 Good afternoon everyone. My name is Carol Werner and I'm the executive director of the environmental and energy study Institute and we are delighted to welcome you here this afternoon and To be here for this briefing that we are holding in partnership with the Union of Concerned Scientists It's a very important topic that we are addressing this afternoon and I think that as we have looked at The attention that's been focused with regard to climate change and that the release of the national climate assessment Just a couple weeks ago that this new report that is being released by the Union of Concerned Scientists Is a very very important time for us to really take stock of What is at stake and what are the kinds of impacts that we are facing and Obviously as we think about this topic in terms of thinking about national landmarks at risk it is a very moving and important thing for us to consider Since these national landmarks are symbols They are very important in terms of our understanding as Americans of our history of things that are very important in terms of our cultural heritage and And That I think is going to be extremely telling as we listen to Our speakers this afternoon as they look at some of the sites that are at risk as we have learned more and more About the impacts that we are already seeing With that said I am delighted to turn to senator Martin Heinrich who is going to open up our briefing this afternoon And we feel especially honored to have him here because New Mexico is a very very special place and Is home to wonderful natural resources that are treasured by all Americans It's also home to many of our very important national historic landmarks and Senator Heinrich brings a very special background and passion To the Senate and to his concern about all of this He before coming to the Senate very recently and where he serves on the energy and natural resources Committee as well as on the intelligence and joint economic committee before that he was in the House of Representatives And prior to that he has experienced stemming from Working in the private sector as well as working with nonprofits as well as very important leadership Coming out of local government which positions him very very well for work at the national leadership level He also has another very special reason to be passionate with regard to think about the preservation and Caring for our national landmarks and that is he's got two little boys And that's what the future is all about Senator Heimlich Thank you all and it's a it's a pleasure to be here with you today To talk about a incredibly important subject and as you heard New Mexico is a land of incredible natural resources but we are who we are because you cannot separate those natural resources from our history and our cultural resources and It's why this facet of the impacts of climate change are So resonant and so important to be discussed I want to give you just a little bit of a window into what we're experiencing in New Mexico And then you're going to get to hear from this panel not a not just about New Mexico but about places all over the country and how this impact is Happening in very different ways in different parts of the country How many of you have ever been in the middle of a forest fire? Forest fires not something new to the state of New Mexico in the Southwest. It was very much a part of our ecology And very much a part of cultural reality in New Mexico for hundreds and really thousands of years And for a very long time There were fires oftentimes that were not like the fires that we're seeing today I remember being in the midst of the Hilo National Forest about 15 years ago in a forest fire That behaved like they used to behave Where you see the fire burn The brush and the grass along the ground and literally leave the over story and especially in the ponderosa pine region Really just cleaned out the bottom of the forest and left the structure of the forest behind It was a very healthy and natural cycle In the last 20 years, I have seen market changes in our our weather our precipitation patterns and Temperature and even wind events that have driven a fire pattern that is very very different Two of the largest fires in New Mexico's history the single two biggest are within the last five years and More than the size of those fires that concerns me is the intensity Of these new fires We are seeing fires burn downslope in the middle of winter sometimes Behave in ways that we've never seen before on such a wide basis And that leaves a very different impact on the ground and you're going to get to hear that from My friend former governor daschino from Santa Clara Pueblo But having been an outfitter guide and worked Taking people into Bandelier National Monument I can tell you that historically these fires were not particularly problematic for archaeological resources but when you have a fire where every stick is removed where the the soil is basically Vitrified and then you follow that with a precipitation pattern that now last year We had normal amounts of precipitation in New Mexico, but it all came in two events in July and September That combination has the potential and has already begun to wipe archaeological sites literally off the map in a way that is very troubling for a state that Cares deeply about its identity and its cultural connection to the land and That's just one state Think about all of the states that have Shoreline and what it's already meaning to see the kind of See the kind of Inundation that we are beginning to experience in our coastal states and you begin to get a sense for The potential for climate change not just to be a natural resource and an economic problem But a problem that threatens our history and by virtue of that our identity is to who we are And I think that's something we should take very seriously and I thank you for being a part of this today to have that discussion Thank you very very much senator And I think that we all look forward to working with senator Heinrich on these issues In the in the Senate in the coming years We are not going to turn to Adam Markham who is the director of climate impacts with the Union of Concerned Scientists to set the stage for what is in this new report and its overall significance and Adam has been active and heavily involved in the study of climate and Looking for solutions for many many years and I'm privileged to say that we our history goes back Quite a few years together So Adam Thank you. Well, I don't have much to say because I think senator Heinrich said so much of what I'm here today to talk about So very well So we're we're heading into Memorial Day this weekend And so that means that millions of Americans are certainly starting to plan and think about their summer vacations and and millions of them are going to go to national parks to historic districts and to the places where American history was made and What our report is about that we're launching today National landmarks at risk is how so many of those places are being impacted right now by climate change The impacts will get worse in the future. The risks are growing. The vulnerability is greater But what our report tries to show is what's happening already around the country and so Excuse me. We have In the report done 17 case studies and we've outlined impacts in about 30 sites they range from Very old archaeological sites from 10,000 or more years ago where the first Americans Entered the continent across the Bering Land Bridge through to colonial sites like Jamestown, which is at risk of serious inundation from sea level rise through to historic Aviation aeronautics and space sites some of the NASA sites particularly on the eastern Gulf Coast So it ranges the whole span of American history and prehistory and we have speakers that are going to talk more about that today The climate impacts that we're focused on are some of the ones that many people will have heard of from the Intergovernmental panel on climate change report recently international climate impacts and just in the last few weeks the national climate assessment Which was the most comprehensive assessment of climate impacts in the US that we've yet seen and What we see coming out of those reports is a great deal of information on the climate But actually neither of those reports has a dedicated section on Historic sites or cultural resources and that's the gap that we're trying to fill here today The impacts that we're looking at in particular is sea level rise Which has risen about eight inches over the last century on a global basis But in parts of the US particularly on the east coast It's rising much faster than that some of the fastest rates of sea level rise in the world In fact are happening on the US east coast particularly north of Cape Hatteras sea level rise brings worsening Coastal erosion and it also brings worse Coastal floods particularly at high tides when those tides are higher because of sea level rise So we're seeing more flood threat. We also have seen an increase in extreme Precipitation so our heavy rainfall events are getting heavier and that's particularly noticeable in the northeast But it's also you can see that across the country. It's much that trend is much stronger in the northeast and Also, North Atlantic storms are getting stronger the increased energy From the heat is making those storms stronger So we see more storm damage and then as senator Heinrich talked about in the west there's a very strong trend over the last 40 years because of warming and drying to see Larger wildfires and so this is one of the things we're going to talk about with regard to Archaeological sites these larger wildfires and a longer wildfire season more than two months longer for the large Wildfire season in the western states and climate change is the the primary driving factor behind That change in western fire regimes, which I think what's been interesting for me as we've researched this report And we've talked to dozens of people in in the localities We've talked about many many people from the National Park Service who are involved in Assessing and managing and trying to protect these resources at the local level What's been remarkable is to see how quickly things are changing we started working on this In the early about this time last year, I suppose And so we knew about the large wildfires in New Mexico But it wasn't until September last year that these massive flash floods occurred in parts of the Rockies And particularly we've seen the damage that happened in New Mexico from the floods And you're going to hear a lot more about that But the National Weather Service says that the floods were at least thousand-year floods Which means you know every year you've got a one in a thousand chance of having a flood like that and for some of these sites I think Anna will talk about it. They may not have experienced floods coming after fires of that Magnitude during the time when there was habitation in some of these sites So it's been quite shocking really to see the damage The we've done 17 case studies probably for every case study that we did we could have done another 20 places this really is just the tip of the iceberg and so for us This is a way into the issue to try and understand What's happening to our historic sites to historic districts in in historic Historic downtown and to archaeological sites and I think there's much more to come the people that we have here today Are going to talk about that and we're not just talking about old archaeological sites or historic sites We're also talking about living cultures and the governor from Santa Clara Pueblo is going to talk a little bit about The threats to their community a community that is rooted in thousands of years of Local culture and I think it's very important to remember that these are we're not just talking about places whose The past is in the past as they say the past is also with us in everything that we we do today And I think that's a very important thing to remember and so the final thing I would say is What are we actually going to do about this? I mean, this is a major problem is getting worse. We have two choices. We can Try to slow down global warming impacts reduce the rate of change and that will will help us to Mitigate the impact, but we also have to bring resources into communities to reduce The damage that is done in the future and so we need to reduce heat-trapping gases and we need to Make make adaptation and preparedness and national priority and bring resources where they're needed. Thank you Thanks, Adam, and I must say a lot of this also in terms of thinking about wildfires Etc. Has extreme budget impacts and that's clearly an issue as the Congress it deals with Appropriations and as the Park Service and the Forest Service look at what's been happening with regard to their ability to deal with fires and Prevention little on fire any kind of fire control We will now turn to Dr. Jeffery All-Shule who is the president of the Society for American Archaeology and as Adam also Mentioned as we think about all of these archaeological sites that are at risk along with other cultural heritage sites I think that it is really remarkable that so many of these sites are so very old that are now at risk That they have survived so long and now they are at risk And that has all happened in a very very short period of time. Dr. Altshul Good afternoon I'm Jeff Altshul and I'm the current president of the Society for American Archaeology and on behalf of the Society I want to thank Senator Heinrich and the Union of Concerned Scientists for allowing us to participate in the press conference as Many of the other speakers here today will discuss Climate change is eroding and will continue to erode our historic fabric Disturbing and destroying many archaeological Traditional and historic sites that embody the values we cherish as a nation. I Want to speak less about specific sites than about two Related topics the management of historic sites and the importance of archaeology and facing climate change in The United States we fight the destruction of historic and cultural properties one at a time a Road wall pad commercial development is proposed We identify what's in the way and we figure out what to do Unless we change course we will fight the effects of climate change the same Because climate change will affect resources at different times and in different places It will be politically attractive to take a save our lighthouse approach Since each action is limited in scope and the resources needed are manageable We will go to a roic lengths to save historic New Orleans or the New Jersey shore after hurricanes Spend a fortune on seawalls to protect protect a lighthouse or commit vast resources to restore Traditional grasslands or forests in the wake of fires Over time this strategy will be prohibitively expensive and end up saving lots of sites of interest to small Vocal groups that may be of dubious value to the American people It's time to engage in a different conversation What do we want to save what sites in body the core cultural values that will diminish us as a nation if we lose them and What are we willing to let go? Much of the climate change debate seems to rest on an assumption that if we could stop it all would be well in the world Is that true? Is there anything in the past that might help us? I think so humans have been adapting to climate change as long as there have been humans Archaeology the only science that studies the full range of human history Is full of examples of what to do and what not to do? For example, I often hear that there will be winners and losers as climate becomes warmer and drier really The last time the world heated up one to five degrees was during the Alta thermal or about 9,000 to 5,000 years ago and in the area. I study the Western US You have to search far and wide to find any winners But are bands of hunters and gatherers really good models for a modern society? Probably not my guess is that it was far easier for hunters and gatherers to adapt to the Hot and dry climate of the Alta thermal. They simply move to areas that could sustain them We aren't so lucky With seven billion people on the planet. There are few places to go that aren't already occupied Civilization and state-level societies are relatively recent phenomena not much more than five to six thousand years old These are the most complicated and complex social forms of the most complicated Species on the planet. It is little wonder that they hold such fascination for us And even though we don't understand them. Well certain patterns appear to hold when faced with potential catastrophic environmental change First there's a focus on improving technology such as irrigation or modifying plants and animals It is though each civilization believes they can think their way out of the problem Second there's really very little change in the fundamental relationship between members of societies Those in power are loathe to change a system that has worked so well for them So are we that different? We are willing to spend countless sums on improving technology, but next to nothing on how we relate to each other Much like four-wheel drive our current technology based strategy will allow us to continue down the road Only to get stuck farther from a place from where we can extricate ourselves Can we adapt to a hot hotter and drier climatic regime? I think so But if we are to do so it will not be through a technology only strategy We are social animals and if history and social sciences teach us anything It is that there are many ways humans can relate to each other Our task is to find those that will work Archaeology can help in this regard, but only if archaeological sites are available to study. Thank you Jeff, thank you so much for that very thoughtful Outline of what really is at stake We're not going to take a look at some of what's happening on the ground So to speak and we will first hear from dr. Anastasia. Stefan was an archaeologist with Valley Caldera National preserve in New Mexico Thank you for this opportunity to speak today about what we're seeing throughout the Southwest with what a landscape wildland fires in the past two decades Western parks and forests of experience of forest fires burning larger with greater severity and more frequently Then we've seen before throughout the 20th century or the centuries before The Union of Concerned Sciences report details the devastating effects found at two parks Mesa Verde National Park and Bandelier National Monument At Mesa Verde in Southwestern, Colorado four large fires for four sorry Four large wildfires have burned more than half of the park between 1996 and 2003 Hundreds of significant archaeological sites were directly affected by these hot fires Causing damage to prehistoric Pueblos and farming terraces and transforming places of importance to numerous Native American groups Additional damage can be caused By the firefighting itself as was staining from the bright red slurry that's dropped from aircraft in an attempt to save the Pueblos from the flames Bandelier National Monument I'm nervous about that screen because I can't see it very well Bandelier National Monument is located in the Hamas Mountains of North Central New Mexico right next door to the Valles Caldera National Preserve where I work Bandelier has burned three times in the last two decades most recently with the in 2011 with a less conscious fire More than 50% of the park is now burned with impacts to more than a thousand archaeological sites Including ancestral Pueblo and ruins and other smaller stone field houses where farmers in the 7th Farmers in the 7th through 7 16th centuries tended their fields It's worth taking a moment to look more closely at the To look more closely at the 2011 less conscious fire at a hundred and fifty six thousand acres It was at the time the largest fire in New Mexico history and said the senator talked about this moment ago It started when a small tree fell on a power line and it moved so fast There was nothing that could be done to slow the spread or to stop the fire In the first 14 hours it burned 43,000 acres That's a rate of about one acre every 1.17 seconds or to get an idea of the scale That's a football field every two seconds The fire evacuated the town of Los Alamos it threatened the national labs there and burned over 3,000 archaeological sites across several agencies at bandolier across the Santa Fe National Forest Vias Colnero National Preserve and Santa Clara Pueblo By every measure less conscious was the worst get the worst-case scenario for fire effects to cultural resources damage was unprecedented Because it burns so large and so hot Ancestral Pueblo and ruins were left without protective vegetation with building stones cracked and flaking Undermining standing walls that had listed centuries of normal fires before The scale and damage to the landscape is profound 45% of the fire burned with moderate or high severity Meaning that most or all the trees were killed across large contiguous areas Impacts the soils and watershed are so significant that regional scientists anticipate that with the current long-term drought conditions There's a very real possibility that pine forests will never return to these landscapes and be replaced instead with shrublands in juniper In South in the Southwest let me go back here in the Southwest as the senator said before the fire season in May and June is followed by the rainy season in July and August in Firescoured landscapes the heavy rains that come down don't soak into the ground instead quickly move across the surface and create massive and destructive floods in the canyons Governor dachner will be speaking about the devastation on Santa Clara lands at bandolier the floods in 2011 and 2013 are the worst in their hundred-year history Threatening the visitor center washing out bridges and closing several popular trails In the adjacent bias caldera national preserve 60% of the preserve has burned in two fires in the last four years The now we're dealing with the post fire erosion and that we're finding that there are trenches being cut down Some of them are 20 feet wide 15 feet deep and below those trenches are vast boulder field strewn with cobbles along the base of hill slopes What we're seeing washed away or being covered up forever Are sites that the Chronicle America's prehistoric hunter-gatherers for the last 10,000 years? I know that when I watch an archaeological site say that's 4,000 years old wash away after having remained intact for all that time I can't help but recognizing the recognize that what we're seeing today are changing climate conditions happening in real time When the fires are burning They cause park closures for several weeks at a time Disrupting vacation plans and damaging the economy and surrounding communities They they deflect staff from our regularly scheduled work and they cost millions of dollars in suppression and emergency fire rehab right after the fire The less conscious fire alone cost 45 million dollars So what can we do to cope with this changing face of fires in the Southwest? One thing is we can protect specific sites by removing fuels from them, but there are thousands of sites Another is to develop tools to help archaeologists work better with fire managers to develop prescribed burns that will have the least amount of damage These are some of the goals of an interagency project. I'm working on with my colleagues called arc burn It's funded by the joint fire science program Which supports scientific research on wildland fires and distributes research results to policymakers and fire managers to make sound science-based decisions Perhaps the most important the most important and effective thing we can do right now is to understand the scale of this problem and work to Decrease the size and severity of landscape fires this is the goal of The collaborative for its landscape restoration program, which was created in Congress to enable landscape scale ecosystem restoration it allows it helps federal agencies work together across federal lines and To develop projects that will minimize extreme fire behavior and limit the size of fires once they're underway partnerships also include tribal governments and non-government organizations like the nature conservancy and they are done in coordination with industry to create opportunities for commercial use of forest materials to offset the federal costs of rehabilitation and Restoration and to benefit local rural communities As we consider the case studies detailed in this report It's clear that the parks forests landmarks and preserves are places worth protecting Archaeological sites are non-renewable resources They're precious to the American public and our shared heritage gives added meaning to the natural landmarks and destinations that we explore and treasure Forest fires are a healthy part of Southwestern forests But the large landscape of the scale fires that we're that are burning now are outside the normal historic range They're bigger hotter and more damaging So thank you all as we work together to find solutions to these challenges And I think and of what is really so striking in terms of what you were saying is that in terms of dealing with the scale of this Recognizing learning and then pulling having to pull together so many different people Locally different kinds of agencies at local state and national level to try and figure out how to best problem solve So that we can do as well as what we can in in terms of trying to hold on to these To these sites and and to preserve them for our common future To tell the story of the Santa Clara Pueblo We are so pleased to have with us Walter dash dash no the former governor of the Santa Clara Pueblo as we say in your language, we say get he All right. I am one of the owners of the Initial band earlier area And so you have a living example of what life Was then what it's like today and and what it will be like for all of us in the future Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, I'm Walter dash know the former governor for the public Santa Clara Pueblo Today, I'm presenting on behalf of our governor Joseph Michael Chavarria who is unable to be here to present our issue He sends his greetings to all of you today And along with me today is our counsel Terrell Hovska Who is here to Answer any questions that we may have in the future Regarding this matter Additionally, I'd like to also thank the honorable senator Heinrich Mr. Markham Mr. Eddishall Miss Stefan Miss Craig Mr. Spears and all of you that are interested to hear our conversation this afternoon. I Think it's a little bit more than a conversation What I see is those of you that have concerns with what climate Change is going to be and what it will be like in the future on the afternoon of June 26th 2011 I Was sitting in my office Wondering What we were going to do With the fire that had just started that afternoon I was at a baptism for one of our relatives and A little smoke Was occurring on the vandal area Approximately 1 32 o'clock we immediately went home and Informed some of our tribal staff that we have to be concerned with what we see Because of of the fear that we saw that was going to potentially happen We had experienced this similar conditions with the Fire that occurred called the Cerro Grande fire in the year 2000 Conditions that were strong with the winds Very very dry so much so that the precipitation Was lower than what you would buy with people that were buying Lumber in a lumber yard There's a song that says and was sung by a group called earth wind and fire Well, there are two things that need to be added to that song It's now rain and flooding as Owners of our lands as we take care of mother issue Mother earth as we say We've gone through an experience that I hope many of you never will go through forest fires That we have that occurred on our reservation and you'll see I'm sorry. I can't see the the slide either But it shows you the first few slides will show you What the our original lands look like in the in our area? With the pristine beautiful area where you could go hunting fishing Green trees Hunters fishermen green grasses tall trees tall mountains and then this occurred so you can see the major difference With just the two slides The plume was up towards 52 100,000 feet and it covered all the way to Kansas. I think it was You can see it's like a bomb that occurs when it hits the lands These are the after effects No trees no plants The boulders that are that were up in the mountains are now in the lower stream bed area Nothing to hold the vegetation and then the aftermath with the flooding So you can see the damage that happens It impacted our community which is approximately 10 miles east of the initial flooding and the effect that it caused by The rains that happened Some of the area as you see it today It's no longer the same So we'll be in this situation for the next hundred two three hundred years So that today all of us that are here Collectively ask your support and looking at the issue of climate change Our purple ask three things one is that we seek immediate appropriations for our second dam project That doesn't require a cash match noting that such investment is far less Costly than the loss of life and property that could occur without such a structure Additional appropriation to tribes like Sena Cara and other tribes to implement the tip the tipa or the tribal environmental Protection Act This governor allows Sena Cara to perform hazardous fuels reduction projects so that we can save our last remaining green stance of timber and biological stronghold and last action to create a climate resiliency and Recovery fund to support communities such as Sena Cara that are faced with devastating impacts of climate change Enclosing We are enclosing some documents that elaborate our issues and identify the impact through climate change I'm sorry five minutes is not long enough, but I think it gets our point across So I hope that as you begin to hear more information that you're supported a hundred percent That those of them that are here today Present to you the most important and dangerous situation that will face in the future of mankind Because it's not a story. It's our actual events that are occurring and it's going to get worse and worse and worse We see that in the Southwest You see that in the Arctic area and under an article You see the see that in the rainforest You see that on the East Coast and the West Coast you saw what happened in Louisiana And so it's no no movie. This is real life and so all of you please take it to heed what information we're presented to you and And voice your concerns with your congressional delegation voice your concerns and support President Obama and his administration and also voice your concerns with your local chapters of Sierra clubs and otherwise. Thank you very much and God bless you Thank you very much Walter it It really is very telling to when you hear a voice who Is with his people have been going through these kinds of impacts and have seen that kind of devastation that is resulting knowing that we have to figure out ways in which to try and address these kinds of impacts There is so much at stake in terms of human lives human property human futures and Livelihoods and being able to go forward What does this mean for the future and obviously we all need to be aware of what is really happening in these Places around the country that are enduring extremely severe impacts So it's very very important to to hear and learn Some of these things that are really occurring as Walter said in very very real time and That have to be addressed because people are dealing with them as we speak So we will now turn to the other side of the country to Lisa Craig Who is the chief of historic preservation in Annapolis with another whole picture of what's at stake there Thank you, and good afternoon to you all I want to thank the Union of Concerned Scientists for helping us showcase Our local efforts to address climate change. I'd also like to thank colleagues in the room today The National Trust for Historic Preservation provided us a seed funding to start this project Ron this in Cavages here as well as Eric Hine with the National Conference of State Preservation Officers The State Preservation Office has provided us funding as well So we are taking this into our own hands and because I understand the slides are not that easy to view you do have a packet I'd encourage you to follow along in your packet. That's probably the easiest way to handle this As you heard I am the Chief of Historic Preservation I am also the director of the Main Street program that is very important in our National Historic Landmark District because historic properties are the economic engine for the city of Annapolis and That's why we are looking at this project not only with the Leadership of our city council and mayor, but with the business associations who believe this is important as well Sea level rise is threatening Maryland's historic seaports in Annapolis We are partnering with many federal state and local agencies non-profit organizations Citizens and businesses to see what we can do as a community to respond to that We therefore are going to be using and have started already a Model document that a lot of people don't know about apparently the Federal Emergency Management Association after Katrina produced this guide Integrating historic property and cultural resource considerations into hazard mitigation planning We're very proud to be one of the first ones apparently to be using this document From front to back cover. So we hope to have this project be a model Certainly for others in the state of Maryland, but for also other historic seaport And coastal communities around the country who want to know how you do it yourself as a local community We realize that the control is in our hands. We're going to make a difference through our own local efforts Layed out in 1695 am I changing here? Yeah Annapolis was one of the first planned cities based on a Baroque plan. It contains one of the most The largest and significant number of 18th century brick buildings in the country The city's waterfront, which is frequently inundated as a matter of fact Three times in the last two weeks with nuisance flooding I talked to a reporter yesterday and said our day before yesterday and said, gee, you should have called me I was looking out my window and it was flooding and they came the next day and took the photo But it was a beautiful day because we have a beautiful day in Annapolis every day But the city's waterfront bustled with ships bringing visitors immigrant servants and slaves as a matter of fact The alex haley memorial has become the flood elevation marker for Annapolis All four signers lived there. It was the Location for the capital of the united states between 1783 and 1784 George washington resigned his commission there. It's also home to the u.s. Naval academy go navy And we have commissioning week this week So if you need to come to Annapolis this week great place to come beautiful today And you'll enjoy the flyover as a matter of fact the blue angels were practicing when I left Because sea level rives continue in the Chesapeake the so-called hundred year storm event Which is a severe event that happens with a one percent of chance occurring in any given year Um, we will see flooding as a matter of fact sea level rise in the Chesapeake could reach 17 to 28 inches above 1990 levels by 2095 In regards to the rest of the coast 2050 is the best estimate for mean sea level rise at 1.4 inches and 2100 at 3.7 As part of the maryland climate action plan sea rise studies have been conducted for lower eastern shore communities In many communities you abate You protect or you are excuse me you abandon protect or Relocate given the importance of the historic district and the waterfront and the recreational and economic needs We don't really have a chance. We are going to stay in place and protect what we have Now in annapolis the hundred year floodplain which does an earlier flight as a slide is at 7.8 feet With high tide or nuisance flooding at 3.4 feet pretty much happens frequently at high tide By 2050 it will be at 8.3 feet and um rising We have a history of hurricanes the most recent of which was isabel Initially a category for hurricane Storm surges reached more than eight feet. There were 17 deaths across the chesapeake region and more than three billion dollars in damage It caused disastrous flooding in our historic city dock area Damaging buildings and it took a decade for our own market house to come back online again It was a huge economic impact to annapolis. So now we have a city dock master plan. That is what is underway We have major landmarks at risk early 19th century tobacco warehouse Middleton tavern, which is where george washington and thomas jepperson traveled by ferry across the bay and the sands house It's always those little houses that little tiny one in the right hand corner 1739 one of the earliest frame structures In the region and it is definitely threatened by coastal flooding We are as I said using the fema guidance. It's laid out very clearly our partners have funded this project And as I mentioned earlier the national trust preservation, maryland is another organization The maryland historical trust our state preservation office, which I would encourage many communities to talk to because this is a model project That others will want to follow up on and even more importantly coming to us most recently The army corps of engineers who has its own flood medicaid mitigation team They have volunteered their time and effort 60 000 dollars worth of work to help our community Assess the risk and to respond Risk assessment in the community is underway to just give you a representative idea of how much this will cost our community We just looked at 11 representative buildings of the 180 or so that is in the floodplain area It totaled 23 879 thousand dollars of potential Displacement loss of building loss of use to our local economy. That's over 1.9 Million dollars per building. It's a big deal for anapolis So our mitigation strategies are going to be in the hands of property owners We're going to after we complete the assessment Give them the tools they need develop a design guideline tell them how to do it and incentivize them to do it through Tax credits we do have a tax credit program a local property tax credit And if you complete mitigation strategies, you get a 25 percent property tax credit so To wrap up here. I'd just like to say that As adamant said earlier the past is with us. It's very much with us I was at a public hearing last night Where someone came in and talked about readiness uh an emergency management And one of the comments that he made was a local community is responsible for their business resiliency That's how we look at it in anapolis our resilient historic district has been around for three centuries We intend it will be here for the next three centuries. Thank you very much Thanks, lisa and obviously as we've heard from several people The economics of what we're dealing with with ink packs Is profound and I think what's so important in terms of what you are also talking about in terms of thinking about So many coastal cities the history that's involved How important it is for people to be able to learn from and to Help each other. So we don't have to have so much reinventing the wheel But instead can move forward by by really learning and from what others are doing Our final speaker this afternoon before we open it up for discussion and your questions Is ellen spears who is the historian and director of cultural resources with the national parks conservation association Okay, good afternoon everybody I am ellen spears from the national parks conservation association and For over 90 years in pca has been the leading voice of the american people on behalf of their national parks And you can find out more about who we are and what we do by visiting our website at www.npca.org I'm honored to join my colleagues from the union of concerned scientists and other organizations here today and grateful To senator martin hindrick for kicking off this event To show our concerns about the adverse impacts of climate change And corresponding sea level rise on lands managed by the national park service generally And the harry tubman underground railroad national monument on maryland's eastern shore and fortman row national monument at hampton roads, virginia In particular The voices of our ancestors speak to us from these places Fortman row marks the site where african slavery began in virginia in 16 19 When dutch sailors traded 20 and odd africans to english settled on point comfort peninsula It also marks the beginning of the long overdue demise of the peculiar institution in the commonwealth When in may of 1861 The union general ben butler issued his contraband decision Refusing to return three enslaved african american men to their ends to their owner In the wake of butler's contraband decision nearly 10 000 more enslaved men and women Made that perilous journey from slavery to freedom at freedoms fortress seeking their liberty The harry tubman underground railroad national monument preserves much of the landscape that harry tubman knew And traversed as a young enslaved woman and later as one of the most successful conductors on the underground railroad Many of the roads woods canals and waterways tubman knew intimately and used to liberate both ken and strangers alike Remain a part of this remarkably historic and intact landscape The preservation of these unique resources began with long and hard fought citizen led campaigns And culminated in the decision by president brock obama to designate national monuments in 2011 for fortman row And 2013 for harry tubman under his authority via the antiquities act These new parks are already helping the public gain a much more inclusive and accurate understanding of american history And the african american experience in this country, and they're adding much needed diversity to our national park system Experts contend however that within a few generations both of these sites may be covered by rising seas The degradation or loss of these sites due to the impacts of climate change must not be allowed to happen By virtue of the sites they manage and the stories the agency interprets and protects The national park service is one of the largest stewards of african american history in the country Npca is committed to ensuring that nps has the funding Staffing programs and support in place to continue Capably managing and protecting the nation's natural cultural historic scenic and recreational resources Well into its second century So let's stop the adverse impacts of climate change on public lands So that we can ensure that our children's children will be able to enjoy harry tubman and fortman row national monuments In perpetuity and unimpaired by human-made disaster. Thank you Thanks so much, alan and one of the things I also found Staggering was in terms of learning that the national park service in its analysis had found that 96 of The areas the properties On on its watch Are already showing observed changes of climate change Over the course of the last hundred years Which is a very very profound impact and I think that as we've heard from all of the speakers today our history our landmarks through our parks are so important to Our history to our understanding that history To being able to share that with everyone throughout our societies to people who are living in these places Who are seeing Their own livelihoods their own way of life being threatened and now the need to figure out How best do we deal with all of this? So, um, I want now to open it up for your questions and comments And I also just wanted to Introduce uh, dr. Brenda Atquitzel who is here in the front row and she is the senior climate scientist with the union of concerned scientists So if there are any particular science questions related to this, uh, she is available to answer them And again as adam pointed out the report Is I think it's so important, but but it is the tip of the iceberg and is a snapshot of of 17 case studies that you about 30 at risk sites and these are just some of the many many places around the country that are affected Any questions for our panel? Okay And if you could identify yourself, please Hi, I'm i'm hendry gas from climate war. Um, and I was just wondering, you know, you talked about, um Deciding what to save essentially in some situations and I was just wondering Is there any precedent for that kind of decision being made with cultural resources? Do you know having the idea sort of how those decisions might be made in the future? Um Because they almost certainly will have to be made I'll try to start this but You know, uh, the area is affected by climate change the most have been in the northern latitude so far and, uh Scotland has had a particularly Uh difficult time They have a lot of coastal settlements a lot of castles near the shore And they had to make a decision early on about which ones to save and which ones not to and so they have So there are models particularly, uh in in europe where they have gone through that difficult Decision-making process and have decided to let things go. There are only so many things you can move particularly monumental architecture or Uh buildings particularly hundreds or thousands year old buildings So that's uh To my mind that that's one of the better examples. I know that that internationally It is much more of a driving issue Then thus far in the united states I mean was it based on economics or engineering of it? No, I don't well I think that's part of it But I think that that you know so much of cultural heritage is a consultative process That I I don't know this exactly but but you know english heritage scottish heritage. Those are quasi national organizations I'm sure they had lots of of public input about What's going to work and what isn't? I'm sure that's how we would do it in this country Well, yes So a couple things there when we talk about potentially winners and losers on a list and who gets in the life boat and who doesn't so to speak We want to work with the national park service to be able to help the agency come up with a plan That maybe revisits the way that they normally protect and preserve their resources and as I understand that the large policy right now is to protect in place With the increase in very intense fires and flooding That may no longer be possible or pragmatic And so the agency is going to have to consider what they're going to be able to remove And provide safe storage for elsewhere off-site Which is something that I think they have been reluctant to do for very good reasons up until now I think it's also important to talk about Because we're getting into an era of establishing national monuments and national parks that are partnership parks and lived in communities So at fort Monroe, you've got that historic fort You've also got the old point comfort peninsula And we're considering future use plans there that could involve significant development And the question is is do we want to start putting places or houses homes office buildings In places that could be in jeopardy from rising sea levels As opposed to leaving the peninsula largely undeveloped and intact north of the fort Where it can essentially naturally deal with the impacts of rising sea levels So that's something that all of us are going to have to consider as we move forward And and then sometimes nature just wins if you go to yorktown final victory, which is a national park service site The famous readout number 10 As what that was a part of that siege in the battle of yorktown has already collapsed largely into the river So we're looking at some things that we can't save because they're already gone And I think the idea is to look forward and see what can be preserved I think allen's right first off and it was said earlier you have to document everything Because you aren't going to be able to save everything. So that's been the the first tool We've used that came out of the fema guidance But it's interesting because fema also developed what they call a worksheet for determining community value So we use the standards of the profession Is it a national register listed building doesn't have national significance Did george washington sleep there dine there whatever the case may be But the reality is is these places mean something to the community And so we actually have an outreach tool as part of our process to identify Yes, middleton's tavern may have been significant at some point because of who dine there But the reality is is the community goes there all the time It's a landmark that sits on a main on main kind of corner And if it was gone or threatened or fema was red tagging That would be the building that the community would say you got to save it no matter what even if we have to rebuild it So um, you do need to look to your community And then help get their input on evaluating what is important to them because that's how Historic preservation is successful in anapolis Lisa's At least as far as tribal governments One of the things that we're we're concerned with is Where do funds come and where do we go after some of these funds? Obviously because of the situation with congress We have to see where the Fund and sources are Sometimes with the state sometimes with tribal funds or otherwise So in our situation There is a trust responsibility of the federal government That has to be adhered to and so We're definitely are going to be uh seeking those kinds of resources when it becomes available The second part to this whole issue is We're small communities As are many small communities across the united states And obviously if you don't have plans available It definitely impacts your area. So those of you that can do it collectively as um, as partners I suggest that you do that because Resources just are not available anywhere Because of what's occurring the last thing is With all of those things that are are happening now The the report that came out with the union of sciences Um, it's important for all of you to read that document That way you can also get some ideas on where you could go to to seek support on some of these issues and Again, I definitely encourage you to contact your congressional delegation And you talk to them and see what they might be able to do Because there's funds that um should become available We're taxpayers and we should get the funding. Thank you And it's important for policymakers to even just be aware of what is happening in a lot of these localities Anna I use the technique I think I can support um what the other speakers have said and that is that there needs to be Of a dialogue among historic preservationists historians archaeologists in academia and in federal land management and at lower state and lower government levels um to identify The the scale of response, but I I would really like to Repeat what governor dashino says. I think it's very important that For individual people to speak up about the places that they value and the places that they're concerned about If nothing else it can get across That Everybody cares about someplace and it's important for us to all start speaking to each other about what how we're going to go Into the future together Okay question Hi, uh, well that first question was a great one. It was exactly mine, but I so I had living here. I think there's a second really big question Which you all have just kind of segwayed into which is how to pay for it And I'm sure the report has some ideas, but um, I'm chris man with the Pew Charitable Trust by the way um What are your thoughts on on how? We pay for this finance mechanisms I'm struck by lisa's comment that the cost per house is going to be 1.9 million dollars It's going to be a long time before 25 tax credits get there, although I certainly applaud that kind of an effort, but financing Is this this on it was on? Okay, now it's on okay um So, you know, there's kind of an obvious answer to that question And it's a answer that we're not going to get right now for a carbon price Right, we we need to generate revenue to pay for Some of the impacts that are already happening and for as I said before hopefully a national priority on resilience and preparedness and adaptation and one way to do that is to Generate revenue through pricing carbon in some way. I'm not saying which way that should be but if we That ends up in helping us to reduce emissions which reduces the rate of change And it also provides revenue for a variety of things One of which could be a national resilience and preparedness fund So I think you know that to me is the simplest answer But I think there are obviously a lot of other sort of perhaps state level and local level answers to that and maybe I know that there's some things that are being done in Annapolis Where they're looking at incentives for local property owners and maybe maybe you'd want to well to to clarify it I think you have to look at the other side as well It's the cost of not doing anything the 1.9 dollars Million dollars per property. We'll see what we get with that number at the end of our our survey, but You know, we were dealing with properties in that 11 group of 11 ranging from 163 Thousand dollars up to 8.9 million dollars for loss and replacement of the building the loss and Replacement of the business the displacement the additional rent somewhere that has to be paid To have a new use the infrastructure all of those issues roll up into that number So that is the cost of not doing something period The cost of doing something can be very small at an individual property level It can be doing door dams or window dams You could be talking about an investment of you know as little as 10,000 five to 10,000 dollars for a small property To something much larger obviously a public infrastructure of a seawall for example That's where you get hung up at the local community level when you are cutting budgets You're trying to keep police and fire departments on board yet and public safety and emergency management, which was our discussion last night You kind of look at the seawall and an investment of you know tens of millions of dollars depending on where you are As something you just can't see Doing right now in the short term and I think that's what we're all coming from we have to look at This is a long-term solution. We do have city tax credits. There are state tax credits and so forth I think each state has to be creative if if climate action response is going to be A priority for them. They're going to have to be creative at the local and state level Just a just a brief comment to that The way we fund historic preservation in this country is largely project by project You you have a proponent. It's a polluter pays model So a proponent of an action is responsible for Meeting conditions writing in a compliance report something so they pay for it But there's nothing in the national historic preservation act that requires it And so in the west in particular We have gone to a number of programmatic approaches Where in particular oil and gas Where you can bank the money from each wall pad or pipeline and Create a fund by which then is distributed by those Stakeholders to those things that are most important to them And I think at the end of the day when you ask how are we going to fund it It will be by creating those kinds of funds that are outside of individual projects because I think We're all getting to the point that Individually, they're just you know, some communities may have the money to do it, but many won't and and We're going to have to look at a fundamental change in how we pay for historic preservation in the country And it sounds like that discussion is now getting underway and certainly needs to Other questions comments Okay over here Hi, I'm Joanne. I've answered with advanced biofuels USA and And I wanted to sort of build on what Alan was saying It's great to hear you say that we should be recognizing What's going to happen before we start making it worse? Um And Maybe zoning might be Part of the way to do that. I think the thing is making and part of the answer to that making the markets Really recognize the impact of of climate change Uh, I think governor O'Malley said that they're not going to build any Public buildings within the hundred year flood zone And and that should be reflected in in private investment too And so coming from the Advanced biofuels, I'd say also look at these now as we're getting more marginal lands as the sea levels rise And looking at that as how it can still have Value, how can it still have economic value? How can it still have agricultural value in making in growing things that couldn't grow there before? So it might be part of the answer to that, but I think That what Alan was talking about I I'd like you to expand on that if you could on how do you see us Not building office buildings and and stuff like that where we know that they're going We're going to be paying for them somehow To mitigate the damage that we're putting in place Thank you for that question So the challenge at fortman row is it being a partnership park With the national park service and the fortman row authority is How do we make it a financially viable going concern? So that people are attracted to this fantastic story and this fantastic resource, but also that it helps to generate money because As folks are aware the budget for the national park service is Not as robust as we would like for it to be And so I think as we work through the planning process the fortman row authority the national park service commonwealth of virginia all coming together They're trying to figure out what the right mix is Of land use and development North of the fort area heading up the northern portion of the old point comfort peninsula But in doing that I think it can't simply be an economic decision that's made there We have to take into account the evidence related to climate change and rising sea levels and the extent to which It's possible or not to protect that entire peninsula from rising sea levels Now in the lower area where fortman row is in the historic district, we've got berms that are in place and measures that are taking being Input now to make sure that there are protections against rising sea levels I'm not sure you can do that for the entire peninsula and so people have to understand as we go forward with future use planning What we can protect and what we can can out protect so that we're not setting up people in harm's way essentially There are other sites harry tubman underground railroad national monument is a slightly different concern Some of the there's not really much in the way of development there. There's a lot of private property That's within the boundary of the national monument The private property owners there will do what they want with their private property. There will be a visitor center constructed by the state of maryland To honor harry tubman and commemorate her legacy and then the jacob jackson home site is the 480 acre park That's owned by the national park service. It's furthest to the west And closest to the water and most likely to be threatened by rising sea levels Currently, there's no extant building marking jacob jackson's home site So maybe the decision there is to put in an interpretive marker or some sort of design that does not rebuild the structure But there are ways I think to think creatively and innovatively about that to make sure that we don't get ourselves in more trouble Than we might be now Any other Comments or questions? Okay, are there I just wanted to ask a panel if there were okay one question over here Um, yeah, sorry. This is um, just a quick question for for lease craig Could you give me some more specifics on this FEMA plan? That it seems very mysterious and haven't heard anything about it before Um, the guidance that FEMA developed Really has four approaches to you have to identify your resources first and organize around Protecting them and engaging the public to do the same Then you have to serve survey from point of view of their risk. How vulnerable are they and it's not just sea level rise It's fire. It's whatever it is that is the hazard that is within your community. We heard about fire Uh, earthquakes, you know, we had one in maryland recently. Um, so you have to identify Those vulnerabilities then you have to assess each resource against that. Can it be replaced? Would it be devastated and it would be irreplaceable? What's the contents of the property? and What is the value to the community? What's the economic value the underlying tourism heritage travel value And then the community value you assess all that and then the last component is developing the plan for Implementation both for a short term and long term Individual property to major public investment and then most importantly the last step of that is Implementing it implementation is part of the plan and it's not a plan meant to sit on a shelf And so that is what we are working to we are in ampolas in phase two of the planning effort Doing both public outreach as well as survey work Before we move into development of what we are calling the cultural resource hazard mitigation plan Which will be an amendment to our comprehensive plan and an amendment to the state of or to our city of anapolis Hazard all hazard mitigation or natural hazard mitigation plan Great it thanks so much one last question. Okay Um again on the anapolis question. Can you see in say that the 100 years of that plan? It being more like um harpers fairy where everything that is there as a going business is not there anymore It's just a historic site and then you sort of move everything to high ground whenever the flood comes through um We don't look at anapolis that way. We have a number of major cultural institutions historic anapolis The bannocker douglas museum the state house the state. We are a living breathing capital, so We don't look at ourselves as A series of um house museums. We love our national park service and harriett tubman site and other surrounding areas But the naval academy, which is our other national historic landmark, which is right there right there Hence why we would both have to agree to have a seawall and that's another hard push so We're living breathing community and our historic properties are important, but you know, they change We allow improvements to properties. We allow new construction Where it makes sense isn't appropriate but You know, we we don't really look at ourselves as A series of house museums Tourism is four million people to our community every year though And that is important to us and we have a lot of local businesses dependent on it. So I hope that answered your question Thanks, and and I must say tourism is important to all of these sites and of course that means it's an Very important economically, but the tourism is a really important in terms of sharing those american experiences The heritage a better understanding of of our history So I hope that everyone reads the ucs report And and also share it with friends and colleagues It's really important that we really have a much more robust Dialogue learn much more about all of this and what are the best ways for our communities to be able to adapt To find ways to preserve these very important cultural and historic Landmarks for for our country And if you go to our website www.eesi.org You will find the images from today and the video there so that you'll be able to see it in all of the grand color Which it was originally intended to show So I want to thank very much Union of concerned scientists for putting together this Wonderful very timely and compelling report and bringing that to all of our attention And I want to thank these wonderful panelists today who can really speak about what this really means In site after site as we really look at what is at stake and the kinds of impacts that we are seeing Thank you all very very much for being here