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.