Theodore Roosevelt National Park is in western North Dakota and was established in 1978 under the National Wilderness Preservation system to preserve and protect the qualities of the North Dakota Badlands, including the wildlife, scenery, and wilderness. The park is made up of three units (North, Elkhorn Ranch, and South) that are connected by the Little Missouri River, which was identified by the National Park Service as a significant resource essential to fulfilling the park's purpose. The development of oil and gas (OG) resources has expanded in the past two decades in the region surrounding Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This expansion of OG development outside park boundaries increases the potential for adverse environmental and economic effects inside the park boundaries, especially for the hydrologic processes within Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
This report assesses the vulnerability of critical components that contribute to supporting plants and wildlife of the Northwestern Great Plains ecological region and Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s mission of preservation. Critical components include land cover, slope, soil saturated hydraulic conductivity, distance to
The North Unit had the most area with moderate, high, and very high vulnerability. These areas occurred all across the southern and eastern parts of the North Unit where the Little Missouri River, surficial aquifer, wetland type land covers, and bighorn sheep critical habitat are present. Several stressor flow paths from pipelines and highways cross these areas and may pose the most risk to the vulnerable areas identified. In the Elkhorn Ranch Unit, areas with moderate, high, and very high vulnerability were in the southeastern part of the unit, where the Little Missouri River, surficial aquifer, wetland type land covers, and bighorn sheep critical habitat are present. The stressor flow paths in the Elkhorn Ranch Unit follow the length of the Little Missouri River and all its tributaries in the study area. The stressor flow paths originated from crude oil wells and pipelines. In the South Unit, one area had moderate, high, and very high vulnerability. This area is where the Little Missouri River and bighorn sheep critical range are present. The stressor flow paths in the South Unit follow the length of the Little Missouri River and nearly all its tributaries in the study area. Several stressor flow paths cross the one identified vulnerable area that originated from crude oil wells.
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This work was supported by funding from the Department of the Interior’s Inland Oil Spill Preparedness Project.
Multiply | By | To obtain |
Length | ||
---|---|---|
mile (mi) | 1.609 | kilometer (km) |
Area | ||
square mile (mi2) | 2.590 | square kilometer (km2) |
Hydraulic conductivity | ||
foot per day | 0.3048 | meter per second (m/d) |
Multiply | By | To obtain |
Length | ||
---|---|---|
meter (m) | 3.281 | foot (ft) |
Vertical coordinate information is referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88).
Horizontal coordinate information is referenced to North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83).
Altitude, as used in this report, refers to distance above the vertical datum.
light detection and ranging
National Park Service
oil and gas
Theodore Roosevelt National Park is in western North Dakota and was established in 1978 under the National Wilderness Preservation system (
Study area and select water resources and critical components in and near Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota.
Figure 1. Map showing study area and select water resources and critical components in and near Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota.
All 110 square miles (mi2) of Theodore Roosevelt National Park are in McKenzie County (North Unit) or Billings County (Elkhorn Ranch and South Units), and all three units are surrounded by energy development (
Oil and gas development and transportation infrastructure surrounding Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota.
Figure 2. Map showing oil and gas development and transportation infrastructure surrounding Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota.
The development of oil and gas (OG) resources requires the transportation of oil and produced water (a byproduct of oil production) from oil fields to refineries, transport terminals, or disposal locations. This transportation is typically done via pipeline, rail, or truck. Although the density of energy development continues to increase outside park boundaries, the potential for adverse environmental and economic effects inside park boundaries from spills and other anthropogenic activities is ever present, especially for the hydrologic processes within Theodore Roosevelt National Park. During the 12-month period from April 2018 to March 2019, a total of 97 contained or uncontained spills in McKenzie and Billings Counties were reported to the North Dakota Department of Health or the Department of Mineral Resources (
The NPS identified OG development and the associated risk of spills into tributary streams as threats to the Little Missouri River (
This report identifies areas of vulnerability by assessing the vulnerability of critical components that contribute to supporting plants and wildlife of the Northwestern Great Plains ecological region and Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s mission of preservation of the qualities of the North Dakota Badlands, including wildlife, scenery, and wilderness. The study area includes 12-digit hydrologic units within the watershed boundary dataset that intersect Theodore Roosevelt National Park or are 12-digit hydrologic units for Little Missouri River tributaries that flow into the park. Critical components that have existing publicly available geographic data were assessed and assigned vulnerability index values that were then summed to a vulnerability score and mapped. OG development and associative transportation infrastructure, referred to as “stressors” in this report, with publicly available geographic data were mapped and then flow paths were generated starting from stressor locations to assess their likelihood to contaminate vulnerable areas within the study area. This report provides a tool to evaluate areas vulnerable to contamination within Theodore Roosevelt National Park to support the timely response to nearby spills.
The study area includes Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which was established in 1947 as Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park (South Unit and Elkhorn Ranch Unit) in honor of Theodore Roosevelt (
The study area not only includes Theodore Roosevelt National Park but also the 12-digit hydrologic units within the watershed boundary dataset that intersect Theodore Roosevelt National Park or are within the 12-digit hydrologic units boundary for Little Missouri River tributaries that flow into the park. The resulting study area includes the Theodore Roosevelt National Park North, Elkhorn Ranch, and South Units and their selected 12-digit hydrologic units, which consist of a total area of 663 mi2 (
Water resources within the study area include the Little Missouri River and its tributaries, springs, and surficial aquifers (
Table 1. Select site information for springs identified by the National Park Service for vulnerability assessment in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota.
[Latitude and longitude in North American Datum of 1983; USGS, U.S. Geological Survey; NWIS, National Water Information System; ID, identifier]
Map number | Spring | USGS NWIS site ID | Latitude | Longitude |
North Unit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Achenbach | 473432103242801 | 47.575515 | −103.407667 |
2 | Overlook | 473627103261601 | 47.607618 | −103.437803 |
3 | Stevens | 473701103251401 | 47.617025 | −103.420669 |
4 | Hagen | 473644103181901 | 47.612134 | −103.305396 |
5 | Mandal | 473509103265101 | 47.58398 | −103.446369 |
South Unit | ||||
6 | Southeast Corner | 465350103192901 | 46.897238 | −103.324802 |
7 | Lone Tree | 465856103334401 | 46.98222 | −103.562341 |
8 | Sheep Pasture | 465909103320401 | 46.985878 | −103.53446 |
9 | Big Plateau | 465809103302201 | 46.969183 | −103.506246 |
10 | Boicourt | 465807103235601 | 46.968597 | −103.398856 |
11 | Sheep Butte | 465726103224301 | 46.957158 | −103.378626 |
Seven critical components were assessed for vulnerability to OG development contamination: land cover, slope, soil saturated hydraulic conductivity, distance to bighorn sheep critical habitat, distance to springs, distance to rivers and streams, and distance to surficial aquifers. All the datasets are publicly available. Land cover from the
The five stressors assessed in this study include crude oil wells, gas plants, railroads, State and Federal highways, and crude oil pipelines (
The mapped vulnerability scores were developed by summing the vulnerability index values of the seven critical components (
Table 2. Vulnerability index values for critical components assessed in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota.
[<, less than; ≥, greater than or equal to; ≤, less than or equal to; µm/s, micrometer per second]
Critical components | Very low |
Low |
Moderate |
High |
Very high |
Land cover type | Barren land, evergreen forest, mixed forest, shrub/scrub, hay/pasture, and cultivated crops (outside the park boundaries) | Herbaceous | Hay/pasture and cultivated crops (within the park boundaries) | Deciduous forest | Open water, woody wetland, emergent herbaceous wetlands |
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (in µm/s) | <0.1 | 0.11–1 | 1.01–10 | 10.01–100 | ≥100.01 |
Slope (percent rise) | ≤3 | 3.1–6 | 6.1–10 | 10.1–15 | ≥15.1 |
Distance from surficial aquifer (in meters) | ≥201 | 101–200 | 61–100 | 31–60 | ≤30 |
Distance from a river or stream (in meters) | ≥201 | 101–200 | 61–100 | 31–60 | ≤30 |
Distance from a spring (in meters) | ≥201 | 101–200 | 61–100 | 31–60 | ≤30 |
Distance from critical bighorn sheep ranges (in meters) | ≥1,000.1 | 500.1–1,000 | 300.1–500 | 100.1–300 | ≤100 |
The method of designation of the vulnerability index values for land cover was based on the evaluation of the NPS importance of a habitat to support plants and wildlife of the Northwestern Great Plains ecological region (
Stressors within the study area were assessed by generating flow paths, which would be a simulation of a spill. The spill simulation was completed using the flow path tracing tool from the Arc Hydro (
A vulnerability map for each of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park units (North, Elkhorn Ranch, and South) was generated from the seven vulnerability index values listed in
The stressor flow paths generated from OG development and transportation infrastructure for each of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park units (North, Elkhorn Ranch, and South) are shown in figure 4
The vulnerability maps used in conjunction with the stressor flow path allow for a refined identification of which vulnerable areas are most likely to be contaminated from the surrounding stressors. The vulnerability maps for each Theodore Roosevelt National Park unit identified areas of moderate, high, and very high vulnerability that would be beneficial to examine more closely.
The North Unit had the most areas with moderate, high, and very high vulnerability (fig. 3
In the Elkhorn Ranch Unit, areas with moderate, high, and very high vulnerability were in the southeastern part of the unit (fig. 3
In the South Unit, one area had moderate, high, and very high vulnerability scores that were not due entirely to proximity of the river or streams (fig. 3
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