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Figure 2. A narrow beach and eroded dunesresult from a recent winter storm at CoastGuard Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore,Mass. Photograph courtesy of the NationalPark Service.Assessment of NationalPark System UnitsPilot assessments have been completedfor Cape Cod National Seashorein Massachusetts, Gulf Islands NationalSeashore in Mississippi and Florida,and Olympic National Park in Washington.Preliminary results from the USGSinvestigations show important differencesin and among parks in terms oftheir vulnerability to coastal changedue to future sea-level rise. For example,Cape Cod National Seashore has avariable coastal landscape consisting ofhigh glacial bluffs, beaches, sand spits,and salt-marsh wetlands. The areasmost vulnerable to sea-level rise (fig. 1)have the lowest regional coastal slopes,geomorphologic types that are susceptibleto inundation, and the highest ratesof shoreline change (fig. 2). Areasbacked by glacial bluffs, comprisingmuch of the coast, have a CVI indicatinglow risk. Conversely, Gulf IslandsNational Seashore has large areas ofvery high risk, because it is almostentirely a low-lying barrier-island systemlocated on a low regional coastalslope (fig. 3).Some park areas that are at thegreatest risk are also culturally significantor very popular. In Gulf IslandsNational Seashore, Civil War-era FortFigure 4. Kalaloch Lodge in Olympic NationalPark, Wash., is threatened by erosion. Longtermplans call for moving the lodge back fromthe cliff edge. Photograph by Erika Hammar-Klose, USGS.Massachusetts is at great risk becauseof high rates of erosion, the low-slopingcoastal plain, and the low-lying barrierisland morphology. In contrast, most ofCape Cod National Seashore’s infrastructureis located on high-elevationuplands away from the shore, and mosthigh-visitor-use areas are accessibleprimarily by foot.National Park Service staff areusing the CVI data for long-termresource management plans, park facilitiesplanning such as relocating coastalbuildings or roads, and assessing longtermthreats to cultural resources. Forexample, data from the Olympic NationalPark CVI study were used to identifyvulnerable infrastructure and implementplans to relocate the Kalaloch Lodge(fig. 4). The data are also being integratedinto the park’s general managementplan, the primary long-term planningdocument for the park. Future work forthis cooperative project between theUSGS and the NPS will map the coastalvulnerability index at additional parksthroughout the United States and U.S.territories.ReferencesDouglas, B.C., 1997, Global sea rise; Aredetermination: Surveys in Geophysics,v. 18, p. 279–292.Great Lakes Regional AssessmentGroup, 2000, Preparing for a changingclimate; The potential consequencesof climate variability andchange—Great Lakes overview(edited by P.J. Sousounis and J.M.Bisanz): Ann Arbor, MI, Universityof Michigan, 106 p.Hammar-Klose, E.S., and Thieler, E.R.,2001, Coastal vulnerability to sealevelrise: A preliminary databasefor the U.S. Atlantic, Pacific, andGulf of Mexico coasts: U.S. GeologicalSurvey Digital Data SeriesDDS–68, one CD-ROM (Availableonline athttp://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds68/)Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange, 2001, Climate change 2001;The scientific basis, contribution ofWorking Group I to the third assessmentreport of the IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change: Cambridge,England, Cambridge University Press,944 p. (Available online athttp://www.ipcc.ch/)For additional information, pleasecontact:E. Robert Thieler andS. Jeffress WilliamsU.S. Geological Survey384 Woods Hole RoadWoods Hole, MA 02543–1598E-mail: rthieler@usgs.govjwilliams@usgs.govTelephone: 508–548–8700Web: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/nps-cvi/Rebecca BeaversNational Park ServiceNatural Resource Program CenterGeologic Resources DivisionP.O. Box 25287Denver, CO 80225–0287E-mail: Rebecca_Beavers@nps.govTelephone: 303–987–6945Figure 3. Most of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, Miss. and Fla., is composed of low-lying barrier islands. In many locations, you can seefrom the ocean to the sound, as shown above. A combination of variables makes this seashore highly vulnerable to predicted sea-level rise.Photograph by Erika Hammar-Klose, USGS.