Potential Effects of Projected Sea Level Rise on Coastal Archaelogy at Tolowa Dunes State Park, Del Norte County, CA - Final Project Report
Dates
Publication Date
2015-03
Summary
Climate change and sea level rise is being addressed by a variety of government agencies and interest groups. All are trying to find a planning process they feel works best for their holdings. California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks) is no exception, and has begun drafting documents in an interdisciplinary effort to address sea level rise and storm surge scenarios for their coastal jurisdiction. State Parks manages roughly 300 miles of the California coastline, which includes hundreds of archaeological sites. Tolowa Dunes State Park, in Del Norte County, is ranked ‘Highly Vulnerable’ (DPR 2011) and has already begun to erode into the Pacific Ocean, exposing cultural deposits to damage from possible looting, animal [...]
Summary
Climate change and sea level rise is being addressed by a variety of government agencies and interest groups. All are trying to find a planning process they feel works best for their holdings. California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks) is no exception, and has begun drafting documents in an interdisciplinary effort to address sea level rise and storm surge scenarios for their coastal jurisdiction. State Parks manages roughly 300 miles of the California coastline, which includes hundreds of archaeological sites. Tolowa Dunes State Park, in Del Norte County, is ranked ‘Highly Vulnerable’ (DPR 2011) and has already begun to erode into the Pacific Ocean, exposing cultural deposits to damage from possible looting, animal activity, or wave crash. By using a series of geographic information system calculations, I was able to map the next century of inundation. Tolowa Dunes State Park has numerous prehistoric and protohistoric fishing camps, endangered species habitats, and multiple sites listed on and eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, including the site of the Tolowa people’s Genesis. This paper will discuss these significant areas and their risk of inundation due to climate change induced sea level rise in the near future.
