Northern Alaska National Historic Landmark Condition and Vulnerability Assessment
Project ID: P13AC01005
Federal Agency: National Park Service
Partner Institution: Portland State University
Fiscal Year: 2013
Initial Funding: $50,000
Total Funding: $55,000
Project Type: Research
Project Disciplines: Cultural
National Park: Alaska Region
Principal Investigator: Anderson, Shelby
Agreement Technical Representative: Mason, Rachel
Abstract: As part of the National Historic Landmarks (NHL) Program and the National Park Service’s (NPS) initiative to provide technical assistance to National Historic Landmark owners, NPS (Alaska Region) is coordinating a project that will document current physical conditions and assess how climate change is impacting several key sites in northern Alaska. The goals of this collaborative project between Portland State University (PSU) and NPS are to visit and assess at least three or a maximum of five archaeological NHLs in northern Alaska. The overarching purpose is to evaluate threats to these resources and to better understand how archeological sites change as climate changes in a variety of geographic areas, and to raise awareness of the national significance of these sites and their vulnerability to destructive climate-driven forces. Project activities over a three-year period will include: outreach and coordination with the NHL landowners, the collaboration on the development of a condition assessment format and risk assessment matrix; site visits to conduct condition assessments and climate change vulnerability assessments; and the production of a final technical report summarizing project findings and recommendations for interpretation, education, and resource management. In addition to contributing to new data on evaluating site impacts and integrity, this project will establish the foundation for future NHL climate change vulnerability studies in other regions of Alaska.