Assessing Cultural Resource Vulnerability To Climate Change with Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park

The NPLCC was pleased to host this science-management webinar with partners from Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.
Climate change remains one of the biggest threats to cultural resources in America's national parks. At Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (KLGO) climate change threats to cultural resources include response-driven fluvial channel migration, glacial outburst floods, and melting ice patches. Previous monitoring of cultural resources within the park demonstrates the vulnerability of cultural resources to climate change threats; however, no formal monitoring or vulnerability assessment strategy has been created to prevent the destruction or disappearance of these fragile and irreplaceable materials.
This webinar describes current and expected climate change threats to cultural resources at KLGO and recommends a vulnerability assessment and monitoring strategy to help protect these irreplaceable resources from changing climatic conditions. Although the results and recommendations of this study are specific to KLGO, the methods of assessment and monitoring may be applied to other locations where cultural resources are threatened by the impacts of climate change.