Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: New Mexico
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

New Mexico Project


Developing an evaluation framework to inform NPS coastal infrastructure investment decisions

July 2022 - August 2023


Personnel

Participating Agencies

  • Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center

Ongoing climate change, sea level rise, and more powerful storm systems will cause increasing damage and loss of facilities in coastal units of the National Park Service over the coming decades. Over time, sea level rise, storms, and funding limits will defy the National Park Service’s ability to maintain all existing coastal park infrastructure in suitable conditions in all locations. This project developed a transparent analytical framework and process that identified and incorporated comprehensive evaluation criteria that can be used across all National Park Service coastal park units to support decisions for capital investments in infrastructure of coastal national park units considering the projections of sea level rise and associated hazards (e.g. storms, erosion).