of the performance.

July 26, 2016
Artists Explore Climate Change in Point Reyes National Seashore through Artist-in-Resident Pilot Program
From August 5 until August 12, in honor of the National Park Service's Centennial, and in service to one of our most pressing environmental concerns, a program called Climate Change at the Western Edge will support six artists to explore and contribute to the conversation about climate change while living in residence on or near Point Reyes National Seashore.

May 23, 2016
Fighting Drought with Fire - Prescribed Fires Reduce Tree Death from Drought
A new study from the U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service shows that thinning forests with prescribed fire can reduce the effects of drought. Climate change is expected to amplify drought conditions in California so using science to better understand the impacts of drought is of great importance to resource managers such as the National Park Service.

April 20, 2016
Critical Climate-resilient Lands Added to Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
A major victory toward long-term protection of the Delaware River has been realized with the addition of three new properties to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, further expanding the world-class park. And now, a “Resilience Analysis” conducted by the Open Space Institute has captured and inventoried the entire park’s critical role as a regional haven for wildlife and natural moderator of flooding and drought as the climate changes.

January 29, 2016
Pikas in Peril: Tiny Mountain Mammal Faces Uncertain Future
Scientists from the National Park Service (NPS) and three western universities predict a complex future for populations of the diminutive and charismatic pika. The hamster-sized member of the rabbit family lives in rocky, icy patches in the western United States.

December 29, 2015
Study to look at effects of climate change on wildlife
The University of California, Berkeley is leading a study of wildlife and climate change at Death Valley National Park. Researchers plan to survey animals in Death Valley National Park to learn how bird, small mammal, reptile, and amphibian populations have changed over the last century. Between 1908 and 1945, Professor Joseph Grinnell and his colleagues at UC Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology collected animal specimens and recorded locations of animal populations. That research now provides a valuable baseline to be able to understand if there have been changes over time.

November 30, 2015
In Paris, Secretary Jewell Releases Report on Actions Underway to Combat Climate Change in National Parks
Today, the National Park Service (NPS) released a report detailing actions underway to address climate change threats to infrastructure, recreation, and natural and cultural resources. The report follows a recent study that revealed sea-level rise caused by climate change could pose a risk to more than $40 billion worth of national park assets and resources.

July 15, 2015
Denali Publishes Online Work, "Denali Climate Anthology"
The National Park Service (NPS) this week announces completion of a new online anthology of essays by five accomplished local authors about the effects of a changing climate on the lives and landscape they treasure in Interior Alaska.

June 23, 2015
Interior Department Interior Department Releases Report Detailing $40 Billion of National Park Assets at Risk from Sea Level Rise
In advance of the two-year anniversary of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today released a report revealing that national park infrastructure and historic and cultural resources totalling more than $40 billion are at high risk of damage from sea-level rise caused by climate change.

June 11, 2015
EPA Honors Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park as Federal Green Challenge Winner
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park with the EPA's Federal Green Challenge Regional Overall Achievement award as part of its efforts to encourage federal departments to reduce their environmental footprints through sustainable practices.

May 14, 2015
Grant Supports Alternative Transportation At Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park staff recently assembled with partners from the Northern Colorado Clean Cities Coalition and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for a ribbon cutting ceremony marking the substantial completion of a grant funded through the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities National Parks Initiative.

May 12, 2015
NPS Proposes Climate Monitoring Program for Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
The National Park Service Inventory & Monitoring program operates long-term ecological monitoring programs for parks including Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. "Weather and Climate" is one of the park's 12 priority Vital Signs. Additional climate monitoring is being proposed to help managers understand future changes in key park resources and ecological processes that may result from climate change such as glacial ice mass wasting, shifts in marine salinity and nutrients, changing composition of plant communities, and the spread of invasive species.

November 13, 2014
Nationally-touring Art Quilt Exhibit Debuts in Biscayne National Park Gallery
A juried show of twenty-six art quilts created by 22 Florida artists will debut in Biscayne National Park's Dante Fascell Visitor Center Gallery on December 5, 2014. On display through February 27, 2015, the show then moves on to 9 other National Parks and National Park partner venues as part of the celebration of the National Park Service's Centennial in 2016.

November 6, 2014
Students Inspired in Climate Change Partnership Program
Youth from an Ohio high school spent 12 days in Alaska this summer, hiking and watching wildlife and learning about our changing climate. Their experience was part of the first “Climate Change Academy,” an immersive, comprehensive climate change course.

April 4, 2014
Environmental Assessment on Wonder Lake Climate Reference Network Station Available for Public Comment
The National Park Service (NPS) is considering a proposal by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to install a U.S. Climate Reference Network station near the water treatment building west of the Wonder Lake Campground in Denali National Park and Preserve. This project would take place during the summer of 2014.

March 20, 2014
Free Climate Change Teacher Workshop This Summer
Glacier National Park and the Glacier Institute are accepting applications for their third climate change teacher workshop to be held June 23-26 at the park. Middle and high school teachers from the local area and across the country are encouraged to apply. Teachers selected for the science and field-based workshop will spend time in the park with agency researchers and educators discussing climate change impacts on park resources.

March 10, 2014
New Online Film Documents Climate Change Research in Olympic National Park
Olympic National Park is pleased to announce the release of a new Science Minute Movie by the North Coast and Cascades Science Learning Network (NCCSLN). Tides of Change takes viewers behind-the-scenes of Olympic National Park with coastal ecologist Dr. Steve Fradkin, as he traverses one of the most remote, wild, and scenic coastlines in North America to monitor the health of the park's rocky intertidal community.

July 26, 2013
Death Valley National Park Participates in Global Network of Mountain Ecosystem Climate Change Monitoring Sites
During the week of June 23-28 twenty scientists, volunteers and students gathered in the Panamint Range to establish a new target region ("site") of the GLORIA Monitoring Program.The Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments was established by scientists in Austria nearly a decade ago to facilitate an effort to document changes in biodiversity and vegetation patterns in high mountain ecosystems around the globe, in response to climate change.

June 14, 2013
Weather and Climate Monitoring Stations Proposed for Glacier Bay
The National Park Service Southeast Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network (SEAN) designs and operates long-term ecological inventory and monitoring programs for Southeast Alaska parks including Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Weather and climate is one of the park's 12 priority Vital Signs. Detecting changes in climate will inform managers about a broad range of resource effects including glacial ice mass wasting, shifts in marine salinity and nutrients, timing and abundance of marine mammal prey, forest and early successional plant community advance, spread of invasive species, and adjusting park infrastructure to more intense storm events or rising sea levels.

February 4, 2013
Yosemite National Park’s Largest Glacier Stagnant
The Lyell Glacier, the largest glacier in Yosemite National Park, has stagnated, or ceased its downhill movement, according to a recent study conducted by scientists from the National Park Service and the University of Colorado. The adjacent Maclure Glacier is still moving at its historical rate, about one inch per day.

February 4, 2013
Denali's Landscape and Potential Response to Climate Change
An article in the current issue of Ecological Monographs provides new insights about the trees in Denali National Park's vast, open landscape and how changes in climate may translate to changes across interior Alaska.The article summarizes work by scientists with the National Park Service's Inventory and Monitoring program.

September 29, 2010
National Park Service Awarded Climate Change Education Grant
The National Park Service recently received a National Science Foundation grant to develop innovative approaches for climate change communication.

February 17, 2009
Climate Friendly Parks workshops in Washington National Parks
Washington’s three national parks, Mount Rainier, North Cascades and Olympic National Parks will host diverse groups of community leaders, scientists and business people at three Climate Friendly Park workshops to be held this month.

June 17, 2008
Smokies Launches Global Climate Educational Initiative
On Monday, June 16 Great Smoky Mountains National Park launched a new "Do Your Part!" initiative aimed at educating visitors about measures that they can take, in the park and at home, to reduce their contributions to global warming. Visitors to the park’s visitor centers and other facilities will find information posted with suggestions on how they can minimize their carbon footprint during their visit as well as when they return home.

June 16, 2008
Report Released on Climate Change Issues in Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park and the Center of the American West recently released a report on climate change. The report highlights the results of a workshop held in November where experts from around the state came to discuss the anticipated effects that climate change would have on the park’s ecosystems.

April 26, 2007
Climate Change Testimony to Congress Subcommittee
Statement of Dan Kimball, Superintendent, Everglades National Park, National Park Service, Department of the Interior, before the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies of the House Appropriations Committee concerning climate change and lands administered by the Department of the Interior.