An Inventory of Landslides in Grand Teton National Part

April 7^th (Tuesday), 6 p.m., Teton Co. Library Auditorium – Open to Public. Presentation: “An Inventory of Landslides in Grand Teton National Park”, Presented by Ben Crosby, Idaho State University

Most Jackson Hole residents are aware of the 1925 Gros Ventre Landslide, which created Lower Slide Lake. But most residents are unaware of how widespread and common landslides are throughout Teton County and NW Wyoming. Recent advances in topographic mapping tools enable sensors mounted on planes (LiDAR) to see through vegetation to image the high resolution texture of the ground’s surface below.  In 2014 the National Park Service contracted an acquisition over the entire park, revealing hundreds of landslides distributed across varying rock types and terrain.  This inventory demonstrates that hillslope instability is relatively common though the type, size and activity of landslides in the park varies widely.  Inventories like this are common in active, mountainous topography and can be used to inform land managers of the diversity of past events in a region, guiding decisions regarding infrastructure and its exposure to natural hazards.  Landslide inventories can also be a valuable contribution when unraveling the seismic or glacial history of a region.  During this talk we will get a first hand view of this tremendous dataset and discover how landslide activity has helped shape Grand Teton National Park.

​