As climate change impacts heritage resources around the world systematic assessment of its effects on the nation s most iconic socioecological landscapes including grand teton national park is…

This $161,137.19 Cooperative Agreement awarded by the National Park Service (CFDA 15.945 - Cooperative Research and Training Programs - Resources of the National Park System) to the University of Wyoming will assess the impacts of climate change on vulnerable cultural heritage resources in Grand Teton National Park. The project will focus on identifying high-risk, high-value indigenous resources like ice patch artifacts, inundated lake sites, perishable architecture, and stone circle habitation sites. The goal is to develop a strategic mitigation plan to protect the park's most vulnerable cultural resources from threats like melting ice, increased fire risk, water table fluctuations, and erosion. The project will run from July 1, 2024 to December 31, 2028.

As climate change impacts heritage resources around the world systematic assessment of its effects on the nation s most iconic socioecological landscapes including grand teton national park is becoming increasingly urgent. Melting ICE patches increasing fire risk fluctuating water tables and erosion present considerable threats to cultural resources in the semi arid high elevation mountain environment of grand teton NP. The extent to which these and other dimensions of climate change are impacting cultural resources is currently unclear. The goal of this effort is to assess climate impacts on the park s vulnerable heritage resources and develop a plan to strategically mitigate impacts on the most vulnerable and culturally valuable resources. The project will focus on the parks indigenous heritage resources which are particularly vulnerable due to their antiquity and historical under representation in resource management efforts. Indigenous cultural resources provisionally identified as high vulnerability high cultural value resources include ICE patch artifacts inundated lake sites perishable architecture and stone circle habitation sites.