Climate Change Response in the National Park Service: Analyzing Changes in Science, Education, and Management Policies

Presenter: Kelsey Ward (Environmental Science)

Mentor: Mark Carey

Facilitator: Drew Terhune

The language of the Organic Act of 1916 explicitly defines the national park mission: “to conserve…scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein…as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” As the world around national parks changes, unimpairment is increasingly difficult, bordering on impossible. Climate change is conceptualized as an “unprecedented challenge” for park managers because of technical/scientific uncertainty. It has the potential to reshape our understanding of the National Park System as well as the national park idea. In the face of large and diverse uncertainties, thus far the National Park Service has taken a “safe-to-fail” approach to management, which emphasizes neither ensuring success nor avoiding failure in adaptation and mitigation. Through analysis of management documents, observation, and interviews this paper illustrates how science, education, and management within parks has evolved as a result of climate change. I argue that though climate change presents a challenge, it also is creating positive new ideas about national parks, including the view of these protected areas as vital cores of much larger ecosystems, and the emerging idea of national parks assuming a more prominent role in public education. While climate change threatens the “natural state” of national parks as set in the Organic Act, it also provides a unique opportunity to re-emphasize the multiple values of protected areas.