NPS Climate Change Assessment Review

PSDS was part of a multi-disciplinary team of researchers commissioned by NPS to identify, review, and evaluate Vulnerability Asessments (VAs) that specifically addressed NPS units and resources in an effort to improve the agency’s ability to learn from previous VAs, to distill “lessons learned”, and identify best practices for designing and conducting VAs. Researchers compiled and evaluated VAs produced through spring 2018, with primary goals to: 1) provide an inventory and comprehensive review of the VAs conducted on infrastructure, natural resources, and cultural resources, within and relevant to the NPS, 2) evaluate and articulate lessons learned from this collection of VAs, including best practices,and, 3) provide a central location for discovery and access to this report and the VAs used in the synthesis.

Download Full Report Here

This document presents results from this review of VAs in four chapters:

1. Overview and Synthesis of National Park Service Vulnerability Assessments

2. A Review of Vulnerability Assessments for National Park Service INFRASTRUCTURE

3. A Review of Vulnerability Assessments for NATURAL RESOURCES of the National Park Service

4. A Review of Vulnerability Assessments for CULTURAL RESOURCES of the National Park Service

Each of the discipline-specific chapters were funded and completed independently and therefore the approach and VA selection criteria varied. All chapters represent the best available information and knowledge of the authors at the time they were written.

Citation for Full Report: 
Peek, K. M., B. R. Tormey, H. L. Thompson, R. L. Beavers, A. C. Ellsworth, and C. Hawkins Hoffman (editors). 2022. Climate change vulnerability assessments in the National Park Service: An integrated review for infrastructure, natural resources, and cultural resources (revised). Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/CCRP/NRR—2022/2438. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2293997

Chapter 2: Review of Vulnerability Assessments for Infrastructure 

PSDS was the lead on the infrastructure vulnerability chapter of this integrated review for NPS.

Chapter 2 investigates different VA approaches for understanding potential natural hazard and climate change impacts to infrastructure. These studies include infrastructure vulnerability assessment (IVA) approaches used within the NPS, as well as other local, state, federal, and international government agencies. Common natural hazard and climate change factors evaluated within these IVA studies include temperature, precipitation, sea-level rise (SLR), storm surge, flooding, landslides, wildfire, and extreme weather. This report discusses a selection of the most relevant (i.e., focused on the physical vulnerability of infrastructure) of the over 90 infrastructure related vulnerability documents reviewed. Also included is a sumary and comparison of the four IVA approaches that highlights examples and provides recommendations for best practices in assessing the climate change and natural hazards vulnerability of infrastructure, with an emphasis on protocols most appropriate for the NPS.

Citation for Chapter 2: 
Tormey, B.R., K.M., Peek, H.L. Thompson, and R.S. Young. 2022. Chapter 2: A review of vulnerability assessments for NPS infrastructure. Pages 26–62 in Peek, K. M., B. R. Tormey, H. L. Thompson, R. L. Beavers, A. C. Ellsworth, and C. Hawkins Hoffman (editors). 2022. Climate change vulnerability assessments in the National Park Service: An integrated review for infrastructure, natural resources, and cultural resources (revised). Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/CCRP/NRR—2022/2438. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2293997.