NATIONAL PARK SERVICE GEOLOGIC RESOURCES INVENTORY REPORTS: CONNECTING GEOLOGY TO PARK HISTORY, LANDSCAPES, AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

To support science-informed management of natural resources and raise awareness about geology, the National Park Service (NPS) Geologic Resources Inventory (GRI) program collaborates with Colorado State University to produce digital (GIS) geologic maps and accompanying reports for national parks, monuments, memorials, seashores, lakeshores, and other types of National Park System units across the country. To initiate these products, the GRI team met with park staff and geologic experts to discuss the availability of adequate geologic maps for a park. Before 2004, the program did not produce reports to accompany the geologic maps, but maps alone were of limited utility for park staff not trained in the geosciences. Now, each park-specific report highlights prominent geologic features and processes—such as landslides, glaciers, lava flows, fault activity, dunes, caves, barrier islands, and fossils—and relates them to resource management concerns such as visitor use, safety, and resource protection. A succinct geologic history ties together depositional settings, geologic processes, and mapped rock formations and surficial deposits to show how the landscape has evolved over time. Included with each report is a printed poster of the digital geologic data draped over either a shaded relief or satellite image of the park area. These maps are a static, cartographic display of the more comprehensive digital geologic data. The reports have evolved considerably in the last five years, incorporating graphics and tables in an effort to improve usability. The reports are peer reviewed, professionally edited, and published as part of the NPS Natural Resource Report series. The primary audience of GRI reports is resource managers, but the reports are also of interest to park interpreters, teachers, students, and the general public. As of August 1, 2017, 160 of the 270 reports planned for the inventory are completed and available for free at http://go.nps.gov/gri.