Funding the Natural Resource Challenge

Report to Congress, Fiscal Year 2003

Funding the Natural Resource Challenge

Report to Congress, Fiscal Year 2003

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Natural Resource Stewardship and Science

Washington, DC
Inside Front Cover: The NPS

Biological Resources Management

Division is developing biome-based

resource protection for Great

Smokies National Park, where

nonnative forest pests such as

hemlock wooly adelgid must be

treated to avoid potential forest

devastation.

PHOTO © RUSS FINLEY/FINLEY-HOLIDAY FILMS

Cover: An island fox on San Miguel

Island at Channel Islands National

Park must elude predators such as

golden eagles to survive. Concern

that predation, parasites, and

disease could lead to extinction of

the island fox population prompted

establishment of a captive breeding

program as one effort of the Island

Fox Recovery Team.

PHOTO © RUSS FINLEY/FINLEY-HOLIDAY FILMS

Mission Statement

The National Park

Service preserves

unimpaired the natural

and cultural resources

and intrinsic values of

the National Park

System for the

enjoyment, education,

and inspiration of this

and future generations.

The National Park

Service cooperates with

partners to extend the

benefits of natural and

cultural resource

conservation, and

outdoor recreation

throughout this country

and the world.
Funding the Natural Resource Challenge

Report to Congress, Fiscal Year 2003

Natural Resource Stewardship and Science

Washington, DC

Produced by Harpers Ferry Center

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

U.S. Department of the Interior

National Park Service

Washington, DC
Hydrologic data collected by NPS

studies for Death Valley National

Park are shared with the Nevada

State Engineer, southern Nevada

water purveyors, and private

developers, thereby contributing to

the larger-scale investigation of

water availability in southern

Nevada.

PHOTO © ELLIS SAWYER/FINLEY-HOLIDAY FILMS
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 5

Contents

Executive Summary 7

Achievements to Date 7

Performance Assessment 9

Real Results 9

Funding Summary 11

Chapter One: Funding 13

Chapter Two: Measuring Progress 17

Chapter Three: Progress in Protecting NPS Natural Resources 21

Parks Receiving Natural Resource Challenge Base Increases 21

Air Quality Program 23

 Air Emissions Inventory 23

 Air Quality Monitoring, Analysis, and Technical Assistance 23

Biological Resources Management Program 25

 Exotic Plant Management Teams 25

 Ecological Restoration 27

 Integrated Pest Management Program 27

 Endangered Species Program 28

 Wildlife Program 29

 Biological Resource Projects–National Level Support 30

Geologic Resources Program 31

Natural Resource Preservation Program 32

 Natural Resource Management Projects 32

 Threatened and Endangered Species Projects 33

 Disturbed Lands Restoration Projects 34

 Small Parks Projects 34

 Regional Block Allocation Projects 35

 Alaska Special Projects 35

 USGS Biological Technical Assistance Agreement–Park-Oriented Biological Support 36

 Servicewide Projects 36

Resource Damage Assessment and Recovery Program 36

Resource Protection Program 37

Water Resources Program 37

 Water Resource Projects 38

 Water Quality Monitoring 40

 Water Resource Protection–Aquatic Resource Professionals 40

 Watershed Condition Assessment Program 41

 Water Resource Technical Assistance 41

Chapter Four: Progress in Learning About NPS Natural Resources 45

Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units 45

Inventory and Monitoring Program 48

 Inventories 49

 Monitoring 52

Natural Resource Data and Information Program 58

Research Learning Centers 59

Chapter Five: Financial Details 63

Appendices 75

Appendix A: Biological Resources Management Program Projects 75

Appendix B: Natural Resource Preservation Program Projects 77

Appendix C: Resource Protection Program Projects 95

Appendix D: Water Resources Program Projects and Aquatic Resource Specialist Positions 97

Appendix E: Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit Projects Supported With

Natural Resource Challenge Funding 101

Appendix F: Parks Included in the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program 107
English ivy and other highly

invasive, shade-tolerant exotic

plants were hand-cleared from 101

acres of old-growth redwood forest

at Redwood National Park by the

California Conservation Corps (CCC)

and the California Department of

Corrections. English ivy had formed

thick mats on the forest floor,

altering wildlife habitat,

suppressing native plants, and

growing up into the trees,

threatening to topple them if left

unchecked.

PHOTO © FINLEY-HOLIDAY FILMS
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 7

Executive Summary

The Natural Resource Challenge has instituted new and efficient approaches to

managing natural resources.

The Natural Resource Challenge is establishing a foundation for science-based

management in parks for the first time.

Significantly, the Challenge Program also

provides a means to measure agency

performance in resource preservation. Park

managers need to know what natural

resources they manage and the condition of

those resources. They require the capability

to act once they have resource information.

The Natural Resource Challenge has made

a strong start in meeting these needs using

innovative approaches and expanded

expertise and partnerships.

This fourth Report to Congress on the

Natural Resource Challenge describes the

expenditures and related accomplishments

for FY 2003, reflecting funding that began

in FY 2000. Documentation includes

funding and activities associated with 11

Servicewide natural resource programs and

36 parks.

ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE

With the FY 2003 increases provided,

$67.432 million total had been added to

natural resource programs by the Natural

Resource Challenge since FY 2000. As of

FY 2003 this additional funding enabled the

National Park Service to achieve the following:

■ 1,500 park natural resource data sets, including essentially complete inventories

for all parks in seven of 12 basic inventory

categories, making the National Park Service on track to meet its future inventory

targets.

■ Air quality monitoring in 63 parks, including new or expanded monitoring at

21 parks.

■ Water quality monitoring capability in 17

networks encompassing 153 parks, and

with passage of the proposed FY 2005

budget, capability in all 32 networks serving 270 parks.

■ A web-based National Park Service Research Permit and Reporting System that

facilitates the processing and tracking of

more than 7,500 electronic records annually, including applications, permits, and

accomplishment reports.

■ 16 Exotic Plant Management Teams serving more than 219 parks.

■ 36 national parks with new or expanded

natural resource programs and strengthened ability to preserve native species.

■ 12 Natural Resource Challenge-funded

Research Learning Centers to host researchers and disseminate research

information.

■ Expanded funding for critical natural resource projects, including more than

doubling the Natural Resource Preservation Program (NRPP) by adding more

than $7 million, resulting in funding of

281 high-priority natural resource

projects in FY 2003.

■ Additional field-based and Natural Resource Program Center expertise,

including 15 field-based aquatic resource

specialists, nine field-based air quality

specialists, and expertise in key geologic

and biologic disciplines (such as coastal

geology, paleontology, animal disease,

threatened and endangered species, exotic species, and restoration).

The following additional accomplishments

have been made, although park vital signs

monitoring is not complete:

■ By the end of FY 2003, there were 17

networks, encompassing 153 parks

funded for park vital signs monitoring; in

FY 2003 12 of these networks completed

identification of their vital signs and

began final protocol and other design

work.
One of nine NPS units in the Great

Lakes Vital Signs Monitoring

Network, Isle Royale National Park

has received funding to implement a

wilderness management plan, to

develop a strategy for addressing

zebra mussel infestations, and to

resurvey rare plant plots. NPS PHOTO
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 9

■ With passage of the proposed FY 2005

budget, 28 of 32 networks—encompassing about 87 percent of parks with

natural resources—will be fully funded to

implement park vital signs monitoring.

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Natural Resource Challenge programs

directly contributed to the attainment or

exceeding of seven out of 10 strategic plan

goals related to Challenge activities with

specific FY 2003 targets. The exotic species

containment goal was surpassed by more

than 100 percent. The three goals that were

not achieved include those associated with

air quality, water quality, and paleontologic

resources. However, new and expanded

monitoring information will allow park

managers to work with state regulators and

sources of emissions to seek ways to

improve air and water quality in the future.

The Natural Resource Challenge has

instituted new and efficient approaches to

managing natural resources. National parks

have been grouped into networks that share

similar geographic and natural resource

characteristics. Parks within networks share

and coordinate fieldwork, staff and equipment, and business practices for monitoring, as well as some inventories. Exotic

Plant Management Teams serve multiple

parks as mobile strike forces trained in

identifying and controlling exotic plants.

New partnering arrangements, exemplified

by Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units

and Research Learning Centers, have also

been established. These new approaches

have resulted in significant leveraging of

funding.

REAL RESULTS

■ More than $19 million was outsourced to

universities, other non-government

entities, and non-NPS government

agencies for inventory and monitoring

products.

■ National Park Service Exotic Plant

Management Teams leveraged more than

$2.8 million through partnerships to

enhance invasive plant control as well as

to inventory more than 627,000 acres and

treat 10,666 acres of land.

■ Use of the Cooperative Ecosystem

Studies Units increased from a total of

more than 380 projects and $15 million in

FY 2002 to 540 projects and $19 million

in FY 2003.

National Park Service Vital Signs Monitoring Networks Status, FY 2004

22 monitoring networks funded

FY 2001-2004 for core park vital

signs and water quality monitoring

6 monitoring networks proposed

for funding in FY 2005

Unfunded
10 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

■ Through partnerships and consistent

communication, the Research Learning

Center at Point Reyes National Seashore

leveraged $280,000 to conduct highpriority research in the park and surrounding community areas.

■ The Sonoran Desert Network joined

with the Sonoran Institute, the U.S.

Geological Survey-Sonoran Desert Field

Station, and the University of Arizona as

the lead partners in a regional monitoring framework for the Sonoran Desert

Ecoregion. The framework will embrace

monitoring efforts of other federal

agencies and Pima County, Arizona.

■ The Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network initiated a partnership with

Michigan State University to develop an

Internet-based gateway that will allow

National Park Service staff, partners, and

the public to search and download

natural resource inventory and monitoring information using spatial and tabular

queries.

■ Great Smoky Mountains National Park,

working with the University of Tennessee, reduced the cost of park stream

water quality monitoring by more than 30

percent by applying a state-of-the-art

analysis of long-term data sets.

■ “Surfrider” volunteers collected marine

nearshore water samples to help Olympic

National Park determine how to monitor

shoreline ocean water quality. Invasive

tamarisk and perennial pepperweed

were removed from riparian habitat

along the Green and Yampa Rivers in

Dinosaur National Monument by 524

volunteer “Weed Warriors,” who contributed 2,929 person-hours.

■ Post-Hurricane Isabel response decisionmaking was greatly enhanced by the

existence of detailed baseline geologic

information provided through the

Inventory and Monitoring Program and

remote sensing data.

Saguaro National Park is one of 11

NPS units in the Sonoran Desert

Vital Signs Monitoting Network. In

the winter of FY 2003, the Sonoran

Desert Network joined with the

Sonoran Institute, the U.S.

Geological Survey-Sonoran Desert

Field Station, and the University of

Arizona as the lead partners in a

regional monitoring framework for

the Sonoran Desert Ecoregion.

PHOTO © RUSS FINLEY/FINLEY-HOLIDAY FILMS
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 11

FUNDING SUMMARY

The FY 2004 appropriation and proposed

FY 2005 budget for the Natural Resource

Challenge contain increases for monitoring

activities only. As a result, FY 2003 is the

final year of this multi-year effort for

increasing funding for non-monitoring

elements; these components were significantly funded in FY 2000 through FY 2003.

In FY 2003 there were nine increases

totaling $17.884 million to five programs:

1. $2.235 million to accelerate vegetation

mapping and $1.987 million to accelerate

other basic inventories, as well as $6.855

million for park vital signs monitoring in

five networks, encompassing 52 parks.

2. $2.136 million for seven additional Exotic

Plant Management Teams.

3. $397,000 to participate in two additional

Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units.

4. $497,000 for natural resource projects in

Alaska.

5. $200,000 for three field-based aquatic

resource specialists and $3.08 million for

watershed assessments, as well as

$497,000 for water quality monitoring in

five networks.

This report provides details on how the

National Park Service has used funding and

the results that have been achieved.

National Park Service Vital Signs Monitoring Networks Funding and Accomplishments

5 FY 2001-Funded

Networks (55 Parks)

7 FY 2002-Funded

Networks (46 Parks)

5 FY 2003-Funded

Networks (52 Parks)

5 FY 2004-Funded

Networks (32 Parks)

6 FY 2005 Proposed

Networks (49 Parks)

4 Unfunded

Networks (36 Parks)

Accomplishments Each Fiscal Year

Networks Funded

Identify/Synthesize

Existing Information

Identify

Vital Signs

Complete

Monitoring Plan

Ongoing

Implementation

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Work at Glacier National Park is

underway to evaluate the ecological

integrity of park watersheds.

PHOTO © RUSS FINLEY/FINLEY-HOLIDAY FILMS
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 13

Chapter One: Funding

The Challenge includes new funding requests, designed by field superintendents

and subject matter experts, necessary to meet future natural resource management needs.

This fourth Report to Congress documents

the fourth year of the Natural Resources

Challenge Program. Congress endorsed and

took the first steps to fund the Challenge,

beginning in Fiscal Year 2000. This report

describes the expenditures and related

accomplishments for FY 2003, as directed

in the House Report 106-22 for the FY 2000

appropriations for the NPS and other

Department of Interior and related

agencies. The intent of the report is to

demonstrate agency accountability for

stewardship responsibilities and financial

obligations, as well as to communicate that

implementation of the Challenge Program

has been extremely successful to date.

The Challenge Program includes new

funding requests, designed by field

superintendents and subject matter experts,

necessary to meet future natural resource

management needs. Natural Resource

Challenge funding has been requested as a

series of discrete requests for a specific set

of actions included in the Natural Resource

Challenge action plan, which features many

expansions of preexisting programs. As a

result, only some of the Challenge budget

increases are easily identifiable programs.

In many cases, Challenge funds are mixed

with previous program bases. In addition to

the Servicewide programs, 36 parks have

received funding as a result of the Natural

Resource Challenge. The accompanying

table shows Natural Resource Stewardship

programs appearing in the ONPS:

Summaries portion of the National Park

Service Budget Justification, with the

Natural Resource Challenge components

that comprise all or part of the programs.

Natural Resource Challenge Components of Natural Resource Stewardship Programs

PROGRAM COMPONENT

Air Quality Program ■ Park air emissions inventory

■ Expand air quality monitoring and related activities

Biological Resources Management ■ Native/nonnative species management and Exotic Plant

 Program Management Teams

Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units ■ Establish Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units

Geologic Resources Program ■ Protect geologic resources

Inventory and Monitoring Program ■ Basic inventories (except vegetation mapping)

■ Vegetation mapping (with USGS)

■ Monitor vital signs in park networks

Natural Resource Data and Information ■ Make natural resources data useable

 Program

Natural Resource Preservation Program ■ Natural Resource Preservation Program project funding

Research Learning Centers ■ Establish Learning Centers

Resource Damage Assessment & Recovery ■ Implement Resource Protection Act/restore resources

 Program (including Oil Spill Pollution Act)

Resource Protection Fund ■ Establish resource protection fund

Water Resources Program ■ Monitor water quality in park networks

■ Water resource protection and restoration project funds

■ Water resource protection and restoration/field specialists

National Park System Units, Other Field ■ Park invasive species control/T&E species recovery

 Units, and Central Office Natural

 Resource Stewardship Programs
14 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

The accompanying table shows the history

of the funding of Servicewide Natural

Resource Stewardship programs,

distinguishing those affected by Natural

Resource Challenge funding and those that

have not been affected. This history since

FY 1999—the year before the first

Challenge increases—demonstrates how

the Natural Resource Challenge has

affected these programs.

NPS Natural Resource Stewardship Programs Funding (dollars in thousands)

PROGRAM COMPONENT FY 1999 FY 2000 FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003

SERVICEWIDE NATURAL RESOURCE PROGRAMS

 Programs Affected by Natural Resource Challenge

 Air Quality Program $ 6,285 $ 6,226 $ 6,443 $ 9,065 $ 8,998

 Biological Resources Management - 3,449 3,441 5,846 7,930

 Program

 Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units 1 - - 1,596 46 443

 Geologic Resources Program 1,918 1,989 2,676 2,700 2,670

 Inventory and Monitoring Program 1 5,787 12,799 18,565 21,757 32,385

 Natural Resource Data and Information 456 1,542 1,553 1,542

 Program

 Natural Resource Preservation Program 5,432 8,307 8,289 12,289 12,693

 Research Learning Centers 1 - - 898 1,800 -

 Resource Damage Assessment and 873 879 886 1,394 1,276

 Recovery Program (including Oil Spill

 Pollution Act)

 Resource Protection Fund - - - 300 298

 Water Resources Program 4,754 4,735 6,869 7,905 11,614

 Programs Not Affected by Natural Resource Challenge

 Cave and Karst Research Institute - - - 350 348

 Everglades–Comprehensive Restoration - - 2,497 5,544 5,513

 Plan (CERP)

 Everglades–Critical Ecosystem Studies 1,200 7,908 6,194 4,000 3,974

 Initiative

 Everglades–Task Force Support 800 800 1,316 1,325 1,329

 Geographic Information System (GIS) 1,336 1,337 1,315 1,316 1,307

 Program

 Glen Canyon Adaptive Management - - - - 99

 Program

 Natural Sounds Program (formerly 200 1,000 1,003 949 931

 Overflight Program)

SUBTOTAL $ 28,385 $ 48,885 $ 62,527 $ 77,190 $ 92,320

NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM UNITS, OTHER $ 65,832 $ 74,137 $ 84,530 $ 94,653 $ 97,644

FIELD UNITS, AND CENTRAL OFFICE

NATURAL RESOURCE STEWARDSHIP

PROGRAMS

TOTAL 2 $ 94,417 $ 124,022 $ 148,060 $ 172,792 $ 190,994

1 Some funds transferred to park or regional bases and not reflected in the programs subsequent to

transfer. 2 Total of Natural Resources Research Support, Natural Resources Management and Everglades Restoration and Research components of Resource Stewardship Subactivity, Park Management Activity,

Operation of the National Park System Appropriation.
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 15

This table shows FY 2002 funding and

changes resulting from FY 2003 increases

and other actions for all of the programs affected by the Natural Resource Challenge.

The following three chapters focus on describing the accomplishments achieved in

FY 2003 through the natural resource programs and parks affected by the Natural

Resource Challenge. Additional detail

about previous years and allocation of the

funding within programs may be found in

Chapter Five and several of the appendices.

FY 2003 Changes to NPS Natural Resource Stewardship Programs Funding

With Natural Resource Challenge Contributions Highlighted (dollars in thousands)

FY 2003

PROGRAM

PROGRAM COMPONENT FY 2002 INCREASES FY 2003 3

SERVICEWIDE NATURAL RESOURCE PROGRAMS

Air Quality Program $ 9,065 $ - $ 8,998

 Challenge Contribution 2,800 - 2,800

Biological Resources Management Program 5,846 2,136 7,930

 Challenge Contribution 5,849 - 7,985

Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units 1 46 397 443

 Challenge Contribution 1,596 - 1,993

Geologic Resources Program 2,700 - 2,670

 Challenge Contribution 696 - 696

Inventory and Monitoring Program 1 21,757 11,077 32,385

 Challenge Contribution 17,446 - 28,523

Natural Resource Data and Information Program 1,553 - 1,542

 Challenge Contribution 1,098 - 1,098

Natural Resource Preservation Program 12,289 497 12,693

 Challenge Contribution 6,875 - 7,372

Research Learning Centers 1 1,800 - -

 Challenge Contribution 2,698 - 2,698

Resource Damage Assessment and Recovery Program 1,394 - 1,276

(including Oil Spill Pollution Act)

 Challenge Contribution 500 - 500

Resource Protection Fund 300 - 298

 Challenge Contribution 300 - 300

Water Resources Program 7,905 3,777 11,614

 Challenge Contribution 3,095 - 6,872

Cave and Karst Research Institute, Everglades Research and 13,484 - 13,501

Restoration, Glen Canyon Adaptive Management Program,

and Natural Sounds Program

 Challenge Contribution - - -

NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM UNITS, OTHER FIELD UNITS, $ 94,653 - $ 97,644

AND CENTRAL OFFICE NATURAL RESOURCE STEWARDSHIP

PROGRAMS

 Challenge Contribution $ 6,595 - $ 6,595

TOTAL NATURAL RESOURCE STEWARDSHIP PROGRAMS $ 172,792 $ 17,884 $ 190,994

 Challenge Contribution $ 49,548 $ 17,884 2 $ 67,432

1 Some funds transferred to park or regional bases and not reflected in the programs subsequent to

transfer. 2 All Natural Resource Stewardship increases in FY 2003 associated with Natural Resource Challenge. 3 Net program totals shown; differences between years reflect across-the-board reductions, salary

increases, etc., in addition to program increases shown.
Vegetation data collection at

Curecanti National Recreation Area

contributes to inventory and

monitoring efforts within the

Northern Colorado Plateau Network.

NPS PHOTO
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 17

Chapter Two: Measuring Progress

Activities associated with the Natural Resource Challenge have contributed to

achievement of nearly all the Servicewide long-term goals directly linked to

natural resource preservation.

1 GPRA was passed in 1993 to

improve operational efficiency and

effectiveness by requiring agencies

to define their mission goals and

identify long- and short-term

program goals through strategic

planning, and to measure and

evaluate program accomplishments

through annual performance

reports to the American people.

The National Park Service, like most

governmental organizations, has an increasing responsibility to report its performance

in a measurable way. The Government

Performance and Results Act (GPRA)1

formalizes reporting requirements and

stresses measuring performance by tracking

“outcomes.” For the natural resources of

the National Park System, the desired

outcome is “resources in good condition.”

Development of the initial National Park

Service Strategic Plan (1997) and emergence

of the Natural Resource Challenge were

closely linked. At that time, most meaningful indicators of resource condition were

beyond the National Park Service’s ability

to measure. A few national parks undertook

some monitoring; yet, they monitored different parameters. The natural resource

goals described in the plan continue to exist

as a collection of factors the National Park

Service could measure, rather than a comprehensive approach to measure the

condition of park resources definitively.

The third NPS strategic plan, beginning in

FY 2004, features condition goals that are

more comprehensive. The National Park

Service could adopt these improved goals

for measuring progress in natural resources

preservation because of Natural Resource

Challenge funding.

Resource information is critical input for

measuring and improving resource conditions and for measuring performance in

caring for resources. Many factors affect the

condition of natural resources, including

some elements that are not under the control of NPS managers. Furthermore, there

are many aspects to resource condition.

Distilling and agreeing on the appropriate

indicators to measure ecologically diverse

national park resources is not simple, especially when funding constraints exist.

However, the Natural Resource Challenge

is establishing a foundation for developing

the kind of cohesive, comprehensive, and

Relation of National Park Service Mission Goals to U.S. Department of the Interior Strategic Plan

NPS Mission Goal

1. Preserve Park

Resources

2. Provide for Public

Enjoyment and

Visitor Experience

of Parks

3. Strengthen and Preserve Natural and

Cultural Resources,

and Enhance Recreational Opportunities

Managed By Partners

DOI Outcome Goal

■ Improve Health of Watersheds

and Landscapes

■ Sustain Biological Communities

■ Protect Cultural and Heritage

Resources

■ Improve Access to Recreation

■ Ensure Quality of Recreation

■ Receive and Provide Fair Value

in Recreation

■ Protect Lives, Resources, and Property

■ Improve Access to Recreation

■ Ensure Quality of Recreation

■ Receive and Provide Fair Value

in Recreation

■ Protect Lives, Resources, and Property

DOI Strategic Mission Goal

1. Resource Protection

2. Recreation

3. Serving Communities

2. Recreation

3. Serving Communities

Relevance to U.S. Department of the Interior Strategic Plan
18 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

credible measurement of NPS resource conditions that should be in place for such

important public assets.

Development and implementation of strategic monitoring programs, started in FY

2001, will build on a foundation of information that began with inventories. These

strategic monitoring programs will allow

the NPS to possess definitive information

on resources managed by the agency, and to

measure management performance. When

fully funded and implemented, a means to

measure resource condition will be established.

Through FY 2003, 17 networks (of a total of

32) involving 153 of approximately 270 parks

managing natural resources will have been

funded for condition monitoring. The resulting scientifically sound information is

critical for designing strategies to protect

and restore natural resources, for working

with others whose actions influence resource conditions, and for measuring the

condition of park resources.

Activities associated with the Natural Resource Challenge have contributed to

achievement of nearly all the Servicewide

long-term goals directly linked to natural

resource preservation. Of the 10 goals related to Challenge activities that had

specific FY 2003 targets, seven were attained or exceeded. The exotic species

containment goal was exceeded by more

than 100 percent. The three goals that were

not achieved were those associated with air

quality, water quality, and paleontologic resources. New and expanded monitoring

information will allow park managers to

work with state regulators and sources of

emissions to seek ways to improve air and

water quality in the future.

The accompanying table shows the relationship of Natural Resource Challenge

activities and natural resource programs to

the NPS Strategic Plan goals. The goals are

from the plan in effect through FY 2003; the

current plan in effect beginning in FY 2004

features several new and more comprehensive goals for natural resources.

Souvenir hunters and grazing by

livestock once reduced the number

of silversword plants, or ‘Ahinahina,

at Haleakala National Park to fewer

than 1,000 individuals. Park resource

managers successfully implemented

a fencing program, which along with

federal protection regulations, allowed silversword numbers to

increase to a present population of

50,000 plants. A project has now

been developed through the Endangered Species Program to restore

populations of the endangered silversword to Hawaii Volcanoes

National Park using funding from

the Natural Resource Preservation

and Resource Protection Programs.

NPS PHOTO
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 19

Natural Resource Challenge Activities Supporting Natural Resource-Related Programs

Relationships to Strategic Plan Goals and Results

Natural Resource

Challenge Activity

Park invasive species control/threatened

and endangered species recovery

Inventory air emissions/Expand air quality monitoring and related activities

Create native/nonnative species program/field teams for nonnative species

management (entire program is

Natural Resource Challenge-funded)

Protect geologic and paleontological

resources

Expand NRPP project fund, specialized

inventories, training, etc.

Implement Resource Protection Act to

restore resources

Establish resource protection fund

Monitor park water quality/ Expand water resource protection and restoration

Natural Resource

Challenge Activity

Establish Cooperative

Ecosystem Studies Units

Complete basic inventories, except

vegetation mapping

USGS vegetation mapping cost-share

Monitor vital signs in networks of parks

Make natural resource data useable for

management decisions and the public

Establish Learning Centers

Monitor water quality in parks and assess watershed condition

Strategic Plan Mission Goal Ia: Protect Park Resources

FY 2003 Goals and Results

■ Ia1B. Exotic Plant Species: Exotic vegetation on 4.6% of targeted acres of

park lands (122,600 of 2,656,700) is contained. (exceeded)

■ Ia2. Threatened and Endangered Species: 14.5% of the 1999 identified

park populations (64 of 442) of federally listed threatened and

endangered species have improved status, and an additional 22.3%

(99 of 442) have stable populations. (exceeded)

■ Ia3. Air quality in 61% of reporting parks is improving or remains stable.

(not met)

■ Ia1B. Exotic Plant Species: 4.6% of targeted acres of park lands (122,600

of 2,656,700) with exotic vegetation are restored. (exceeded)

■ Ia2. Threatened and Endangered Species: 14.5% of the 1999 identified

park populations (64 of 442) of federally listed threatened and

endangered species have improved status, and an additional 22.3%

(99 of 442) have stable populations. (exceeded)

■ Ia1A. 6.1% of targeted park lands disturbed by development or

agriculture as of 1999 (122,000 of 222,300) are restored. (exceeded)

■ Ia9A. 30% of known paleontological localities in parks are in good

condition. (not met)

■ Ia9B. 95,820 sq. ft. of cave floors are restored. (exceeded)

■ Ia. Natural and cultural resources and associated values are protected,

restored, and maintained in good condition and managed within their

broader ecosystem context.

■ Ia. Natural and cultural resources and associated values are protected,

restored, and maintained in good condition and managed within their

broader ecosystem context.

■ Ia4. 65% of 288 park units have unimpaired water quality. (not met)

Strategic Plan Mission Goal Ib: Gain Knowledge About Park Resources

FY 2003 Goals and Results

■ Ib. The NPS contributes to knowledge about natural and cultural resources

and their associated values. NPS management decisions about resources

and visitors are based on adequate scholarly and scientific information.

■ Ib1. Natural Resource Inventories: Acquire or develop 59% (1,498) of the

2,527 outstanding data sets identified in 1999 of basic natural resource

inventories for all parks. (exceeded)

■ Ib3. Vital Signs: 40% of 270 parks with significant natural resources have

identified their vital signs for natural resource monitoring. (exceeded)

■ Ib. The NPS contributes to knowledge about natural and cultural

resources and their associated values. NPS management decisions about

resources and visitors are based on adequate scholarly and scientific

information.

■ Ib5. Initiate 30 watershed assessment projects in cooperation with USGS.

(exceeded)

Servicewide Natural

Resource Program

Parks

Air Quality

Biological

Resources

Management

Geologic

Resources

Natural Resource

Preservation

Program

Resource Damage

Assessment and Recovery (including oil

spills)

Resource Protection

Water Resources

Servicewide Natural

Resource Program

CESUs

Inventory and

Monitoring

Natural Resource

Data and Information

Research Learning

Centers

Water Resources
Student Conservation Association

volunteers assist with Monitoring

and Avian Productivity and

Survivorship (MAPS) work

such as mist-netting and

banding of small land

birds. NPS PHOTO
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 21

Chapter Three: Progress in Protecting

National Park System Natural Resources

The Challenge funding often provided the critical mass of capability to enable a

park to attract more volunteers, partnerships, and other assistance to enhance

the natural resources program.

This chapter focuses on programs whose

accomplishments primarily relate to the

National Park Service Strategic Plan goal

(Ia) that:

Natural . . . resources and associated values

are protected, restored, and maintained in

good condition and managed within their

broader . . . context.

Described are accomplishments of the

natural resource programs that received

Natural Resource Challenge funding in Fiscal Year 2003:

■ Parks Receiving Natural Resource

Challenge Base Increases

■ Air Resources Program

■ Biologic Resources Management

Program

■ Geologic Resources Program

■ Natural Resource Preservation Program

(NRPP)

■ Resource Damage Assessment and

Recovery Program

■ Resource Protection Program

■ Water Resources Program

Detailed financial information about these

programs is located in Chapter Five.

PARKS RECEIVING NATURAL RESOURCE

CHALLENGE BASE INCREASES

Challenge Activity:

• Park invasive species control/threatened and endangered species recovery

Cumulative Challenge Increases:

• $6,595,000 (in FY 2001 and FY 2002)

Thirty-six national parks have received

Natural Resource Challenge-funded base

increases for natural resource management.

Because the funds are transferred to parks

and become indistinguishable from other

base funds, no specific FY 2003 allocation

is shown. However, Chapter Five contains

information about the funding provided to

individual parks, as well as each park’s FY

2002 and FY 2003 funding level for its natural resource program.

While no new national parks were funded

in FY 2003, the Natural Resource Challenge

base funding had a significant impact on the

ability of the natural resource management

program at each Challenge-funded unit to

manage and protect natural resources. In

most cases, the Natural Resource Challenge

increases greatly strengthened the ability of

an individual park to address its most critical problems in managing exotics and

improving habitat for threatened and endangered species. The Challenge funding

often provided the critical mass of capability to enable a park to attract more

volunteers, partnerships, and other assistance to enhance the natural resources

program. The effect was great because the

Natural Resource Challenge funding contributed a total of 40 percent of the base

funding for natural resources in the selected

parks.

An evaluation of the accomplishments

made by the individual parks toward the

management of exotic plants, animal invaders, threatened and endangered species,

and other native species proves that the

Natural Resource Challenge funding was

critical for maintaining and improving management efforts. Before receiving Challenge

funding, most parks lacked sufficient human resources to plan, direct, and

accomplish reductions in exotic invaders;

improve habitats for threatened and endangered species; plan and track changes on

Geographic Information System equipment; and cooperate with local entities on

common concerns related to individual

parks. This funding directly contributed to

the National Park Service exceeding its

goals for containing exotic vegetation and

for achieving stable or improved populations of threatened and endangered species.
22 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

systemic insecticide Imidacloprid, and

release of a nonnative predator beetle

(Pseudoscymnus tsugae). Seven additional

P. tsugae releases were made in 2003 for a

total of 15 sites to date. Forty-eight sites

were treated with soap, using more than

16,000 liters of spray. American holly and

Rhododendron dieback were monitored

in 2003.

■ Gates of the Arctic National Park and

Preserve personnel continued monitoring musk ox populations, trends, and

movement patterns in conjunction with

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the

Alaska Department of Fish and Game

(ADF&G). Musk ox is a subsistence species. ADF&G issued two emergency

orders for take of musk ox that required

National Park Service involvement. In

addition, a Kobuk River moose survey

was completed during spring 2003. Further analysis of data is required. Low

numbers (total moose less than 0.2

moose per square mile) conflict with

subsistence and sport hunters. Insufficient data on moose numbers have

required this survey and may necessitate

further survey work.

Because Natural Resource Challenge funding for these national parks has become

part of their total operating budgets, parks

are requested to report on their total natural resource programs, since it is not possible in most cases to distinguish Challenge

funds from other base funds. Based on information provided by parks, it appears that

many parks—nearly a third— experience a

difficult time retaining funding for their

natural resource programs because of incremental changes. Across-the-board reductions in appropriations, travel cuts, and

salary increases that are not offset by appropriations can reduce total park funding

or affect its distribution. For example, funds

from other park programs might need to be

allocated to cover increased salary costs for

law enforcement personnel. While some

park natural resource programs were affected by these budget changes, other parks,

through a combination of differing circumstances and priorities, were able to maintain

more fully the gains brought about by the

Natural Resource Challenge. In all cases,

however, it is clear that the Challenge has

produced positive change, clearly demonstrated by the accomplishments reported.

Following are some specific accomplishments of individual parks:

■ Dinosaur National Monument was able

to seek and supervise nearly 3,000 person-hours of help in exotic species management. By hiring two seasonal park

rangers to provide education and project

supervision, 524 volunteer “Weed Warriors” contributed 2,929 person-hours in

FY 2003, removing invasive tamarisk and

perennial pepperweed from riparian

habitat along the Green and Yampa Rivers. The Weed Warrior Program has

reached 400 to 800 people each year and

involved difficult work in remote backcountry settings where access is available

only to whitewater boats. The Challenge

increase represented the first opportunity to make this popular education and

service-oriented program a permanent

part of the outreach and partnership development repertoire of the park.

■ Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

mechanically removed more than 150,000

spotted knapweed plants from the Grand

Sable Dunes Natural Research Area, the

only perched dune system on Lake Superior, to protect the federally-threatened

pitcher’s thistle and to aid in restoration

of the vegetation community of the dune

system. Spotted knapweed is an invasive

exotic plant that competes with and ultimately replaces native dune vegetation,

including pitcher’s thistle.

■ Zion National Park, in cooperation with

the U.S. Geological Survey Biological Resources Division, completed an intensive

line-distance sampling study for the

threatened desert tortoise. The survey

found an average of 14 tortoises in park

habitat, with a 95 percent confidence interval between 12 and 26. Juvenile

tortoises were documented for the first

time, indicating that the park has a

breeding population.

■ Great Smoky Mountains National

Park initiated action on hemlock woolly

adelgid (HWA), which has become much

more obvious since its discovery in 2002.

Nearly 70 known sites have been recorded in a GIS database. Treatments for

this potentially devastating nonnative

forest pest include insecticidal soap spray

(where accessible), soil injection of the
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 23

AIR QUALITY PROGRAM

Challenge Activities:

• Air emissions inventory

• Expand air quality monitoring and

related activities

• FY 2003 Allocation: $9,888,000

This Natural Resource Challenge-funded

expansion reflects the tie between the Challenge funding and the National Park Service

strategic plan. The National Park Service

goal for FY 2003 was that 61 percent of reporting parks would have stable or

improved air quality. The National Park

Service can influence, but not directly control, achievement of this goal, which is

dependent upon climatic factors and the actions of permit holders and regulators. In

FY 2003 only 54 percent of reporting parks

had stable or improved air quality; expanded monitoring and ability to provide

information to state regulators and those

requesting emissions-related permits can

help improve air quality in these parks.

Air Emissions Inventory

The Air Resources Division continued its

effort to address in-park air pollution

sources. The National Park Service initiated

audits of air pollution sources in more than

55 parks. Nine of these were completed in

FY 2003. These audits are used to calculate

emissions, identify strategies to reduce or

prevent pollution from park operations,

and determine compliance with state and

federal air pollution regulations.

Park operations are found to be substantially in compliance with air pollution

control, permitting, and emission fee requirements. In addition, many parks are

currently implementing green strategies

that reduce air pollution emissions, such as

alternative transportation measures, use of

alternative fuels and vehicles, and fire management practices aimed at preventing the

accumulation of woody fuels.

Natural Resource Challenge funds made it

possible for the Air Resources Division to

provide more specialized and intensive service to parks engaged in environmental

planning for activities that result in air pollution, such as use of recreational vehicles

and prescribed burning.

Air Quality Monitoring, Analysis, and

Technical Assistance

The NPS network, now with some type of

air quality monitoring in 63 parks, consists

National Park Service Air Quality Monitoring Sites

Sites Enhanced with NRC Funding

Sites Without NRC Funded Enhancements
24 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

National Park Service Air Quality Monitoring Sites

Funded by Natural Resource Challenge (NRC) or Funded by Other Sources

PARK CODE PARK NON-NRC FUNDING NRC FUNDING

ACAD Acadia National Park 1

ASIS Assateague Island National Seashore 1

BADL Badlands National Park 1

BAND Bandelier National Monument 1

BIBE Big Bend National Park 1

BISO Big South Fork National Recreation Area 1

BLCA Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park 1

BRCA Bryce Canyon National Park 1

BUFF Buffalo National River 1

CACO Cape Cod National Seashore 1

CANY Canyonlands National Park 1

CARE Capitol Reef National Park 1

CATO Catoctin Mountain Park 1

CAVO Capulin Volcano National Monument 1

CHAM Chamizal National Memorial 1

CHIR Chiricahua National Monument 1

CHIS Channel Islands National Park 1

COSW Congaree Swamp National Monument 1

COWP Cowpens National Battlefield 1

CRLA Crater Lake National Park 1

CRMO Craters of the Moon National Monument 1

DENA Denali National Park 1

DEVA Death Valley National Park 1

EVER Everglades National Park 1

GLAC Glacier National Park 1

GRBA Great Basin National Park 1

GRCA Grand Canyon National Park 1

GRSA Great Sand Dunes National Preserve 1

GRSM Great Smoky Mountains National Park 1

GUMO Guadalupe Mountains National Park 1

HALE Haleakala National Park 1

HAVO Hawaii Volcanoes National Park 1

INDU Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore 1

ISRO Isle Royale National Park 1

JOTR Joshua Tree National Park 1

KOVA Western Arctic–Alaska 1

LABE Lava Beds National Monument 1

LAME Lake Mead National Recreation Area 1

LAVO Lassen Volcanic National Park 1

MACA Mammoth Cave National Park 1

MEVE Mesa Verde National Park 1

MORA Mount Rainier National Park 1

NACA National Capital 1

NOCA North Cascades National Park 1

OLYM Olympic National Park 1

ORPI Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument 1

PAIS Padre Island National Seashore 1

PEFO Petrified Forest National Park 1

PINN Pinnacles National Monument 1

PORE Point Reyes National Seashore 1

REDW Redwood National Park 1

ROMO Rocky Mountain National Park 1

SAGU Saguaro National Park 1

SEKI Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 1

SHEN Shenandoah National Park 1

THRO Theodore Roosevelt National Park 1

TONT Tonto National Monument 1

VIIS Virgin Islands National Park 1

VOYA Voyageurs National Park 1

WICA Wind Cave National Park 1

YELL Yellowstone National Park 1

YOSE Yosemite National Park 1

ZION Zion National Park 1

TOTAL 42 21
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 25

of ozone monitors, fine particle samplers,

acid deposition monitors, optical monitors,

and, in partnership with the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA), a network of ultraviolet-B monitors.

The National Park Service air quality monitoring network is being expanded as a result

of the Natural Resource Challenge to provide improved geographical representation,

with emphasis on parks most threatened by

air pollution or most vulnerable to degradation caused by air pollution. The network

expansion is guided by information developed for air resource inventories and

conducted under the Inventory and Monitoring Program. In FY 2003 the NPS

continued with the phased deployment of

air quality monitoring sites begun in FY

2002. Consequently, 21 of the 63 parks with

air quality monitoring as of FY 2003 received new or expanded monitoring

because of Natural Resource Challenge

funding. Additionally in FY 2003, the National Park Service completed the staffing

of Challenge air resources field specialists,

continued four ecological effects projects

initiated in FY 2002, and initiated two new

projects. Complementary activities related

to data management, reporting, and interpretation are also being augmented, as are

funds provided to parks to support monitoring efforts.

BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES

MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

Challenge Activity:

• Create native/nonnative species management program/field teams for

nonnative species management

• FY 2003 Allocation: $7,930,000

To assist parks in addressing current natural

resource management issues, the Biological

Resources Management Division (BRMD)

provided professional, science-based support for invasive species management,

terrestrial ecosystem restoration, threatened and endangered species protection,

integrated pest management, and wildlife

management. This Natural Resource Challenge-funded program contributed directly

to the National Park Service exceeding its

FY 2003 goal that 22.3 percent of park

populations of threatened and endangered

species remain stable and 14.5 percent improve. Parks reported that 23.3 percent of

their threatened or endangered species

were stable, and 29.9 percent were improving. This program also directly contributed

to the National Park Service exceeding its

FY 2003 goal to contain exotic vegetation

on a cumulative 122,600 acres; exotic vegetation was contained on a total of 267,480

acres.

Exotic Plant Management Teams (EPMTs)

National parks are home to complex native

communities of plants and animals that are

threatened by the invasion of exotic plants

and animals, as well as by human-caused

disturbances that foster the establishment

of exotic species. Exotic plants infest approximately 2.6 million acres in the national

parks, making control of exotic species one

of the most significant land management issues facing national parks. To address

invasive nonnative plant issues, Exotic Plant

Management Teams have been established

to focus on invasive species management.

These teams were funded specifically to

help address an important National Park

Service Strategic Plan goal and significantly

helped the National Park Service to exceed

its FY 2003 goal to contain exotic vegetation. The fact that the NPS exceeded its

goal of containing exotic vegetation by

more than 100,000 acres can be attributed

in part to the deployment of seven additional Exotic Plant Management Teams, as

well as the continued priority focus of parks

on harmful invasive species.

Exotic Plant Management Teams (EPMTs),

modeled after the coordinated rapid-response approach used in wildland fire

fighting, assist parks in combating and controlling exotic plants by providing a highly

trained mobile strike force of plant management specialists. In FY 2003 seven new

EPMTs were established, adding to the nine

teams established over the previous three

years.

Summary EPMT Accomplishments

Inventoried acres 627,112

Treated acres 10,666

Monitored acres 340

Re-treated acres 1,039

Restored acres 191

Hours lost due to injury 16

Total Person-hours 88,829
26 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

■ In FY 2003 these 16 EPMTs, which serve

more than 219 parks, inventoried more

than 627,000 acres of land and found

gross infestation of weeds on 520,516

acres.

■ Since initial inception of teams in 2000,

at least 12 exotic plant species that were

previously identified have been controlled to a maintenance level in park

units.

■ In FY 2003 National Park Service EPMTs

leveraged more than $2.8 million through

partnerships to enhance invasive plant

control. For example, collaboration with

the Student Conservation Association

has led to the formation of student corps

to assist EPMTs in controlling invasive

plants. Partnership goals are to build Native Plant Corps that will increase park

capacity to control invasive plants, restore native plants, and to provide

invasive plant management training to

young professionals.

Two teams at opposite ends of the country

provide examples of how these teams

operate, take advantage of partnership

opportunities, and successfully address

exotic vegetation.

Many invasive exotics take advantage of the

no-freeze zone and limited environmental

constraints in Florida and the Caribbean.

Species such as melaleuca and Brazilian

pepper shut out all native species and

outcompete them entirely. Areas of coastal

mangrove habitat, cypress domes, and marl

prairies are threatened by these exotics.

Unique island species are threatened in the

Caribbean. The Florida/Caribbean Partnership EPMT (FLC-EPMT) addresses these

issues. This EPMT was established in

partnership with the Florida Department of

Environmental Protection (DEP) Upland

Invasive Plant Management Program, which

was established in 1997, and partners with

400 public land managers who work to

control exotic plants. The National Park

Service selects and submits projects to DEP

under this partnership. The control costs

for the projects are divided, and control is

accomplished using private contractors. In

FY 2003 the Florida EPMT expanded to

include the U.S. Virgin Islands. This expansion was the result of a cooperative agreement with the University of Florida under a

grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Subtropical Agricultural Research

Program Grant.

■ In FY 2003 the FLC-EPMT entered a

cooperative agreement with the South

Florida Water Management District for

mapping exotic plants on eight million

acres of natural areas in south Florida.

FLC-EPMT received $542,704 in Cooperative Conservation Initiative funding;

$423,000 from Florida DEP; and $411,112

from EPMT funding.

■ Overall, the FLC-EPMT has increased

productivity and expanded geographically. However, the invasive species list

continues to grow. Fighting invasives in

this region requires constant monitoring

and continued treatment. A rapidly

spreading species, the old world climbing

fern, poses a serious threat to tree islands

in parts of Everglades National Park

and surrounding areas.

The California Exotic Plant Management

Team experienced a successful FY 2003

season serving 12 partner parks and one

additional park. During this second year of

operation, the EPMT focused on refining

and expanding its ability to serve park

needs. Carefully allocating personnel and

equipment costs, as well partnering with

the Student Conservation Association, the

team was able to increase in size by the

equivalent of 2.5 team members. Because of

its efforts, the NPS now has a presence on

the California Invasive Plant Council board

of directors and the California Interagency

Noxious Weed Coordinating Council. The

team philosophy has been to concentrate

on smaller, outlying infestations—selecting

projects that tend to protect relatively rare

or pristine areas. To accomplish this, they

developed a project request protocol that

facilitates strategic prioritization and

enhanced partner park commitments.

■ One of the more rewarding projects this

year was treatment of a pampas grass

invasion on the 600-foot rocky cliffs

overhanging the Pacific Ocean at Point

Reyes National Seashore. Exotic Plant

Management Team members were

lowered on rappel lines onto Wildcat

Cliffs to remove this last untreated

pampas grass site within Point Reyes

National Seashore. The heat from the
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 27

cliffs and the instability of the crumbling

sandstone presented challenges; yet, the

team managed to manually remove a total

of 1,391 plants from these nearly vertical

slopes. The work culminated a four-year

effort by the park to remove pampas

grass from the ecosystem and has made

the team a model on how to join forces

with a park to remove an “A-rated”

invasive on a coastal-scrub site that is

extremely difficult to access.

Ecological Restoration

In this component of its program, the

Biological Resources Management Division

continued to provide assistance in the

development of the Fire Ecology Program

Strategic Plan and worked with the NPS

Fire Management Program to develop a

white paper on NPS Fuels Management

Strategies in response to the President’s

Healthy Forest Initiative. Technical assistance continued on the “Natural Resource

Damage Assessment” for Morristown

National Historic Park and on contaminated sites for Appalachian National Scenic

Trail and Cape Krusenstern National

Monument. The Division was also part of

an interdisciplinary team to assess numerous disturbed sites at Golden Gate National

Recreation Area. In addition, initial assessments of degraded sites were made at

Colorado National Monument and Mesa

Verde National Park, and a second assessment was made of restoration issues

associated with work done by Exotic Plant

Management Teams. Project issues generally addressed included native plant establishment, restoration monitoring, environmental and ecological planning in the face

of degrading systems due to invasive

species, and soil quality. The BRMD

sponsored and developed the March 2003

Arid Land Restoration Workshop that

provided a forum to collect and assess

restoration needs from the NPS and

southwest arid land parks restoration and

revegetation specialists. The Division also

worked with the Great Plains Cooperative

Education Studies Unit (CESU) to organize

a symposium on restoration research in

prairie parks for the November 2003

Society for Ecological Restoration Meeting.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Program

The IPM Program provided training and

responded to more than 100 technical assistance requests submitted by parks and

regions through consultations, distributed

material, remote consultations on problems, and identification of other experts.

The Integrated Pest Management Program

coordinated and provided instruction for a

36-hour course at the National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia,

which was the first joint course on IPM

principals by both the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

To enhance technical assistance response,

Exotic Plant Management Teams at

Point Reyes National Seashore

negotiated steep cliffs to eradicate

nonnative pampas grass from the

coastal-scrub ecosystem. NPS PHOTO
28 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

an IPM expert contracted from Pennsylvania State University has contributed much

through the Concessions Environmental

Audit Program to install IPM practices into

concessions operations and also to conduct

a review of the IPM training program to

ensure it was professional and current.

Integrated Pest Management Program staff

continued to coordinate actions, guidance,

and policy response on the West Nile Virus

(WNV). Staff members served as lead for

the WNV Zoonotic Environmental Disease

(ZED) Task Force, coordinated preparation

of guidance/policy for parks with other

members of WNV ZED task force, and

contributed to congressional briefings on

WNV. Staff also participated in Centers for

Disease Control WNV state agency weekly

conference calls, keeping the program updated on virus activity and management

efforts to promote cooperation between

states and parks in managing WNV. Integrated Pest Management Program staff also

participated in a number of federal working

groups, including the Invasive Terrestrial

Animals and Pathogens (ITAP) Group that

provides a forum for coordinating support

among member agencies on problems associated with invasive terrestrial animals and

pathogens. The National Park Service also

cooperates in the U.S. Forest Service

(USFS) Forest Health Management System. The nationwide drought of recent

years has placed stress on forests, and in

some cases, increased insect survival. These

two trends combine to threaten the health

of trees. A major development has been the

surge of hemlock woolly adelgids into the

southern Appalachians. Park managers responded by submitting 50 percent more

proposals for USFS forest health funding in

FY 2003 than in FY 2002. The Biological

Resources Management Division coordinates park requests; the U.S. Forest Service

funded all 17 NPS requests, providing a total budget of $537,700.

Endangered Species Program

The National Park Service presently protects 349 species that are threatened, endangered, proposed, experimental,

managed via conservation agreement, or

candidates for listing. These organisms are

represented in 889 populations in 169 NPS

units. Another 246 populations have historically existed in parks, and in many cases

could be restored. While mammals and

birds represent only 25 percent of the listed

species in parks, they draw a disproportionate amount of the funding, as do

threatened or endangered species populaNumber of Endangered, Threatened, Proposed, and Candidate Species

Found in National Park Units (as of September 30, 2003)

CATEGORY NUMBER

Endangered Species 200

Threatened Species 84

Experimental Species 3

Proposed Species 4

Candidate Species 51

Managed via Conservation Agreement 7

TOTAL 349

Number of Endangered, Threatened, Proposed, and Candidate Species

Found in National Park Units by Taxonomic Group (as of September 30, 2003)

GROUP SPECIES

Plants 152

Invertebrates 47

Fish 37

Amphibians 6

Reptiles 18

Birds 50

Mammals 39

TOTAL 349
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 29

tions that parks have reported as stable, increasing, or not-at-risk. A new database developed by the Biological Resources

Management Division is providing direction to change this trend by furnishing information that suggests species for new

recovery projects.

The Endangered Species Program continues to assist in restoring and stabilizing

federally listed species, as well as those that

are proposed for listing and those that are

candidate species. The FY 2003 program

has focused on helping to make endangered species consultation for park actions

a routine practice and on providing the opportunity for park staff to learn the modern

skills of endangered species management.

Through the Endangered Species Program,

BRMD reviews the implementation plans

and annual accomplishment reports for

projects funded though the NRPP Threatened and Endangered source and the new

Resource Protection project funding.

Projects developed in the past year include

restoration of condors at Pinnacles National Monument and silversword at

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; developing biome-based resource protection from

Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky

Mountains National Park; and introducing

a new resource protection curriculum for

personnel across the NPS.

The Endangered Species Program continued to play a role in negotiating MOUs

with other federal agencies, as well as in

drafting internal NPS guidance.

Wildlife Program

In FY 2003 the Biological Resources Management Division assisted several parks in

evaluating and developing wildlife management actions for critical wildlife issues. This

included assisting Channel Islands National

Park in developing and implementing aerial

capture operations for the removal of

golden eagles; Big Bend National Park in

developing management alternatives for the

removal of feral hogs and trespass livestock;

and Fossil Butte National Monument in developing management strategies for coyotes

and possible transient wolves. The BRMD

conducted six training classes in Aerial

Capture, Eradication, and Tagging of Animals (ACETA).

The Biological Resources Management

Division’s Wildlife Health Program provided

policy guidance, technical assistance, and

training to enhance the ability of park staff

to meet the increasing demands of wildlife

health issues including field anesthesia,

sample collection and diagnostics, disease

management, fertility control, and the identification of wildlife health research needs.

Veterinary diagnostic services were provided to NPS units in partnership with the

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National

Wildlife Health Center (NWHC), and the

Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (CSUVDL). More than

120 diagnostic submissions were processed

by CSUVDL. Chronic wasting disease

(CWD) continued as a priority wildlife

health issue this fiscal year. A chronic wasting disease coordinator was hired, and

technical assistance provided to parks, particularly Rocky Mountain and Wind Cave

National Parks. Training and consultation

were also provided to staff from 10 other

NPS units, and scientific information on

wildlife disease was presented in several

publications and forums with large NPS audiences. The BRMD continued interagency

interactions via the CWD Implementation

Team, state wildlife agencies, USGS, Food

and Drug Administration, and Environmental Protection Agency. The BRMD collaborated with the Colorado Division of

Wildlife on fertility control work in captive

cervids and in elk at Rocky Mountain National Park. The Biological Resources Management Division also continued assistance

with safety evaluation of brucellosis vaccine

RB51 in pronghorn and continued collaboration with CSU scientists on CWD studies.

The Park Flight Migratory Bird Program

(Park Flight) works to protect shared migratory bird species and their habitats in both

U.S. and Latin American national parks and

protected areas. In FY 2003 Park Flight, in

cooperation with the National Park Foundation, supported seven bird conservation

and education projects in 13 U.S. national

parks and in protected areas in Guatemala,

El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama,

and Mexico. The program was also expanded to include a new project in Alaska

and in South America (Argentina). As part

of the FY 2003 Park Flight technical exchange effort, four international interns

from Mexico and Panama assisted with

monitoring and educational efforts at
30 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

North Cascades National Park, Point Reyes

National Seashore, Golden Gate National

Recreation Area, and Cuyahoga Valley National Park. These technical exchanges were

coordinated through the NPS Office of International Affairs International Volunteers

in Parks Program. The Park Flight Program

held its second grantee workshop in FY

2003 in Pico Bonito National Park in Honduras. The goal of the workshop was to

help integrate monitoring and education efforts and to improve knowledge and coordination of migratory bird monitoring

programs in U.S. national parks and counterpart protected areas of the

Mesoamerican region.

Biological Resource Projects

National Level Support Biological Resources Management Division competitive

funds benefit multiple partners and are

used for biological resource projects that

address issues facing various park units.

These projects address a myriad of resource management needs for aquatic or

terrestrial plants and animals throughout

the National Park Service. Thirty-nine

projects were funded in FY 2003 at 35 parks

(see Appendix A). Following are highlights

for some of the fully funded projects:

■ Big Bend National Park implemented a

conservation agreement for two candidate plant species. In cooperation with

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the

Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife,

and Texas State University, predictive

habitat models were developed to help

design conservation management plans

to protect two candidate plant species.

Accomplishments also included establishing permanent monitoring plots,

analyzing 11 years of recruitment and

mortality data, and preparing site protection and habitat improvement plans for

Guadalupe fescue, one of the candidate

species. A major finding of this project

was that Guadalupe fescue seed banks

are very short lived and soil surface treatments may be necessary to ensure

recruitment. Persistence of this species in

the last decade has depended on the survival of existing plants, which may be

nearing the end of their life cycle. Therefore, planned habitat improvements are

important to ensure the persistence of

both rare species.

■ Saguaro National Park developed information needed to design strategies for

the management and recovery of lowland

leopard frogs in the Rincon Mountain

District of the park. The species currently persists in several small, isolated

populations in the park, but basic information necessary for their successful

conservation and management was lacking. The University of Arizona, through a

cooperative agreement with the Sonoran

Desert Cooperative Ecosystem Studies

Unit, is conducting a parkwide survey,

identifying specific threats and movement corridors, and developing a habitat

model. Major findings thus far include

discovery of this species in several previously undocumented locations and

insight into habitat needs that will help

guide management decisions.

■ A digital database for tracking high-risk

plant species was developed for a “Sensitive Plants and Orchid Recovery Plan” at

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. In

a part of the project that examined 21

state-listed and park-sensitive species in

one unit of the park, 10 species populations were found to be stable, nine species populations have declined, and two

species could not be located. However,

four other species not reported in 1990

were present in FY 2003. In addition,

habitat favorable for orchids was

searched in the database. Seeds were collected from identified localities for

propagation, but only one of four orchid

species collected, Cypripedium acule,

successfully germinated. Out-planting of

C. acule plantlets is scheduled for the following spring. Successful hand-pollination of rare orchids at the park,

combined with orchid pollinator investigations, suggest that the lack of a natural

fruit set of these orchids may be related

to the absence of pollinators.

■ Lake Mead National Recreation Area

developed a “Comprehensive Invasive

Plant Management Plan,” which is undergoing its final compliance review. The

plan provides the framework for a working philosophy that emphasizes

prevention and early treatment of invasive plants. Sources of invasives are

discussed in the plan, which outlines actions and methods to prevent invasive

plant introductions and spread, as well as
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 31

to treat existing invasive plants. A large

portion of the shoreline, developed areas, and primary vector areas of Lake

Mead have been surveyed and mapped,

and incipient populations of invasive

plants have been treated. An aquatic

plant survey has been started and will be

ongoing. This plan guides the park for

many years in the chronic battle against

invasive plants.

GEOLOGIC RESOURCES PROGRAM

Challenge Activity:

• Protect geologic resources

• FY 2003 Allocation: $2,670,000

The Natural Resource Challenge provided

the first funding for geologic resource management activities other than mining and

minerals-related activities in the Geologic

Resources Division (GRD). Challenge

funding supports six geoscience specialists

in geologic program areas that provide expertise at the national level in cave

resources and karst processes, coastal resources and processes, disturbed lands

restoration, geologic hazards management,

and paleontology. This specialized expertise is being used to support parks, regions,

vital signs networks, and the Inventory and

Monitoring Program.

This program contributed to the National

Park Service far exceeding its FY 2003 goal

to restore 95,820 square feet of cave floor,

achieving 161,765 square feet of restoration

in FY 2003. However, the National Park

Service did not attain its goal of having 30

percent of known paleontological localities

in good condition. This is because of an improved inventory of paleontological

resources, which increased the total number of known localities (2,097 newly

identified localities, resulting in a total of

5,149). Limited funding to assess fully the

condition of these newly discovered localities resulted in a lower percentage (22

percent) of the total sites known to be in

good condition.

The following are some FY 2003 program

accomplishments:

■ Partnering activities in the cave and karst

program included coauthorship of a new

book entitled “Recommendations and

Guidelines for Managing Caves on Protected Lands” with the Karst Waters

Institute, Bureau of Land Management,

U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, and the National Cave and Karst

Research Institute (NCKRI). This book

may be translated into French for use in

Europe.

Studies on rare orchids and their

pollinators at Indiana Dunes

National Lakeshore revealed a

possible absence of pollinators in

the park ecosystem. NPS PHOTO
32 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

■ Advances in cooperative planning and

environmental compliance were made on

several coastal engineering projects proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers in and near parks. Examples

include a major restoration effort at

Assateague Island National Seashore

to mitigate adverse impacts of the Ocean

City jetties, and collaboration on the

coastal shoreline protection project at

Fire Island National Seashore.

■ In the aftermath of Hurricane Isabel,

GRD staff provided on-the-ground technical assistance and coordinated with

other agencies and university geologists

to provide coastal process scientific expertise to park managers facing difficult

natural resource management decisions

on an urgent daily basis. Post-hurricane

response decision-making was greatly

aided by the existence of detailed

baseline geologic information provided

through the Inventory and Monitoring

Program and remote sensing data.

■ Disturbed land restoration program and

geo-hazard program staff provided oversight for 12 Natural Resource

Preservation Program restoration

projects in 11 parks. These projects restored nearly 150 acres of severely

disturbed lands.

■ Support was provided for fossil resource

surveys at four parks. Some assistance involved partnering with university faculty

and graduate students. Other support resulted in the significant discovery of an

extinct rhinoceros fossil.

NATURAL RESOURCE PRESERVATION

PROGRAM (NRPP)

Challenge Activity:

• Expand NRPP project fund, specialized

inventories, training, etc.

• FY 2003 Allocation: $12,693,000

Most ongoing resource management activities are undertaken and funded at the park

level. National parks usually have little or

no flexible, dedicated funding for cyclical

and one-time project needs. Thus, to undertake larger projects, most parks require

special funding. The major source of such

funds is the Natural Resource Preservation

Program (NRPP). This program provides

the only reliable and dedicated source of

National Park Service funding for natural

resource management projects costing

more than $50,000. Natural Resource Preservation Program funds are distributed

among seven subcategories: larger natural

resource management projects; special categories dedicated to threatened and

endangered species and disturbed lands

restoration; and regionally managed funding, including one specific to small parks. In

addition, some funding is provided for U.S.

Geological Survey biological technical assistance. A breakdown of funding by

category is included in Chapter Five. Highlights of FY 2003 accomplishments in each

of these categories follow. See Appendix B

for a complete listing of projects funded

under the Natural Resource Preservation

Program.

In addition to contributing to the National

Park Service’s general resource protection

goal, many of these projects directly contributed to the National Park Service

exceeding its goals for containing exotic

vegetation, restoring disturbed land, and

achieving stable or improving populations

of threatened and endangered species.

Natural Resource Management Projects

The largest segment of the Natural Resource Preservation Program funds a broad

range of competitively selected, multi-year

natural resource management projects that

may cost as much as $900,000 each. The total number of natural resource management

projects funded through this program has

significantly increased since FY 2000, with

funding provided by the Natural Resource

Challenge, from 49 projects in FY 2000 to

75 projects in FY 2003. The majority of

projects funded fall within these categories:

restoration, exotic species control, resource

assessment and mapping, and natural resource management plan development.

Nineteen projects received their last year of

funding in FY 2003. Some highlights follow.

■ A internal review draft feral hog management plan and associated draft

environmental assessment were developed for Congaree Swamp National

Monument by the South Carolina

USGS/BRD/Cooperative Research Center Unit and Clemson University after

they completed bimonthly monitoring of

feral hog disturbance activity over three

years at 12 monitoring plots. Data show
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 33

feral hog disturbance was relatively frequent and widespread for wetland

habitats on the floodplain, and occasional in upland habitats adjacent to the

floodplain. Disturbance was also relatively persistent in certain habitat types,

such as seepage areas. The plan considered the information gathered during the

monitoring study, the available literature,

and discussions with several resource

management experts.

■ The biological and sociological effects

were studied of the Teton Wolf Pack, a

group of approximately 20 wolves utilizing Grand Teton National Park, and

several educational efforts were undertaken to provide the public with

information about the return of wolves

to the Jackson Hole, Wyoming, area.

Weekly monitoring efforts via aerial telemetry and ground surveys documented

the pack’s movements, including dispersal, reproduction status, number of

pups, and wolf-livestock conflicts. A survey to evaluate public attitudes towards

wolves and their management was produced and distributed to park visitors

and local residents; analysis of the survey

will be completed during winter 2003/

2004.

■ A coastal dune area was restored at

Abbott’s Lagoon at Point Reyes National Seashore by removing nonnative

iceplant and European beachgrass from

30 acres of coastal dune habitat. This resulted in a 33 percent increase in native

plant species, including two endangered

plants, beach layia and Tidestrom’s lupine, and improved habitat for the

endangered myrtle silverspot butterfly.

The restoration also resulted in the establishment of four nesting sites for western

snowy plovers within the project area.

The project provided the park with valuable information on removal methods of

nonnative plants, improved conditions

for four federally listed species, and

helped to prioritize sites for future treatment.

■ English ivy and other highly invasive,

shade-tolerant exotic plants were handcleared from 101 acres of old-growth

redwood forest at Redwood National

Park by the California Conservation

Corps (CCC) and the California

Department of Corrections. English ivy

had formed thick mats on the forest

floor, altering wildlife habitat and

suppressing native plants. Ivy vines were

growing up into the ancient trees,

threatening to topple them if left

unchecked. As the ivy grows into the sun,

it is able to flower and produce seeds,

which are then eaten by birds and

distributed into uninvaded groves,

enabling exponential reproduction.

Additional support for this project came

from California Department of Parks and

Recreation and park operating funds.

Threatened and Endangered Species

Projects

The long-term goal of this group of projects

is to reverse the decline of listed species and

to reestablish species that have been extirpated from parks. Despite the obvious

importance of implementing identified recovery plan actions, limited funding has

precluded many parks from implementing

many needed actions. Therefore, this NRPP

project funding emphasizes on-the-ground

conservation actions. Larger threatened

and endangered species projects are also

funded within the Natural Resource Management portion of NRPP and are eligible

for regionally administered NRPP funding.

This allocation was established to assure

that a minimum amount of funding would

address this NPS goal. This funding directly

contributed to the National Park Service

exceeding its FY 2003 goal for 22.3 percent

of park populations to remain stable and

for 14.5 percent to be improving; parks reported that 23.3 percent of their threatened

or endangered species were stable, and 29.9

percent were improving.

Fourteen projects were funded in FY 2003,

including five that were fully funded, receiving their last year of funding, including

the following:

■ Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout, and

Assateague Island National Seashores

assessed habitat to determine potential

restoration sites for the federally threatened seabeach amaranth using

Geographic Information System (GIS)

and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR). In the past, some of the more

substantial naturally occurring populations of seabeach amaranth, an East

Coast native, were found in North Caro-
34 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

lina. The numbers have dropped dramatically in North Carolina and

throughout much of the range of this

species. Lab-reared juveniles and labgerminated seedlings at Cape Hatteras

were transplanted in three elevation

ranges—below, within, and above the elevation range considered appropriate.

Surveys after transplantation showed

percentages of plants reaching seed-set

in the three elevations were 0 percent, 67

percent, and 97 percent, respectively; this

information will help resource managers

to select sites for future plantings.

Disturbed Lands Restoration Projects

A portion of the NRPP was established in

FY 2000 for projects related to disturbed

land restoration, a reflection of the tie between the Natural Resource Challenge

funding and the National Park Service Strategic Plan. Disturbed lands are those park

lands where the natural conditions and processes have been impacted or altered by development (such as facilities, roads, mines,

and dams) or by agricultural practices (such

as cropping, grazing, and timber harvest).

Restoration is the process of assisting the

recovery of disturbed areas and reintegrating the site into the surrounding natural

system using direct manipulations. This

funding directly contributed to the National

Park Service exceeding its goal to restore a

cumulative 13,500 acres of disturbed land by

the end of FY 2003 by 272 acres.

Twelve projects were funded in FY 2003,

featuring four that received final funding,

including the following:

■ The Wondering Woods area at Mammoth Cave National Park, a 50-acre

abandoned theme park, was restored.

Site restoration initially entailed the

demolition, removal, and disposal of dilapidated structures and remnants from

previously dismantled buildings, gravel

parking areas, fences, and trash dumps.

Resulting surface cavities were filled with

soil and contoured to conform to the surrounding landscape and drainage

patterns. Exotic plants, such as Japanese

honeysuckle and mimosa trees, were

eradicated, and bare soils were covered

with a biodegradable ground cover to

stabilize the site and prevent erosion.

Forty acres of the site were then seeded

with a native grass/forbs seed mix to restore the prairie/barren plant community.

These efforts also improved the water

quality of runoff from the site, which

flows into a karst aquifer. This aquifer

supports the endangered Kentucky cave

shrimp and freshwater mussel habitat,

and in turn supports seven species of endangered mussels.

Small Parks Projects

NRPP funds are provided to regions to allocate to small national parks for projects.

Small parks are defined, for the purposes of

this funding, as those parks that fall in the

lower third of funding for all parks. Funds

are allocated according to the natural resource management workload of these

parks. Funded projects included a wide variety of management actions such as natural

resource management and monitoring

plans, exotic species control, restoration of

native ecosystems, natural resources surveys, inventories, assessments and analyses,

and fence repair for resource protection.

Sixty-nine projects in at least 57 parks were

funded in FY 2003. The cost of these

projects ranged from $1,700 to $40,400.

■ National Park of American Samoa began resuscitating a weed-infested

rainforest on Mt. Alava Ridge. Many of

the park lands are infested with alien

plant species, such as Paraserianthes

falcataria. A greenhouse was constructed

by park staff and village volunteers on elementary school grounds. This

greenhouse has already provided approximately 1,400 trees for restoration

efforts in the park and more than 800

trees for education purposes and local

village plantings. All greenhouse activities were facilitated directly by the small

parks NRPP funds in this project, which

paid for seasonal employees, volunteers,

and materials to construct the greenhouse. Five acres dominated by alien

plant species, most of which were cleared

prior to the project, were replanted with

native trees and maintained during 2001

to 2003. Most of the trees planted in the

restoration plots were asi (Syzygium

inophylloides) and afa (Neonauclea

forsteri), the predominant trees in local

forests. All species were planted adjacent

to their collection site.
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 35

Regional Block Allocation Projects

NRPP funds are provided to regions for national park projects as a part of regional

natural resource programs. These funds are

evenly distributed among the regions at

$200,000 per region per year. Qualified

projects are those that improve natural resource knowledge and condition, including

projects such as specialized inventories

(those currently outside the scope of the

Servicewide Inventory and Monitoring

Program’s 12 databases) and mitigation actions (i.e., exotic plant or exotic animal

control). Eighty-one projects in 51 parks

were funded in FY 2003. The cost of these

projects ranged from $1,500 to $75,000.

Funded projects included a variety of management actions such as ecosystem

restoration, exotic species control, seismic

hazard inventories, wildlife and vegetation

inventories and assessments, soundscape

monitoring, public outreach, and employee

development.

Alaska Special Projects

This funding category was funded and established in FY 2003 to enable the NPS to

undertake projects to better protect and

manage Alaska’s National Park Service

units, which are managed under the Alaska

National Interest Lands Conservation Act

(ANILCA) and other Alaska-specific requirements, including providing for subsistence harvests. During the first year of

funding, some of the projects undertaken

include the following:

■ Studies with the University of Alaska and

the U.S. Geological Survey to collect and

evaluate baseline data about arctic animals such as musk ox, lynx, and snowshoe hare.

■ Studies on marine birds in Glacier Bay

National Park and Preserve, Steller sea

lions and sockeye salmon in WrangellSaint Elias National Park and

Preserve, and sockeye salmon in

Aniakchak National Monument and

Preserve.

■ Social science research at the historic

Klondike Gold Rush National Historic

Park town site of Dyea to assist park

managers to develop appropriate visitor

and resource management strategies.

■ Documentation of subsistence harvest

levels and patterns for the Native Village

of Buckland, working with the Alaska

Department of Fish and Game.

Several of these studies continue, and new

cooperative research is planned in FY 2004.

NPS staff inform a television crew

about the creation of a native

botanical garden by National Park of

American Samoa and and Le’atele

Elementary School. Restoring weedinfested areas located on village

lands at National Park of America

Samoa included objectives such as

establishing a greenhouse and

propagating native tree species,

removing nonnative plants, and

developing and implementing an

educational model. NPS PHOTO
36 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

USGS Biological Technical Assistance

Agreement–Park-Oriented Biological

Support

The U.S. Geological Survey-Biological Resources Division and the National Park

Service, through the Natural Resource

Preservation Program, jointly support biological projects that provide exploratory

research and technical assistance to national parks. Twenty-four separate projects

were funded in FY 2003. Information on

the project topics, as well as status reports

on the projects, is included in Appendix B.

Many FY 2003 projects address continuation of endeavors that were initiated in FY

2002 or in various phases of previous years.

Servicewide Projects

In addition to national parks, there are often project needs outside specific

Servicewide programs which require funding unavailable from other sources. These

special needs are often interdisciplinary,

and may include activities with professional

organizations, certain publications, or work

on Servicewide databases. Specific project

needs that cannot be accommodated operationally are identified for funding by NRPP

or fee monies or other sources. In FY 2003,

as in the past, several of these needs exist

for database systems and information dissemination efforts not related to inventory

and monitoring. Some FY 2003 projects

were designed to provide tools or capacity

that will benefit many programs and components of the National Park Service, such

as the prototype information synthesis

project and the Natural Resource Laureate

Program. Other projects respond to special

issues that are beyond the capacity of the

base programs to fund, such as assessing

Resource Damage Assessment and Recovery Program

FY 2003 Program Activity by Region and Legislative Authority

INTER- MID- NAT’L. NORTH- PACIFIC SOUTHAUTHORITY HQ ALASKA MOUN- WEST CAPITAL EAST WEST EAST TOTAL

Park System

Resource Protection

Protection Act 1 3 4 2 4 7 5 27 53

Oil Pollution Act - - - - -- 2 2 4

Comprehensive

Environmental

Response,

Compensation,

and Liability Act 1 - 1 3 - 5 2 1 13

the vulnerability of coastal parks to climate

change.

RESOURCE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT

AND RECOVERY PROGRAM

Challenge Activity:

• Implement Resource Protection Act to

restore resources

• FY 2003 Allocation: $1,276,000

Under the Park System Resource Protection

Act (PSRPA) (16 USC 19jj), the Oil Pollution

Act (OPA) of 1990, the Clean Water Act as

amended by OPA (CWA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response,

Compensation and Liability Act

(CERCLA), the National Park Service conducts damage assessments and restoration

for injuries to park resources in NPS units.

Funding provided by the Natural Resource

Challenge enhanced capabilities of the program. Accomplishments in FY 2003

include: (1) direct technical assistance to

parks in conducting damage assessments

for incidents injuring park resources and in

planning and implementing restoration

projects; (2) outreach and training on damage assessment for park staff; and (3)

continued development of policies and

procedures for the program. Some FY 2003

highlights include the following:

■ Vessel Groundings in Dry Tortugas

National Park–Cases are pending for

vessel groundings in 2001 and 2002. The

incidents, involving four vessels, are jurisdictionally complex, and resulted in

injury to and loss of some of the most

significant coral reef and submerged cultural resources in the National Park

System.
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 37

■ Obed National Wild and Scenic River–

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the

State of Tennessee, and the NPS have

completed response actions to the July

2002 oil spill in the Obed River. Damage

assessment and restoration planning are

underway.

Program staff worked with 19 different park

units in FY 2003 to plan support and implementation of 32 different restoration

projects using funds collected and withdrawn from successful resource damage

claims. The accompanying table summarizes by region and legislative authority

program activity in FY 2003.

RESOURCE PROTECTION PROGRAM

Challenge Activity:

• Establish Resource Protection Fund

• FY 2003 Allocation: $298,000

The Resource Protection Program supported four projects in its second year of

funding that call for innovative approaches

involving natural resource specialists, protection rangers, and partners from other

agencies and universities. The new resource

stewardship and protection curriculum,

which was proposed by several regions, is

now providing training across the National

Park Service. A model to focus protection

efforts toward those natural resources most

at risk is being applied cooperatively by the

parks along the Appalachian Mountains,

utilizing the expertise of economists as well

as botanists. Special Agent Ken Johnson of

Shenandoah received a national award for

pioneering this enforcement approach at

the biome level. New surveillance techniques are being tested in Capitol Reef to

protect endangered cacti that are advertised

on Internet sites. Another example follows:

■ Illegal mushroom harvest at Mount

Rainier National Park was evaluated.

Mushroom harvest is a popular activity

in and around Mount Rainier National

Park. Although personal harvest of

mushrooms is allowed in the park, it is

limited to one quart of fruiting bodies

per person each day. Illegal commercial

harvest has long been suspected. Consequently, the park developed potential

habitat maps using GIS data based on the

autecology and habitat requirements of

desired species. During 2002 and 2003

the park surveyed potential mushroom

habitat near existing roads, documented

potential illegal harvest and impacts from

that harvest, conducted law enforcement

patrols, and developed training materials.

Local markets, including Pike Place Market in Seattle, were visited to determine

desired species and sources. Permits

from the U.S. Forest Service were reviewed, and interviews with local buyers

were conducted. Citations or warnings

were written in six cases for mushroom

harvest greater than the one-quart limit.

One citation was issued for collection of

approximately 15 pounds of fruiting bodies. The species of mushrooms

confiscated implied that this was likely a

commercial collection.

While initially funds were sought by several

parks to address pressing needs for routine

patrols, proposals increasingly show the innovation and collaboration between

divisions that this funding source requires.

See Appendix C for a complete listing of

projects funded under the Resource Protection Program.

WATER RESOURCES PROGRAM

Challenge Activities:

• Monitor water quality in parks and assess watershed conditions

• Expand water resource protection and

restoration

• FY 2003 Allocation: $11,614,000

The National Park Service Water Resources

Division worked with national parks, regions, and Washington office personnel to

continue implementation of the water resources component of the Natural

Resource Challenge. A funding increase

was received in FY 2003 to support three

new aquatic resource professionals in the

field. Funding was also received to support

watershed condition assessments in parks

and water quality monitoring in five additional Park Vital Signs Networks.

This was the fourth year of funding for a

program that reflects a direct connection

between the Natural Resource Challenge

and the National Park Service Strategic

Plan. The Natural Resource Challenge-related components of the Water Resources

Program include both new capability to

track the attainment of water quality standards in units of the National Park System

and expanded efforts to improve aquatic
38 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

support ongoing studies designed to characterize surface or groundwater flow

systems. In the western United States, ongoing projects are developing modeling

information that will benefit the capabilities

of decision-makers such as federal managers, judges, and administrators to predict

effects of large-scale development in regional groundwater flow systems. In the

eastern United States, hydrologic studies

are developing information on the effects of

impoundments on surface river systems.

These tools are needed by decision-makers

to understand the potential for impacts to

park water resources in the future from a

number of existing water development proposals. In addition, hydrologic data are

often required to implement settlement

agreements.

To increase the effectiveness of its water resource protection project funding, the

National Park Service partners with other

nonfederal entities. Some studies occur as a

result of collaboration with state or private

entities with common science objectives.

For example, hydrologic data collected by

NPS studies for Lake Mead National Recreation Area and Death Valley National Park

are shared with the Nevada State Engineer,

southern Nevada water purveyors, and private developers, thereby contributing to the

larger-scale investigation of water availability in southern Nevada. In another example,

data and other science information collected at Chickasaw National Recreation

Area contribute to an ongoing state-federal

study of the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer in

southeastern Oklahoma.

Water Resources Division competitive

projects support a wide range of parkbased activities. Such efforts include

riparian/stream, wetland and watershed

restoration, and regulatory assessments.

Projects also support design and implementation of best management practices

required to improve water quality to meet

state-mandated polluted runoff or nonpoint source pollution control, one-time

assessments or inventories of water quality

baseline conditions or contaminants, wetland inventories, groundwater assessment

and monitoring, well and spring inventories, channel and bank stability

investigations, floodplain assessments, water resources management planning, and

other water resources-related activities.

resources through projects and field-based

aquatic resource specialists who can work

with other water resource managers in watersheds requiring attention. The National

Park Service goal for FY 2003 was that waters in 65 percent of parks were

unimpaired, that is, not included on state

lists of quality-impaired waters or otherwise documented by the park as having

water quality problems or standards violations. The National Park Service did not

attain this goal in FY 2003, as only 62 percent (178 of 288 applicable parks) had

unimpaired waters. This represented a

slight decrease over 2002 of parks with unimpaired waters, primarily because many

parks have recently completed water quality

inventories that have discovered quality-impaired water bodies that were not

previously reported. For example, Badlands

National Park recently discovered that a

spring was contaminated with the pesticide

atrizine. The information being provided by

Natural Resource Challenge-funded efforts,

combined with increased capacity to address aquatic resource issues, will enhance

National Park Service ability to improve

water resource conditions in parks in the

future.

Water Resource Projects

Funding for this activity supports projects

in three areas: Water Resource Protection

Projects, Competitive Projects, and Other

Projects, which are non-competitive.

Projects in these areas include general water

resources, water quality, wetlands protection, and water rights. Highlights of FY

2003 accomplishments in each of these

project categories are included. For a complete listing of projects funded in FY 2003

under Water Resource Protection, see Appendix D of this report.

Water resource protection projects help to

fund data collection and analyses that target

development of scientific information that

will benefit decision-makers, including federal managers, court judges, and state

administrators. Results are often intended

to support settlement negotiations conducted to avoid contested case hearings or

contested land use decisions, or to support

the implementation of settlements. Often

hydrologic characterization is a need common to all water resources protection issues

addressed by this budget. The majority of

these FY 2003 project funds were used to
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 39

Natural Resource Challenge funding

enabled restoration of native

vegetation to a savanna wetland at

Moores Creek National Battlefield.

By 1940 a drainage ditch installed in

the early 1900s (top) had altered the

hydrology and plant community of

the historic pine-savanna wetland

system(1). Pre-drainage water levels

were restored when the drainage

ditch in the savanna was plugged in

1998, but native bunchgrasses had

failed to recolonize the site (2). A

prescribed burn in fall of 2003 (3) set

the stage for reintroducing native

bunchgrasses using nursery-grown

plugs (4). NPS PHOTOS

Two examples of the projects funded in FY

2003 follow:

■ Native vegetation was restored to the savanna wetland at Moores Creek

National Battlefield, restoring the terrace east of the bridge to the ecosystem

in existence at the time of the Battle of

Moores Creek Bridge in 1776. Ditching,

mowing, seeding, fertilizing, and other

activities during the 20th century had

converted the site to a drained, weeddominated meadow. In the late 1990s, the

NPS began restoring the historic landscape by blocking the drainage works

and recreating the original wetland hydrology, but wire grass (Aristida stricta)

and other native bunchgrass species

showed no sign of recolonizing the site.

These grasses are critical to pine savannas, providing fuel for the fires that

maintain these ecosystems and creating

conditions that support rare plants such

as the Venus flytrap. Using bunchgrass

seeds from savannas on nearby Nature

Conservancy lands, a nursery was contracted to grow, deliver, and supervise

the planting of 25,000 plants over a twoyear period. A prescribed burn was

completed as well. With favorable

weather conditions, the plants introduced to the savanna in December 2003

should grow large enough during 2004

for a fall burn, to be followed by planting

of the remaining plants by December

2004.

■ The U.S. Geological Survey-Pennsylvania

District developed a groundwater monitoring plan for Delaware Water Gap

National Recreation Area that assesses

current water quality conditions and establishes a baseline for comparing future

changes within the area. A full report

submitted to the park includes a description of the Delaware Water Gap NRA

region and identifies possible threats to

groundwater quality. The report also describes the geohydrologic framework of

the region, thereby enabling park managers to make decisions regarding a

groundwater monitoring network; provides a searchable database of existing

research completed within and around

1234
40 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

the region; compiles a monitoring-well

inventory that verifies the suitability for

inclusion in the network; and contains a

proposal for objectives, approach, and

estimated budget for future completion

and implementation of a groundwater

monitoring network within the recreation area.

Because of the limited professional fishery

expertise within the National Park Service,

a small amount of funding is directed at developing and increasing cooperative

relationships between the academic community and the NPS fisheries program.

Funds are set aside to help foster graduate

student research at National Park System

units and to help cooperatively fund fishery

students engaged in NPS park projects. Potential high-priority projects suitable for

graduate student research are identified

through the NPS project need data system

and matched to student availability through

discussions with fishery professors. The

program helps introduce top caliber fishery

students to National Park Service programs

and expands the level of expertise made

available to parks. In FY 2003 a two-year

project was completed in Rocky Mountain

National Park on the evaluation of barriers

to the upstream movement of nonnative

brook char.

Water Quality Monitoring

Full program funding was allocated to 17

Park Vital Signs Networks in FY 2003,

including five new networks (allocations

are included in Chapter Five). The five

newly funded networks include Southwest

Alaska, Northeast Temperate, Southern

Colorado Plateau, Pacific Island, and Great

Lakes. Network planning approaches

included personnel hiring, in-house

allocation of staff, university cooperative

agreements, and USGS Interagency

Agreements. In addition, some equipment

acquisitions were made. All networks

accomplished the following activities: (1)

network water quality planning workshops;

(2) historic data compilations and analyses;

(3) information input on state-listed

impaired waters and park “outstanding”

waters; (4) documentation of significant

water quality stressors/threats; (5) synoptic

inventory studies in support of detailed

statistical design; and (6) database

management and GIS support programs.

See Appendix C for the allocation of

funding under Water Quality Park Vital

Signs Monitoring.

Work proceeded during FY 2003 on development of program technical guidance,

technical protocols, detailed study plan and

Quality Control/Quality Assurance Plan

guidance, and database management. Database templates are being developed for

networks so that data can be managed consistently with the requirements of STORET,

and also as part of Network Vital Signs

Monitoring databases. The Servicewide

NPS water quality database being constructed by the program has more than 2.5

million water quality observations. This database has served as the starting point for

most network water quality data compilation and analysis efforts.

Water Resource Protection–Aquatic

Resource Professionals

In FY 2003 the Natural Resource Challenge

funded three additional aquatic resource

specialists: a groundwater hydrologist at

Chickasaw National Recreation Area, a marine ecologist at Fire Island National

Seashore, and a groundwater hydrologist at

Lake Mead National Recreation Area. This

brings the number of new aquatic resource

specialists funded by the Natural Resource

Challenge to a total of 15 field positions (see

Appendix D).

Before funding provided by the Natural Resource Challenge, only 20 parks had aquatic

resource professionals on staff. The new

field-based staff work on aquatic resource

issues in a number of parks to provide technical assistance, identify and conduct

technical investigations to determine the

condition of park aquatic resources, determine if actions of the National Park Service

or external parties impair or impact resources, assist in developing and

implementing aquatic resource mitigation

and restoration projects, and interpret and

implement National Park Service water resource-related policies and regulations.

While these 15 Challenge-created positions

work on a wide range of water resource-related issues facing the parks, some

particularly significant issues addressed in

FY 2003 include the following:

■ The aquatic ecologist for the Central and

Northwest Alaska Network conducted a

wetland plant inventory at Wrangell-St.
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 41

Elias National Park and Preserve; developed a water resources monitoring

plan for Yukon-Charley Rivers and

Gates of the Arctic National Park; conducted a pilot study to test the field

sampling protocols for aquatic monitoring in the Central Alaska Network; and

monitored a large NPS-USGS project to

monitor groundwater quality at

Anaktuvuk Pass in Gates of the Arctic

National Park and Preserve.

■ The groundwater hydrologist at the

Sonoran Desert Network worked with

USGS and park staff to conduct water

quality sampling at Tumacacori National Monument; planned monitoring

for Apache Spring in Fort Bowie National Historic Site; investigated options

for potable water supply outside of

Saguaro National Park; provided field

support in the installation of monitoring

instrumentation at Rincon Creek in

Saguaro National Park; and measured

water levels in springboxes and several

wells at Coronado National Memorial.

■ The aquatic ecologist at the Center for

Urban Ecology in the National Capital

Region provided comprehensive review

of water quality monitoring efforts in

Morristown National Historic Park,

Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Catoctin Mountain

Park, and Prince William Forest Park

that involved technical evaluations of the

design of park-based water quality monitoring programs and statistical analysis

and interpretation of long-term data sets.

Watershed Condition Assessment

Program

Funding provided for this effort was used

for initial design work on a long-term program of systematic park-based assessments

of watershed conditions, for shorter-term

condition assessments, and to support the

backlog of watershed and water quality assessment needs currently identified in the

project needs system. As a result of the latter, a larger number of competitive projects

were funded, discussed in the previous section and listed in Appendix D.

Examples of other work supported in

short-term condition assessments and planning for longer-term assessments include

the following:

■ A cooperative interdisciplinary project

with the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies

Units (CESU) system initiated in 2003 to

conduct a review, evaluation, and classification of condition assessment methods,

and to develop a compendium of methods applicable to NPS needs, as well as

guidance in methods selection. The field

of watershed condition assessment is

new, and there are no standard or widely

accepted methods or approaches to conducting structured, replicable

assessments of watershed resources.

■ Six multi-year partnership projects at

Lake Roosevelt National Recreation

Area, Rock Creek Park, Niobrara

National Scenic Riverway, Mammoth

Cave National Park, Yosemite National

Park, and Canyonlands National Park

as part of the NPS-USGS Water Quality

Assessment and Monitoring Partnership

Program.

■ A hydrologic assessment at Congaree

Swamp National Monument conducted

in response to an emergency draining

and repair of an upstream dam.

Water Resource Technical Assistance

This was the fundamental component of

the Water Resources Program before the

Natural Resource Challenge, and it has not

been expanded with Challenge funding.

Through this effort, the Water Resources

Program provides direct assistance to parks

on high-priority needs using a combination

of its own staff and expertise acquired

through cooperative agreements. Examples

of accomplishments include the following:

■ Completed Water Resources Management Plans for Sleeping Bear Dunes

National Lakeshore, Richmond

National Battlefield Park, Hagerman

Fossil Beds National Monument, and

New River Gorge National River/

Gauley River National Recreation

Area/Bluestone National Scenic River.

■ Developed technical portions of Fisheries Management Plans for Amistad

National Recreation Area, Biscayne

National Park, and North Cascades

National Park.
42 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

■ Evaluated alternative discharge locations

for the Las Vegas sewage treatment plant

at Lake Mead.

■ Provided technical guidance to Yosemite

Valley planning and Merced River

restoration.

■ Provided technical support to development of a sediment management program for Elwha River dam removal.

■ Evaluated alternatives for management of

a uranium tailings pile at Moab, Utah.

■ Evaluated flood mitigation alternatives at

Manzanar National Historic Site.

■ Assisted in the development of a flood

warning system at Haleakala National

Park.

■ Participated in the development of the

Colorado River Annual Operating Plan.

■ Assisted the Department of the Interior

in securing a settlement agreement that

sets a course to secure water rights for

the Black Canyon of the Gunnison

National Park in Colorado.

■ Secured final Snake River basin adjudication decree for water rights at City of

Rocks National Preserve in Idaho.

■ Collaborated with other Interior and

nonfederal interests to advance the level

of scientific information available to

decision-makers for groundwater

systems in southern Nevada to protect

resources at Lake Mead National

Recreation Area and Death Valley

National Park.

■ Assisted Saguaro National Park to

initiate efforts to secure protection for

instream flows in Rincon Creek under

Arizona law.

A Student Conservation Association

volunteer uses a kicknet to collect

stream organisms at George

Washington Memorial Parkway. In

addition to providing baseline water

quality data, the surface water

quality monitoring program provides

valuable resource management

experience for SCA conservation

interns. NSP PHOTO
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 43
Tree characteristics are measured

and GPS location data are gathered

by an NPS seasonal ranger and high

school summer interns from the

Casey Tree Foundation in

Washington, D.C. Such work on the

National Mall is part of a program

conducted by the National Capital

Parks Urban Ecology Research

Learning Alliance. NPS PHOTO
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 45

Chapter Four: Progress in Learning About

National Park System Natural Resources

In the new strategic plan, the NPS will focus on implementing the measurement

of park vital signs, rather than identifying them; this is a direct result of new

funding under the Natural Resource Challenge.

This chapter focuses on programs whose

accomplishments primarily relate to the

National Park Service goal (Ib) that:

The National Park Service contributes to

knowledge about natural . . . resources and

associated values; management decisions

about resources and visitors are based on adequate . . . scientific information.

Descriptions of the accomplishments of the

four natural resource programs that received Natural Resource Challenge funding

in FY 2003 and contributed to the knowledge goal (Ib) follow:

■ Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units

■ Inventory and Monitoring Program

■ Natural Resource Data and Information

■ Research Learning Centers

Additional detailed financial information

about these programs is located in Chapter

Five.

COOPERATIVE ECOSYSTEM STUDIES

UNITS (CESUs)

Challenge Activity:

• Establish Cooperative Ecosystem

Studies Units

Cumulative Challenge Increases:

• $1,993,000 (FY 2001 and FY 2003)

Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units

(CESUs) are multi-agency partnerships

with the nation’s universities and other institutions, organized around biogeographic

areas. Their broad scope includes the biological, physical, social, and cultural

sciences needed to address natural and cultural resource and visitor management

issues at multiple scales, and in an ecosystem context. A total of 120 universities,

including 22 minority institutions, and 24

state, tribal, and non-governmental partners participate in the CESU Network. In

FY 2003 four new CESUs were established,

bringing the total number of CESUs to 16.

The seventeenth (and final) CESU is on

schedule to be established in FY 2004.

Active National Park Service participation

in the CESU Network is an essential component of the Challenge. Twelve CESUs

now have an NPS Research Coordinator

duty stationed at the respective host universities. Funding in FY 2003 resulted in NPS

participation in two of the twelve CESUs—

the Great Lakes-Northern Forest and Gulf

Coast CESUs. National Park Service coordinators are “brokers,” working with park

managers to identify research, technical assistance, and education needs, and to

provide specialized expertise and assistance

available from the universities and other

federal agency partners in the CESU Network. In addition, through their direct

connection with parks to facilitate projects,

they have become instrumental in fostering

cohesion and enhancing communication

among park clusters and among diverse

program offices.

While biological and physical science

projects continue to dominate, National

Park Service coordinators are working to

facilitate more projects that meet cultural

resources and social science needs. This is

particularly significant in the Intermountain

Region, where the regional office is supporting Cultural Resource Specialist

positions at three CESUs. Several NPS coordinators in border areas are exploring

innovative approaches to address management challenges that cross international

boundaries. Others are focusing efforts on

encouraging and facilitating greater multiagency activities within the CESU Network.

CESUs play a significant role in conducting

and completing the extensive NPS Inventory and Monitoring efforts underway

through the Natural Resource Challenge.

Connections between NPS participation in
46 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

CESUs, the NPS Inventory and Monitoring

Program, and Research Learning Centers

continue to create highly productive synergy among multiple components of the

Challenge. Cooperative Ecosystem Studies

Units contribute to the professional development of the NPS workforce through key

topical workshops, the development of curricula being used in Servicewide training,

and through the contributions of NPS coordinators to training courses. Opportunities for minority students and faculty at

participating CESU institutions to become

involved in NPS CESU projects continue to

be developed, a potential step toward diversifying the NPS.

Use of the CESUs increased from a total of

over 380 projects and $15 million in FY 2002

to 540 projects and $19 million in FY 2003.

In addition to providing academic expertise

for collaborative projects, CESUs provide

training opportunities and serve as a valuable means to coordinate activities among

agencies and academia. Appendix E provides a list of projects carried out through

CESUs using Natural Resource Challenge

CESU funding. Following are some examples of FY 2003 accomplishments:

■ The National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,

Army Corps of Engineers, and Pennsylvania State University are collaborating to

evaluate the impacts on Potomac River

ecology of sediment discharge from the

Washington Aqueduct water treatment

plant. One study was conducted in response to concern that flocculated

aluminum might become toxic to benthic

invertebrates living downstream of the

discharge point, especially under conditions of anoxia within fine sediments.

Researchers from the University of the

District of Columbia, through the

Chesapeake Watershed CESU, are using the Asiatic clam, Corbicula fluminea,

as a model to study whether aluminum

accumulation in estuarine biota is relative

to the water treatment discharge point.

Results will be used to develop management plans for facility operation to

ensure safe drinking water for Washington citizens and protection of natural

resources in the river.

■ A report produced through the

Colorado Plateau CESU updated

outdoor recreation use values. This

report presents updated values per

visitor day of outdoor recreation

opportunities commonly found at

National Park System units, state parks,

and national forests. In the report, the

term “value” indicates net willingness to

pay. Development of credible measures

of benefits for outdoor recreation is

useful in damage assessment as well as in

analysis of current management and

policy actions. The investigators updated

previous literature reviews on outdoor

recreation use valuation, and included

recent analyses and estimates. They

added 479 new estimates to a previous

database, bringing the total to 1,239

benefits estimates obtained from 539

studies. The study provides values for 30

separate outdoor recreation activities,

including additions for such values as

snorkeling, scuba diving, and bird

watching, among others. The average

value per day for NPS recreation varies

by U.S. Census region; for example,

$22.61 in the Southwestern National Park

units and $89.21 per day for the Pacific

Coast states. The overall NPS average

was $43.26 per day.

■ During the summer of 2003, a paleontology team excavated several marine

vertebrates from the Upper Cretaceous

Tropic Shale northeast of Big Water,

Utah, at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The largest and most

impressive fossil collected was the partial

skeleton of a very large plesiosaur, a marine predator of the Cretaceous Interior

Seaway that was the dominant carnivore

in the shallow sea covering the North

American continent 90 million years ago.

This individual is considerably larger

than previously collected skeletons of

plesiosaurs in the area. During the excavation, Glen Canyon NRA sponsored a

one-week open house where the public

was invited to observe firsthand the scientific process underway. This was a

Colorado Plateau CESU project.

■ In cooperation with the U.S. Geological

Survey Colorado Plateau Field Station

and Northern Arizona University, the

Colorado Plateau CESU developed a

website to provide information and tools

for invasive plant management in the

Southwest (http://usgs.nau.edu/SWEPIC).
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 47

This project was partially funded by Recreational Fee Demonstration funds. The

site joins the Southwest Exotic Mapping

Program and the Alien Plant Ranking

System (APRS) with numerous other direct links to information on invasive

plants. Alien Plant Ranking System

scores for more than 300 exotic plants in

the Southwest are now available. It is

hoped that the site will be an essential

tool for land managers in Southwest

parks and serve as a prototype for regional websites across the country.

■ The Rocky Mountains CESU joined the

Rocky Mountain “wolverine parks”

managers with researchers from the U.S.

Forest Service and Wildlife Conservation

Society to discuss strategies for a landscape-level analysis of wolverine

populations in the northern Rockies.

Many NPS partners, including the NPS

Fire Ecology Program in Boise, Idaho,

used the University of Wyoming biostatistician resources for training and

education.

■ The Colorado Plateau CESU developed

a prototype course in Integrated Fire and

Resource Management Planning in cooperation with NPS Biological Resource

Management, Cultural Resources, Training and Development, National

Interagency Fire Center, and Northern

Arizona University. The course brings together natural and cultural resource

managers from national parks, or groups

of parks, with fire managers to encourage

integrated fire management planning.

The course is designed to contain core

sections that do not change with each

course offering. As the course is taught

throughout the country, the fire ecology

and management sections are tailored to

the geographic area in which they are offered, using local scientific experts as

instructors. The one-week prototype

course was presented at the Horace M.

Albright Training Center April 28 to May

2. The National Park Service National

Fire Program Center will be offering the

newly developed course on four to five

occasions throughout the country in

2004.

■ A project was implemented marking selected ginseng plants at Shenandoah

National Park, Blue Ridge Parkway,

and Great Smoky Mountains National

Park with different dyes to determine the

uptake and retention of the dye markers

in the plants. The intent was to find a dye

that persists in suitable amounts in the

plants so that identification of poached

specimens can be definitive and defendable. Wild ginseng plants are being

illegally removed from NPS units in the

Appalachian chain to be sold in national

and international markets. Identifying

poached ginseng once it is removed from

A high school volunteer eradicates

Scotch thistle at Zion National Park.

The park has expanded its exotic

plant management efforts using

volunteers funded by the Natural

Resource Challenge. NPS PHOTO
48 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

park boundaries is almost impossible

and can easily be legally challenged. This

project was conducted through the

Southern Appalachian Mountains

CESU and demonstrated the role of

CESUs in assisting law enforcement in

the NPS.

INVENTORY AND MONITORING

PROGRAM

Challenge Activities:

• Complete basic inventories, except vegetation mapping

• Vegetation mapping cost-share with

USGS

• Monitor vital signs in networks of parks

• FY 2003 Allocation: $32,385,000

The Natural Resource Challenge assesses

ecosystem health through inventorying and

monitoring park vital signs with the help of

cutting-edge science. Establishing baseline

inventories provides park managers with

critical and necessary information that they

use when making decisions about the management of their park resources. To

coordinate these activities, the National

Park Service has organized 270 natural resource parks (see Appendix F) into a system

of 32 networks. Parks within the networks

are expected to coordinate fieldwork, share

staff and equipment, implement smart business practices jointly, and develop resource

trend data indicative of the network at

large. By doing this, duplication of effort

and costs should be reduced, and the integrity of science programs should improve.

Each of the parks involved is to obtain 12

basic inventory products. The 32 networks

are charged with developing individually

tailored monitoring programs for their

parks. These programs are complex and address wildlife, plant life, water and air quality,

and landscape ecosystem components. The

Park Vital Signs Monitoring component of

the Inventory and Monitoring Program is

being approached incrementally. Emphasis

has been placed on building on the experience gained from early efforts to improve

subsequent activities.

This program was designed as a foundational component of the Natural Resource

Challenge and reflects the goals of the National Park Service Strategic Plan. The National Park Service target for its inventory

goal in FY 2003 was completion of 1,498 (54

percent) of the 2,767 outstanding data sets.

The National Park Service met and slightly

exceeded this goal by completing an additional 152 data sets in FY 2003, bringing the

total to 1,507 (54 percent) of the outstanding

data sets. The National Park Service goal

for park vital signs was that, by September

30, 2003, 40 percent (108) of 270 parks with

significant natural resources would have

identified their vital signs for natural resource monitoring. As a direct result of the

strategy of organizing parks into 32 vital

signs monitoring networks, the goal was exceeded. By the end of FY 2003, 118 parks (43

percent) had identified their vital signs,

compared to the annual goal of 108 parks.

In the new strategic plan, the NPS will focus

Twelve Basic Natural Resource Inventories

COMPLETED

BASIC DATA SETS UNDERWAY THROUGH FY 2003

1. Natural Resource Bibliography 0 270

2. Species List 0 270

3. Vegetation Map 45 36

4. Base Cartography Data 1 269

5. Species Occurrence and Distribution 270 0

6. Soils Map 31 58

7. Geology Map 227 17

8. Baseline Water Quality Data 0 270

9. Water Body Location and Classification 0 270

10. Air Quality Data 20 250

11. Air Quality Related Values 270 0

12. Meteorological Data 0 270

TOTALS 864 1980

Note: All numbers represent status as of the end of FY 2003. See Appendix A for a complete list of the

status of all basic inventories for the 270 natural resource parks. The National Park Service is working toward implementation of monitoring programs in those 270 natural resource parks.
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 49

on implementing the measurement of park

vital signs, rather than identifying them; this

is a direct result of new funding under the

Natural Resource Challenge.

Financial details about the program are included in Chapter Five.

Inventories

Beginning in FY 2000, the Natural Resource Challenge provided substantial

increases for inventories, allowing the National Park Service to significantly

accelerate providing a core set of 12 basic

inventories to all parks with natural resources. As of FY 2003 seven data sets are

essentially completed, and the balance are

underway. The status of these inventories is

shown in the accompanying table.

All networks received significant funding in

FY 2003 for completing species occurrence

and distribution inventories, or biotic inventories. This funding has allowed parks

to obtain the most basic biotic inventory information, primarily for vascular plants and

vertebrate animals. Many of the most exciting inventory results are from these efforts

and are highlighted in this section.

Vegetation information is a high-priority inventory need for most parks and is arguably

the most important piece of information

needed for park resource management and

protection. Such information is important

for (1) the management and protection of

wildlife habitat; (2) modeling vegetation

flammability and fuel implications for fire

management; (3) analyses for site development suitability; and (4) evaluation of

resources at risk. By combining FY 2003

Natural Resource Challenge funding with

other funding provided by the U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service

Fire Program, the NPS was able to complete

12 additional vegetation mapping projects

(30 total complete), continue 53 ongoing

projects, and initiate 26 new park mapping

projects. Some vegetation mapping highlights are included in this section.

The Alaska Landcover Mapping Program is

separate from the vegetation mapping effort

for other parks; the scale of parks there dictates different mapping approaches. The

National Park Service has also partnered

with a variety of entities to conduct cooperative projects in Alaska, including the U.S.

Geological Survey-EROS Field Office,

Ducks Unlimited, National Wetlands Inventory, and the University of Alaska. By the

end of FY 2003, land cover maps had been

completed for six Alaskan park units; field

data viewers had been completed for seven

park units; and user’s guides were completed for six park units. Each of these

products is also under development in a

number of other Alaska park units. Mapping efforts are expected either to be

completed or initiated in all of the Alaskan

Inventory Status and Projected Completion Schedule

END OF END OF END OF FY

FY 2003 FY 2004 FY 2005 2006-10*

TO BE

BASIC DATA SETS UNDERWAY COMPLETED COMPLETED COMPLETED COMPLETED

1. Natural Resource Bibliography 0 270 270 270 0

2. Species List 0 270 270 270 0

3. Vegetation Map 45 36 52 70 200

4. Base Cartography Data 1 269 270 270 0

5. Species Occurrence and Distribution 270 0 230 270 0

6. Soils Map 31 58 70 95 175

7. Geology Map 227 17 38 70 200

8. Baseline Water Quality Data 0 270 270 270 0

9. Water Body Location and Classification 0 270 270 270 0

10. Air Quality Data 20 250 270 270 0

11. Air Quality Related Values 270 0 50 100 170

12. Meteorological Data 0 270 270 270 0

* The Servicewide program acquires basic inventory data sets for about 270 parks with significant natural resources. However, some parks have acquired some of these data sets, and a few parks may not

need all 12 sets. The TO BE COMPLETED column reflects the number of parks Servicewide with outstanding needs.
50 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

parks by FY 2004. Other inventories that

received substantial efforts in FY 2003 included soils mapping that is ongoing in 11

parks and groups of parks, mostly in cooperation with the Natural Resource

Conservation Service, and geologic inventories, which are being undertaken in 33

parks.

Highlights of inventory results in FY 2003

include the following:

■ An agreement in 2003 with the Seattle

City Light Wildlife group added $19,500

to the North Cascades National Park

Forest Carnivore Inventory, greatly

supplementing the NPS Inventory funding for this project. Biologists conducted

the first year of a two-year forest carnivore inventory, documenting carnivores

in photographs by placing cameras (38

stations). Fifteen species were documented in 974 animal photographs; the

most common of which were marten and

spotted skunk. Other species documented included black bear, cougar,

coyote, bobcat, and short-tailed weasel.

Though not targeted in this effort, northern flying squirrel was one of the more

notable species “captured” on film in this

productive, but non-invasive inventory

project.

■ Rare plant surveys at Mount Rainier

National Park led to the serendipitous

discovery of a second park population of

extremely rare fungus, Bridgeoporus

nobilissimus. The worldwide distribution

of this very large mushroom, which

grows on old-growth fir trees, is limited

to 10 known locations in the Pacific

Northwest. The new population is located in designated wilderness and

appears to be stable, which is important

because the other park population is located on a steep slope below a roadway

that continues to slough. The newly discovered site is located in a more secure,

stable environment. This is an outstanding example of unexpected benefits from

NPS inventories; this discovery of an extremely rare fungus was made during

surveys looking for an entirely different

biological kingdom.

■ The presence of a “mesic bur oak forest”

was documented at Homestead

National Monument in Nebraska.

According to local experts, it is one of

relatively few mesic bur oak forests in

good condition in the entire state. This

plant community has been identified as

critically imperiled in Nebraska and is on

The Nature Conservancy’s watch list.

■ The Ozark hellbender was documented

at six new locations within the Ozark

National Scenic Riverway during a recent survey. The Ozark hellbender

(Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi), an

Natural Resource Challenge funding

supported a survey in Mount Rainier

National Park that revealed the

presence of a second park

population of the extremely rare

fungus, Bridgeoporous nobilissimus.

NPS PHOTO
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 51

exclusively aquatic giant salamander, was

recently listed as a new federal candidate

endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.

■ The vegetation/fuels mapping effort at

Santa Monica Mountains National

Recreation Area will provide information for park fire management while

following NPS national standards and

guidelines. Work began in early FY 2002,

and the final digital map should be completed by the end of FY 2004. The

project is a cooperative effort between

the NPS, the California Department of

Fish and Game, and several private contractors. Aerial Information Systems

(AIS) is completing aerial photo interpretation and map automation. Detailed

field-based data are being collected by

park staff for the vegetation classification

and accuracy assessment. A preliminary

classification map was developed during

FY 2003. Work will conclude in FY 2004

with a formal accuracy assessment and

development of final products.

■ At Bandelier National Monument, biologists found evidence for the

occurrence of up to 37 new small mammal species for which previous

documentation was poor or lacking. Because of their precarious isolation from

other populations and their limited habitat in the higher elevations of Bandelier

National Monument, populations at the

park may serve as important indicators

of the health of these montane ecosystems in the future. Many of the new

species documented represent important

records for mammals in New Mexico, including the rock pocket mouse,

American pika, mountain cottontail, yellow-bellied marmot, bushy-tailed

woodrat, and southern red-backed vole.

■ The Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network initiated a partnership

with Michigan State University to build a

“Natural Resources Information Gateway.” The Gateway will be an

Internet-based system that will allow National Park Service staff, partners, and

the public to search and download natural resource inventory and monitoring

information using spatial and tabular

queries. The site will contain data on climate, air and water quality, land use

change, and human population growth in

and around the parks. These regionally

important data will be “harvested” from

various state and federal agencies. The

objective is to bring important data together in a one-stop website for

managers of national parks and their

partner agencies and researchers. The

site will include a public interface that

will allow access to nonsensitive natural

resource information.

■ Observers conducting bird inventories

noted a spectacular richness and abundance of bird species in the riparian

forest of Knife River Indian Villages

National Historic Site. They commented that the rich diversity of birds

was due to a thick forest with an abundant vertical structure and dead woody

debris—habitat features that would be affected by forest thinning. While

documenting the presence, abundance,

and/or distribution of species occurring

in the parks, information on habitat use

such as this is also sometimes collected

and forwarded to park management. The

researchers also observed bird species

that likely existed in park units because

of fire, such as mountain and eastern

bluebirds at Jewel Cave National

Monument. In burn areas in Jewel Cave

National Monument, the black-backed

woodpecker counts were twice has high

as in any other transect in a burn area

outside the park (i.e., on national forest

lands). This is probably because of the

mature forest that existed in the park before the fire and the absence of salvage

logging after the fire.

■ Avian and mammalian inventories at two

small cultural parks, Fort Necessity National Battlefield and Friendship Hill

National Historic Site in western Pennsylvania, illustrate the importance of

protected areas for species of concern.

Dr. Rich Yahner, Brad Ross, and other

Penn State investigators surveyed bird

populations, documenting 127 and 138

bird species at Fort Necessity NB and

Friendship Hill NHS, respectively. A total

of 27 bird species were of special concern, including five state vulnerable

species, two state threatened species, and

one federally threatened species.
52 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

■ Inventories at Padre Island National

Seashore documented 22 reptile and amphibian species. The survey also

identified a frog possibly new to science,

according to the investigator, Dr. Mike

Duran. The detection of a previously unrecorded species of toad (Woodhouse’s

toad, Bufo woodhousii) in the park is notable. The barrier and consequent

genetic isolation imposed by Laguna

Madre may have resulted in the toad’s

distinctive characteristics. Another discovery at Padre Island National Seashore

was the Texas scarlet snake (Cemophora

coccinea lineri), a state endangered species; there are only four specimens of this

species in existence.

■ The Soil Resource Inventory for Grand

Canyon National Park was completed

in FY 2003. Products included a detailed

soil survey report, a set of digital map finished soil survey quad sheets, as well as a

soils geospatial database and metadata

file which meet National Cooperative

Soil Survey Standards. A meeting was

conducted with park staff where researchers explained how the soil

resource inventory was performed, its

limitations for use, and how the

geospatial data can be used in a Geographic Information System (GIS).

Participants indicated that the park

hopes to use the Soil Resources Inventory as a tool to help stratify the park into

various ecological zones to address several current and future resource

management issues. One result would be

a better understanding of the distribution of several threatened and

endangered plant species, and the relationship of endemic plant species to

various soil and site properties.

■ A Coastal Mapping Protocols Workshop

at Canaveral National Seashore addressed coastal park mapping needs and

coastal management issues related to low

relief and barrier island coastal systems.

Workshop participants identified coastal

landform and bathymetric features that

should be incorporated into coastal geology mapping products.

■ With the increased funding available in

2003, coastal park mapping projects were

initiated or continued for seven parks.

Leveraging funds with the U.S. Geological Survey Western Division of Coastal

and Marine Geology has made possible

the mapping of submerged resources of

the three west coast parks on Hawaii and

the integration of these maps with onshore mapping awaiting digitization.

Monitoring

Five additional networks were funded for

park vital signs monitoring in FY 2003,

bringing the total funded to 17 networks

encompassing 153 parks. The 17 networks

are involved in a three-phase planning

process that is designed to build upon

existing information about park ecosystems

and maximize the use and relevance of

monitoring results for management

decision-making, research, and education.

Each phase of the design work undergoes

peer review and refinement before approval

is granted for implementation.

The first twelve networks funded for vital

signs monitoring completed Phase Two of

their planning and design. This was preceded by the Phase One tasks of compiling

and synthesizing existing information, developing conceptual models of ecosystem

functioning, and evaluating whether current monitoring efforts that may be ongoing

in some parks in each network should be

continued and/or expanded as part of the

network monitoring program. The networks also identified partnership

opportunities with other agencies and

academia, and other means of leveraging

the monitoring funding. Drawing on this information and understanding, and bringing

in experts through scoping meetings and

other processes, each network then used a

well-documented decision-making process

to identify and prioritize park vital signs for

monitoring.

Because of funding restrictions, only the

highest priority vital signs can be monitored

with Natural Resource Challenge funding.

However, parks have augmented Challenge

funds with personnel and funding from

other sources and have established partnerships with numerous agencies and universities. It is often possible to monitor several

vital signs and parameters together. For example, a field crew may visit a stream segment and make numerous measurements

on the physical and chemical parameters of

the water (e.g., channel width, flow rate,

pH, dissolved oxygen), as well as measures
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 53

National Park Service Vital Signs Monitoring Networks Status, FY 2004

22 monitoring networks funded

FY 2001-2004 for core park vital

signs and water quality monitoring

6 monitoring networks proposed

for funding in FY 2005

Unfunded

ORDER NUMBER

FUNDED NETWORK CODE OF PARKS REGION

1 North Coast and Cascades Network NCCN 7 Pacific West

2 Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network NCBN 8 Northeast

3 Heartland Network HTLN 15 Midwest

4 Sonoran Desert Network SODN 11 Intermountain

5 Cumberland/Piedmont Network CUPN 14 Southeast

6 Central Alaska Network CAKN 3 Alaska

7 National Capital Region Network NCRN 11 National Capital

8 Northern Colorado Plateau Network NCPN 16 Intermountain

9 San Francisco Bay Area Network SFAN 6 Pacific West

10 Greater Yellowstone Network GRYN 3 Intermountain

11 Appalachian Highlands Network APHN 4 Southeast

12 Mediterranean Coast Network MEDN 3 Pacific West

13 Southwest Alaska Network SWAN 5 Alaska

14 Northeast Temperate Network NETN 10 Northeast

15 Southern Colorado Plateau Network SCPN 19 Intermountain

16 Pacific Island Network PACN 9 Pacific West

17 Great Lakes Network GLKN 9 Midwest

18 Gulf Coast Network GULN 8 Southeast

19 Rocky Mountain Network ROMN 6 Intermountain

20 Sierra Nevada Network SIEN 3 Pacific West

21 Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network ERMN 9 Northeast

22 Klamath Network KLMN 6 Pacific West

23 Arctic Network ARCN 5 Alaska

24 Southeast Coast Network SECN 17 Southeast

25 Upper Columbia Basin Network UCBN 8 Pacific West

26 Southern Plains Network SOPN 10 Intermountain

27 Mojave Desert Network MOJN 6 Pacific West

28 Southeast Alaska Network SEAN 3 Alaska

29 South Florida/Caribbean Network SFCN 6 Southeast

30 Mid-Atlantic Network MIDN 11 Northeast

31 Chihuahuan Desert Network CHDN 6 Intermountain

32 Northern Great Plains Network NGPN 13 Midwest
54 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

of aquatic macroinvertebrate and fish communities (e.g., species occurrence, relative

abundance), using funding from both the

core vital signs and water quality monitoring components of the Natural Resource

Challenge.

The list of vital signs that will be implemented with Natural Resource Challenge

funding by the first 12 networks will not be

finalized until completion in 2004 of the

protocol design phase and negotiations

with partners on options for implementation. To understand the vital signs most

likely to be monitored, each of the 12 networks was asked to provide a preliminary

list of their parks’ three or four highest-priority vital signs. Listed in the accompanying

table are some of the most common park

vital signs and the number of parks in the

first 12 networks that identified them as a

top priority.

The following provides the rationale for

some specific network selections of vital

signs, including those in the accompanying

table, and gives an example of a network

that listed each vital sign as a top priority.

■ Exotic/Invasive Plant Species Occurrence – Invasive plant species easily take

over sections of ecosystems, choking out

native species and consuming valuable

resources. Exotic species can greatly alter

ecological processes such as energy flow,

nutrient cycling, and succession (e.g.,

tree mortality because of introduced forest pests). A significant amount of money

is spent each year to combat exotics and

restore affected habitat. Monitoring exotic species occurrence in a scientifically

robust manner could greatly improve efficiency of removal and restoration

efforts. (Greater Yellowstone Network)

■ Changes in Adjacent Land Use/Land

Cover – Changes in adjacent land cover/

land use directly influence park

ecosystems in many important areas such

as habitat loss, fragmentation, altered

nutrient cycles, pollution, invasive

species, and hydrologic impacts. Several

parks are surrounded completely by

urban development, while others exist in

rural settings that are rapidly changing.

Combining the monitoring of this

attribute with key attributes for air

quality, water quality, and vegetational

changes will provide park managers with

early warning for future impacts on park

ecosystems. (Cumberland Piedmont

Network)

Preliminary List of Priority Vital Signs to be Monitored

EXAMPLE MEASURES NUMBER

VITAL SIGN (VARIES BY NETWORK) OF PARKS

Exotic/Invasive Plants Distribution, occurrence (presence/absence), area covered 79

by specific species of exotic/invasive plants

Land Use/Land Cover Change Area covered by each land use type; patch size; distance 67

between patches (largely derived from aerial and

satellite imagery)

Vegetation Community Species richness and abundance; percent cover by species; 59

Structure/Composition age and size distributions; recruitment (focus on key species

and communities)

Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Species and family richness; abundance of macroinvertebrate 35

Composition Abundance indicator species; ratios of observed:expected species

Soil Structure and Stability Presence/absence of erosional features (rills, pedastaled plants, 20

gullies); cover and development of biological soil crust; area of

uplands with various soil cover types; patterns of channel

aggradation/degradation; channel volume, bedload

Fish Community Dynamics Distribution and abundance of native and exotic species; 15

sex and age structure

Land Bird Distribution Distribution and abundance of native and exotic species; 15

and Abundance age structure
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 55

■ Vegetation Community Structure/

Composition – The herbaceous forest

understory provides information regarding important issues of interest to

managers (changes in canopy density,

deer browse) in addition to reflecting the

underlying ecological processes of competition, emigration and immigration,

and nutrient cycling. Changes in the tree

community may reflect successional

trends resulting from management practices or the disruption of historic

ecological regimes. (Heartland Network)

■ Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Composition and Abundance –

Macroinvertebrates are sensitive to

changes in the chemical and physical

properties of their environment, and certain species require very particular

habitat conditions to survive. Data for

macroinvertebrates have been used to assess water quality impairment for

decades, and are now being used by almost every state agency and numerous

county programs across the country for

monitoring the biological integrity of our

nation’s waters. (Central Alaska Network)

■ Soil Structure and Stability – Soil structure and stability (particularly in arid

parks) provides a measure of the resilience of a system to recover from

disturbance and its resistance to being

substantially affected by disturbances.

Accelerated soil erosion in uplands is a

predictable response to stressors and disturbances such as altered fire regimes,

overgrazing by livestock on adjacent

lands, and the creation of unauthorized

social trails. Soil loss in upland portions

of watersheds can result in extreme sedimentation and scour events along

streams and other critical surface water

sources, and diminished soil productivity

can directly impact vegetation and indirectly affect wildlife. (Northern Colorado

Plateau Network)

■ Fish Community Dynamics – Lake ecosystem processes are greatly affected by

the presence and composition of fish

communities. In the North Coast and

Cascades Network, the status of rare and

endemic species are of high concern, as

is the effect of exotic species introduction on native fish communities and lake

food web structure. In many lakes, native

species are subject to recreational harvest. Overharvest can have profound

effects on lake food web structure. (North

Coast and Cascades Network)

National Park Service Vital Signs Monitoring Networks Funding and Accomplishments

5 FY 2001-Funded

Networks (55 Parks)

7 FY 2002-Funded

Networks (46 Parks)

5 FY 2003-Funded

Networks (52 Parks)

5 FY 2004-Funded

Networks (32 Parks)

6 FY 2005 Proposed

Networks (49 Parks)

4 Unfunded

Networks (36 Parks)

Accomplishments Each Fiscal Year

Networks Funded

Identify/Synthesize

Existing Information

Identify

Vital Signs

Complete

Monitoring Plan

Ongoing

Implementation

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
56 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

■ Land Bird Distribution and Abundance – The Sonoran Desert lies along a

major flyway for migratory birds in

North America, and many Sonoran

Desert parks contain rare and regionally

diminishing habitat (e.g., lowland riparian vegetation) for both migrant and

resident land birds. Compared with

many other vertebrate taxa, the science

of land bird monitoring is well developed, and the community dynamics of

land birds provides a useful indicator of

overall ecosystem patterns and processes. Simultaneous monitoring of land

bird communities and vegetation communities will provide complementary

perspectives on ecosystem condition and

management effectiveness. (Sonoran

Desert Network)

■ Glaciers – In addition to their importance to hydrology, aquatic ecosystems,

and vegetation, glaciers are valuable indicators of climatic variability. Annual

variations in temperature and precipitation make identification of meaningful

changes in climate difficult—glaciers integrate these variations, while they

respond continually to temperature and

precipitation changes. The climatic

change of the late 1940s, which subsequently was found to have caused the

advance of glaciers in many parts of the

world, was apparently first detected in

1946 and 1947 in the Nisqually Glacier on

Mount Rainier. Thus, glacier monitoring

is important globally, as well as locally.

(North Coast and Cascades Network)

■ Shoreline Change – Monitoring natural

shoreline dynamics and retreat of the

land in the face of rising sea level is basic

to understanding the driving forces behind many Northeast Coastal and Barrier

Network park ecosystems. The loss of

valuable cultural/historic sites and natural resources (e.g., endangered plover

and tern breeding habitat) is of paramount concern to park managers.

Understanding shoreline dynamics will

assist with these management decisions

in the future. For ocean parks such as

Cape Cod National Seashore and

Assateague Island National Seashore,

horizontal position of the shoreline is

one of the simplest and most effective

means of monitoring shoreline change.

(Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network)

Highlights of results of ongoing monitoring

and planning for monitoring in the first

twelve networks include the following:

■ A climate/weather workshop was held at

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA) Sandpoint facility in Seattle to (1) integrate and

cost-share NPS monitoring with other

programs; (2) devise means to economically monitor weather and track climate

change for understanding linkages to terrestrial and aquatic systems; and (3)

recommend monitoring locations, types

of equipment, and appropriate models

for extrapolating monitored data. Scientists from NOAA, state and local air

regulatory agencies, the National Park

Service, regional energy agencies, Natural Resources Conservation Service

(NRCS), Washington Department of

Transportation, and local universities attended.

■ Connections with communities were

strengthened at Olympic National Park

as the park developed its water quality

monitoring design. The marine water

quality samples required to develop a

marine water quality monitoring protocol must be collected in the nearshore

environment. “Surfrider” volunteers,

members of a nonprofit organization

dedicated to protecting oceans, waves,

and beaches, collected these water

samples in 2003. Their work will continue next year, and the results will help

determine how Olympic National Park

will monitor ocean water quality on its

shores.

■ Protocol development for monitoring

seagrasses in the Northeast Coastal and

Barrier Network provided an opportunity for multi-party collaboration. Lead

scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey Patuxent Wildlife Research Center

invited scientists from Cape Cod National Seashore, NOAA Waquoit Bay

National Estuarine Research Reserve,

and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to participate in

training using SeagrassNet protocols.

SeagrassNet is a global monitoring

project with stations throughout the

world oceans. Cofounder Dr. Frederick

Short, from the University of New

Hampshire, provided on-site training in
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 57

SeagrassNet methods. Also assisting with

the work was a group of regional high

school students participating in a summer science enrichment program under

the supervision of a Cape Cod National

Seashore Student Conservation Association intern.

■ In the winter of FY 2003, the Sonoran

Desert Network joined with the

Sonoran Institute, the U.S. Geological

Survey-Sonoran Desert Field Station,

and the University of Arizona as the lead

partners in a regional monitoring framework for the Sonoran Desert Ecoregion.

Such cooperation has begun just as Pima

County, Arizona (which contains Organ

Pipe Cactus National Monument and

Saguaro National Park, the largest

parks in the network), is developing an

ecological monitoring plan, and the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S.

Forest Service, and Mexican agencies are

increasingly mandated to conduct sustained, consistent ecological monitoring.

These and other entities in the Sonoran

region have been very responsive to the

network monitoring approach. As network parks comprise less than one

percent of the Sonoran Desert, and many

of the network resource management issues and threats come from outside park

boundaries, a cooperative, regional

monitoring approach can provide obvious benefits to network parks. As such,

the potential regional and collaborative

approaches to monitoring have been

considered explicitly during monitoring

plan development.

■ Results of analyzing five years of bird

monitoring data from Tumacacori National Historical Park, Coronado

National Memorial, Chiricahua National Monument, Organ Pipe Cactus

National Monument, Fort Bowie National Historic Site, and two nearby

preserves in Mexico provided important

lessons for future monitoring in the

Sonoran Desert Network. The data

were collected as a part of the national

Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program, but had not

been analyzed. Results of the analysis indicated that sample size limitations

prevented meaningful trend information

for these parks. Another type of monitoring that could be obtained more easily

and more economically appears more reliable—relative abundance estimates

developed using distance sampling. Results were distributed to network parks

and presented at a network meeting. This

inexpensive project demonstrated the

value and importance of periodic data

analysis and careful examination of natural and sampling variance for designing

ecological monitoring.

■ One of the most feasible and practical

ways to monitor long-term changes in

permafrost has been identified by the

Central Alaska Network—the interpretation of aerial photography or other

imagery. To explore this option further, a

request for proposals has been announced that will evaluate the

effectiveness of this method in other settings and delineate limitations and

important components of using this

technique. One site in each of the network parks will be interpreted as an

example of this technique.

■ The Kennecott and Nebesna Glaciers in

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and

Preserve have been identified as suitable

for employing the index method of glacier monitoring that was developed by

the Denali prototype monitoring program. Site visits were conducted, and

descriptions of identified sites will be

presented during 2004 to a group of experts. This will establish the groundwork

for continued scoping of glacier monitoring ideas during FY 2004.

■ Although the 2002-2003 winter was the

lowest snowfall winter on record, the

overwinter mortality of caribou cows in

the Denali herd was the highest recorded

(19 percent) during this 17-year study.

When added to observed summer mortality, an estimated 23 percent of the cows

were lost in the last year. The high losses

could be attributed to the age structure in

the herd, which was biased strongly to

older females. A population of approximately 1,130 cows is estimated for

September 2003 (15 percent less than

September 2002, corroborating the estimate of 16 percent from above). Further

estimation of bulls and calves indicates a

total herd size of approximately 1,600

caribou. In addition, the fall density of

wolves and their mean litter size indicate
58 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

some of the lowest measurements ever

made for this population. Data indicate a

food-stressed wolf population in general;

low overall population size, low mean

pack size, low pup survival, wolves killing

each other, and low capture weights in

March. Additionally, two of eight wolves

captured in March were in poor physical

condition.

Reports identifying the most important vital signs for monitoring are being reviewed

for approval. After approval, the vital signs

for all 12 networks will be compiled and

summarized.

NATURAL RESOURCE DATA AND

INFORMATION PROGRAM

Challenge Activity:

• Make natural resource data useable

for management decisions and the

public

• FY 2003 Allocation: $1,542

The Natural Resource Challenge has provided two-thirds of the funding support

(above support from the Inventory and

Monitoring Program) for the Natural Resource Information Division. This infusion

of funds has provided the means to enhance and accelerate the capabilities of the

National Park Service to develop information technology (IT) solutions for sharing

data and information with others. The

capstone of this effort has been the ability

to recruit highly competent information

technology staff and cooperators as IT system project leaders and application

developers. The Division coordinates and

maintains various hardware and database

systems for all of the natural resource programs, including its web presence. A

significant effort was made in FY 2003 to

improve the public website, NatureNet,

which was completed and introduced in

early FY 2004.

The Division maintained and continued refining the NPS Research Permit and

Reporting System through ongoing

outsourced software design and system

support. In FY 2003 the system was used to

process and track more than 7,500 electronic records, including applications,

permits, and accomplishment reports. Specific software refinements included

preparing version 2.0, including an innovative online tutorial-style interface, and an

assortment of functions improving the system confirmation and other auto-messaging

capabilities. These refinements resulted in

more efficient communication between the

NPS and the community of scientific researchers.

The Natural Resource Information Division

continued to provide park staff with a software application to help them organize,

access, and synthesize data and information

pertaining to resource stewardship.

Through ongoing university partnerships,

park-based data previously available only in

hard-copy media was transferred into electronic (digitized) files. Data within a

framework of interactive software supporting the “Views of the National Parks

Program” were expanded and refined to

provide the public with greater knowledge

of coastal geology, glaciers, invasive species,

and volcanism.

The program implemented several public

information efforts in FY 2003. A cooperative venture with the EarthCare radio series

was initiated to provide 90-second radio

programs on natural resource topics via National Public Radio stations nationwide in

2004. Also developed was an informal partnership with the National Science Teachers

Association (NSTA). The first in a planned

sequence of two-day National Park Service

“tag-on” training sessions was presented in

advance of the association’s annual meeting, which focused on communicating

natural resource stories and issues. In FY

2003 this training focused on NPS geology.

As another part of its public outreach effort, the program developed a Research

Learning Center website for presenting information to the public about research

activities in parks and to help the Research

Learning Centers share information among

themselves. Additional efforts were made to

increase the use of the Internet and other

means to make distribution of natural resource publications more efficient.

Update of the Natural Resource Management Assessment Program (NR-MAP)

database was completed in FY 2003. This

database captures natural resource and

natural resource management workload information about parks and helps compare

park needs. The NR-MAP database was effectively converted from DBaseIV to

MS-Access. The previous client-based NR-
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 59

MAP software was successfully migrated to

a web-based solution enabling rapid access

to core data attributes, including park-specific attributes and National Park

Servicewide compilations.

RESEARCH LEARNING CENTERS

Challenge Activity:

• Establish Learning Centers

Cumulative Challenge Increases:

• $2,698,000 (FY 2001 and FY 2003)

Thirteen National Park Service Research

Learning Centers (RLC) offer infrastructure and other incentives to researchers

such as lab space, low-cost housing, access

to computer information systems, extensive

natural and cultural resource data sets, suggestions for preferred research topics or

subject area emphasis, and in some cases,

matching funds. With one exception, these

RLCs were funded through the Natural Resource Challenge. In addition, RLC

education staff members enhance the making of data more useable by identifying

expanded methods to access the data, such

as through the Internet, through libraries,

scheduled public research seminars, or programs with gateway communities.

Furthermore, partners are associated with

each center in order to help maximize programmatic and financial resources. This

ensures that parks and staff possess the current scientific information required to make

sound management decisions and maintain

an ability to communicate about science in

the parks in a relevant way both to community members and area students. An

Internet RLC clearinghouse has been developed to provide best practices and RLC

case study examples.

Some highlights from FY 2003 follow.

■ Through partnerships and consistent

communication, the Pacific Coast

Science and Learning Center (PCSLC)

successfully leveraged $280,000 to

conduct high-priority research in Point

Reyes National Seashore and

surrounding community areas. Research

outcomes include discovery of an

invasive sea squirt that can harm oyster

farming and the ecology of the bay. This

early detection may allow more effective

removal or mitigation. Secondly, subtidal

mapping and marine protected area

(MPA) modeling will aid with potential

MPA plans for the state of California.

■ The Appalachian Highlands Science

Learning Center (AHSLC), with the

help of the Friends of Great Smoky

Mountains National Park, received a

three-year grant ($165,100) from the

Burroughs Wellcome Fund of Research

Triangle Park, North Carolina. This grant

has allowed the learning center to expand its staff in the summer months with

a biological technician, a college intern

biological science aid, and 12 high school

intern biological science aids (from four

local counties). Student intern work in

2003 resulted in the identification of 18

new park-record beetles, five new parkrecord moths, and more than one dozen

new park gall-making flies.

■ The director of the Ocean Alaska Science and Learning Center (OASLC)

holds a faculty position in marine biology

through the School of Fisheries and

Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska,

National Park Service Research Learning Centers

1. Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

2. Atlantic Learning Center, Cape Cod National Seashore

3. Continental Divide Research Learning Center, Rocky Mountain National Park

4. Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center, Glacier National Park

5. Great Lakes Research and Education Center, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

6. Jamaica Bay Institute, Gateway National Recreation Area

7. North Coast and Cascades Learning Network, Seattle, Washington

8. Ocean Alaska Science and Learning Center, Kenai Fjords National Park

9. Old-Growth Bottomland Forest Research and Education Center, Congaree Swamp Nat’l. Monument

10. Pacific Coast Science and Learning Center, Point Reyes National Seashore

11. Schoodic Education and Research Center, Acadia National Park

12. Southern California Coast Research Learning Center, Santa Monica Mountains Nat’l. Recreation Area

13. Urban Ecology Research and Learning Alliance, Washington, DC
60 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

Fairbanks. This connection strengthens

communication between the NPS and the

University, resulting in innovative research and partnerships. Since its

inception in 2001, the OASLC has funded

(through formal requests for proposals)

more than $850,000.00 in coastal and

marine research and public education

programs.

■ A blue-ribbon panel prepared a report

on the loss of salt marsh in Jamaica Bay

Wildlife Refuge within Gateway National Recreation Area in New York. In

an attempt to reverse the trend, the Jamaica Bay Institute has increased NPS

staff awareness about the issues through

brown bag lunches and has effectively

communicated to gateway communities

and implemented a successful beach

clean-up program that targets angler’s

monofilament.

■ The Urban Ecology Research Learning

Alliance (UERLA) has begun an All Taxa

Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) on arthropod species known to be in or from

Rock Creek Park and is sponsoring a

study that is assessing visitor harvesting

of wild morel mushrooms in Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National

Historical Park and Catoctin Mountain Park.

■ The Great Lakes Research and Education Center (GLREC) sponsored a

Purple Loosestrife Workshop for resource managers, educators, and

non-government organization staff. The

workshop provided educational tools to

teachers and volunteers about the impacts of purple loosestrife on wetland

habitats.

■ Research scientists at the Atlantic

Learning Center located in Cape Cod

National Seashore are working with local teachers to develop student protocols

to monitor changes in the park’s coastal

ecosystem and gather local salt marsh responses to sea level change. Teachers and

students are challenged to design salt

spray catchers, sand collectors, and “tatter flags” to evaluate wind impact.

A forestry intern with the Casey Tree

Foundation (left) uses a laser range

finder to measure the height of the

oldest and largest trees at the

Reflecting Pool on the National Mall

as an intern from the University of

Maryland (right) provides GPS

information for each tree measured.

NPS PHOTO
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 61
A snowy egret contrasts with the

dense foliage characteristic of

subtropical wilderness in Everglades

National Park.

PHOTO © RUSS FINLEY/FINLEY-HOLIDAY FILMS
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 63

Chapter Five: Financial Details

Because many of the Challenge funds are indistiguishable from other program

funds, financial information is provided for entire program areas receiving

Challenge funding, whether they are Challenge-created programs or have been

expanded as a result of the Challenge.

The Natural Resource Challenge funding

has been requested as a series of discrete

requests for a specific set of actions included in the Natural Resource Challenge

action plan. Several of the actions represent

new directions and new program areas, but

many are expansions of existing programs.

As a result, only some of the Challenge budget increases are easily identifiable separate

line items. In other cases, the Challenge

funds are mixed with previous park or program bases.

Because many of the Challenge funds are

indistinguishable from other program

funds, financial information is provided for

entire program areas receiving Challenge

funding, whether they are Challenge-created programs or have been expanded as a

result of the Challenge. These Servicewide

programs are identified separately in the

National Park Service budget.

Parks receive a single allocation for their

operations funding, and neither Challenge

funding nor natural resource management

funding are identified separately. For parks,

funding is shown for park natural resource

programs as reported by the parks.

Narrative descriptions of accomplishments,

found in Chapters Two through Four, focus

on those parts of the program that have

been most affected by Natural Resource

Challenge funding. This chapter provides

detailed financial information about the affected programs, showing how the program

funding changes between FY 2002 and FY

2003 and how the funds were distributed.

The accompanying table shows the Natural

Resource Stewardship budget, by programs

affected by the Natural Resource Challenge,

indicating the extent of Challenge contributions to the overall program.

Following are details of funding changes by

program between FY 2002 and FY 2003. In

addition, where appropriate, additional detail is provided regarding how funding

within these programs has been allocated.

Natural Resource Challenge Funding History (dollars in thousands)

CHALLENGE TOTAL

PROGRAM INCREASE INCREASE INCREASE INCREASE INCREASE REQUEST THROUGH

ELEMENT FY 2000 FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003 FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 2005

Inventory and Monitor

Resources

 Basic Inventories $ 7,309 $ - $ - $ 1,987 $ - $ - $ 9,296

 (except vegetation mapping)

 Vegetation Mapping - 1,746 - 2,235 - - 3,981

 (With USGS)

 Park Air Emissions Inventory - 200 - - - - 200

 Monitor Vital Signs in Park - 4,191 4,200 6,855 4,939 4,111 24,296

 Networks

 Monitor Water Quality in - 1,272 - 497 592 528 2,889

 Park Networks

 Watershed Assessment - - - 3,080 - - 3,080

 Expand Air Quality Monitoring

 and Related Activities - - 2,600 - - - 2,600

 Make Natural Resources $ - $ 1,098 $ - $ - $ - $ - $ 1,098

 Data Useable

(continued on next page)
64 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

Natural Resource Challenge Funding History (dollars in thousands) (continued)

CHALLENGE TOTAL

PROGRAM INCREASE INCREASE INCREASE INCREASE INCREASE REQUEST THROUGH

ELEMENT FY 2000 FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003 FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 2005

Fix Critical Problems

 Natural Resource Preservation $ 2,875 $ - $ 4,000 $ - $ - $ - $ 6,875

 Program Project Funding

 Alaska Natural Resource - - - 497 - - 497

 Projects

 Establish Resource Protection - - 300 - - - 300

 Fund

 Water Resource Protection and - 823 - - - - 823

 Restoration/Project Funds

 Water Resource Protection and - - 1,000 200 - - 1,200

 Restoration/Field Specialists

 Native/Non-Native Species 3,449 - 2,400 2,136 - - 7,985

 Management and Exotic

 Plant Management Teams

 Implement Resource Protection - - 500 - - 500

 Act/Restore Resources

 Protect Geologic Resources 696 - - - - - 696

 Park Invasive Species $ - $ 3,395 $ 3,200 $ - $ - $ - $ 6,595

 Control and Threatened

 and Endangered Species

 Recovery

Attract Scientists

 Establish Learning Centers $ - $ 898 $ 1,800 $ - $ - $ - $ 2,698

 Establish Cooperative $ - $ 1,596 $ - $ 397 $ - $ - $ 1,993

 Ecosystem Studies Units

ANNUAL INCREASE $ 14,329 $ 15,219 $ 20,000 $ 17,884 $ 5,531 $ 4,639 $ -

TOTAL ANNUAL FUNDING $ 14,329 $ 29,548 $ 49,548 $ 67,432 $ 72,963 $ 77,602 $ 77,602

Mechanical removal of nonnative

plants was one phase of restoring

the vegetation community at an

abandoned ski area in Lassen

Volcanic National Park. NPS PHOTO
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 65

Natural Resource Funding of Parks Receiving Natural Resource Challenge (NRC) Program Increases

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2001 OR FY 2002 FY 2003

FY 2002 NRC TOTAL NRC

PARK INCREASE NRC FUNDS TOTAL

Acadia National Park $ 345,000 $ 849,827 $ 794,395

Antietam National Battlefield 150,000 319,965 316,723

Appalachian National Scenic Trail 142,000 263,638 256,603

Big Cypress National Preserve 1 399,000 1,033,640 1,010,000

Buck Island Reef National Monument 2 100,000 270,000 216,450

Catoctin Mountain Park* 89,000 254,400 231,900

Channel Islands National Park 498,000 1,406,622 1,406,622

Coronado National Memorial 60,000 94,993 105,231

Curecanti National Recreation Area 141,000 657,500 690,600

Dinosaur National Monument 189,000 501,800 559,375

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve 148,000 362,401 363,039

Great Basin National Park 126,000 331,450 315,756

Great Sand Dunes National Preserve 180,000 291,700 287,500

Great Smoky Mountains National Park 402,000 1,245,100 1,152,700

Haleakala National Park 480,000 1,561,660 1,372,200

Homestead National Monument of America 82,000 104,500 104,500

Hopewell Culture National Historical Park* 105,000 95,000 79,322

Jewel Cave National Monument 50,000 168,500 168,500

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument 95,000 129,000 130,000

Kalaupapa National Historical Park 211,000 549,000 549,000

Lake Clark National Park and Preserve 147,000 321,500 319,810

Little River Canyon National Preserve 3 85,000 182,426 174,027

Mojave National Preserve* 470,000 1,264,000 1,219,073

Monocacy National Battlefield* 118,000 120,000 116,000

Obed Wild and Scenic River 195,000 245,000 193,318

Padre Island National Seashore 95,000 408,000 403,825

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore 55,000 194,650 207,000

Rock Creek Park* 163,000 436,522 393,168

San Juan Island National Historical Park 95,000 124,600 125,050

Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site 58,000 58,000 58,000

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks* 4 112,000 1,446,000 1,424,400

Stones River National Battlefield 132,000 132,000 137,100

Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon, 100,000 166,762 171,227

 and Wupatki National Monuments

Theodore Roosevelt National Park 133,000 302,500 292,500

Virgin Islands National Park 5 399,000 1,077,234 1,002,726

Zion National Park 246,000 536,300 515,872

TOTAL $ 6,595,000 $ 17,506,190 $ 16,863,512

* Information provided by parks for FY 2003 report included discrepencies in previously provided

information or figures did were not added or subtracted correctly; attempts to resolve were

unsuccessful.

1 Part of increase to another program for contract support; part of balance of change from preChallenge increase due to realigned position.

2 Also received $65,000 Coral Reef Initiative increase in FY 2001.

3 Figures shown for FY 2001 and FY 2002 reflect a correction to those reported in FY 2002 report.

4 Also received a non-Challenge $367,000 base increase in FY 2001.

5 Also received a Coral Reef Initiative base increase of $300,000 and Prototype Monitoring increase of

$230,000 in FY 2001.
66 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

Natural Resource Challenge Funding Changes, FY 2002-2003

Air Resources Program

DESCRIPTION FUNDING

Funding available in FY 2002 $ 9,065,000

Across-the-board travel reduction (26,000)

Pay increase 18,000

Across-the board reduction (59,000)

TOTAL ALLOCATED IN FY 2003 $ 8,998,000

Reprogramming of travel reduction to reflect funds that incurred travel,

rather than personnel (1,000)

TOTAL FUNDING AVAILABLE IN FY 2003 $ 8,997,000

Air Resources Program Funding by Categories

Air emissions inventory 200,000

Air quality monitoring, analysis, and technical assistance 8,797,000

TOTAL $ 8,999,000

Natural Resource Challenge Funding Changes, FY 2002-2003

Biological Resources Management Program

DESCRIPTION FUNDING

Funding available in FY 2002 $ 5,846,000

Across-the-board travel reduction (27,000)

Pay increase 13,000

FY 2003 Natural Resource Challenge increase 2,136,000

Across-the-board reduction (38,000)

TOTAL ALLOCATED IN FY 2003 $ 7,930,000

Reprogramming of travel reduction to reflect funds that incurred travel, (1,000)

rather than personnel

TOTAL FUNDING AVAILABLE IN FY 2003 $ 7,929,000

Biological Resource Management Program Funding by Categories

Exotic Plant Management Teams $ 5,150,000

Ecological Restoration 425,000

Integrated Pest Management Program 515,000

Endangered Species Program 465,000

Wildlife Program 438,800

Biological Resource Projects–National Level Support 935,200

TOTAL $ 7,929,000
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 67

Natural Resource Challenge Funding Changes, FY 2002-2003

Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units

DESCRIPTION FUNDING

Funding available in FY 2002 1 $ 46,000

FY 2003 Natural Resource Challenge Increase 2 397,000

TOTAL FUNDING AVAILABLE IN FY 2003 $ 443,000

FY 2003 transfer to regions (310,000)

NET AVAILABLE AFTER TRANSFER $ 133,000

Cooperative Park Studies Unit Funding Distribution *

Alaska Region $ -

North and West Alaska CESU–no Challenge funding

Intermountain Region $ 465,000

Colorado Plateau CESU ($155,000)

Desert Southwest CESU ($155,000)

Rocky Mountains CESU ($155,000)

Midwest Region $ 310,000

Great Plains CESU ($155,000)

Great Lakes-Northern Forest CESU ($155,000)

Upper and Middle Mississippi Valley CESU–no Challenge funding

National Capital Region $ 155,000

Chesapeake Watershed CESU

Northeast Region $ 155,000

North Atlantic Coast CESU

Pacific West Region $ 310,000

Great Basin CESU ($155,000)

Pacific Northwest CESU ($155,000)

Californian CESU–no Challenge funding

Southeast Region $ 465,000

South Florida-Caribbean CESU ($155,000)

Southern Appalachian Mountains CESU ($155,000)

Gulf Coast CESU ($155,000)

Piedmont-South Atlantic Coast CESU –no Challenge funding

Washington Office $ 133,000

TOTAL $ 1,993,000

1 $1,596,000 received in FY 2001; $1, 550,000 transferred to regions 2 Increase amount reflects across-the-board reduction

* Shows distribution with funds previously transmitted to regions, as well as funds received and transferred in FY 2003. A total of $310,000 was transferred to the Midwest and Southeast Regions, representing new funding to two CESUs in FY 2003.

Natural Resource Challenge Funding Changes, FY 2002-2003

Geologic Resources Program

DESCRIPTION FUNDING

Funding available in FY 2002 $ 2,700,000

Across-the-board travel reduction (34,000)

Pay increase 21,000

Across-the-board reduction (17,000)

TOTAL ALLOCATED IN FY 2003 $ 2,670,000

Reprogramming of travel reduction to reflect funds that incurred travel, 25,000

rather than personnel

TOTAL FUNDING AVAILABLE IN FY 2003 $ 2,695,000
68 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

Natural Resource Challenge Funding Changes, FY 2002-2003

Inventory and Monitoring Program

DESCRIPTION FUNDING

Funding available in FY 2002 $ 21,757,000

Transfer to prototype park (189,000)

Across-the-board travel reduction (126,000)

Pay increase 5,000

Across-the-board reduction (139,000)

Natural Resource Challenge Increases in FY 2003

Accelerate basic inventories 1,987,000

Vegetation mapping cost-share with USGS 2,235,000

Park Vital Signs Monitoring 6,855,000

TOTAL FUNDING AVAILABLE IN FY 2003 $ 32,385,000

Inventory and Monitoring Program Funding by Categories

Resource Inventory Projects $ 13,794,500

Vital Signs Monitoring 13,578,900

Prototype Monitoring 1,231,300

Monitoring Projects 286,365

Database Development 1,404,335

Regional Coordinators 640,000

Program Administration 1,191,600

Reprogrammed 258,000

TOTAL $ 32,385,000

Allocation of Funding Among Basic Natural Resource Inventories in FY 2003

Species Lists $ 25,000

Base Cartography Data 35,000

Biological Inventories 5,908,500

Vegetation Mapping

Alaska 500,000

Outside of Alaska 4,000,000

Water Resource Data 620,000

Soil Surveys 986,000

Geology Inventories 1,395,000

Air Quality Related Values 325,000

TOTAL $ 13,794,500

Allocation of Park Vital Signs Monitoring Funding Among Networks in FY 2003

North Coast and Cascades $ 345,100

Northeast Coastal and Barrier 776,500

Heartland 684,400

Sonoran Desert 670,000

Cumberland/Piedmont 476,700

Central Alaska 730,100

National Capital 747,000

Northern Colorado Plateau 535,500

San Francisco Bay Area 742,800

Greater Yellowstone 742,700

Appalachian Highland 416,400

Mediterranean Coast 302,000

Southwest Alaska 974,700

Northeast Temperate 481,200

Southern Colorado Plateau 815,200

Pacific Island 1,095,100

Great Lakes 811,500

Gulf Coast 150,000

Rocky Mountain 150,000

Sierra Nevada 150,000

Eastern Rivers and Mountains 150,000

Klamath 150,000

Arctic $ 150,000

(continued on next page)
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 69

Natural Resource Challenge Funding Changes, FY 2002-2003

Inventory and Monitoring Program (continued)

DESCRIPTION FUNDING

Allocation of Funding Among Basic Natural Resource Inventories in FY 2003

Southeast Coast $ 150,000

Northern Semi-Arid 150,000

Southern Plains 150,000

Mojave Desert 150,000

Southeast Alaska 150,000

South Florida/Caribbean 150,000

Mid-Atlantic 150,000

Chihuahuan Desert 150,000

Northern Great Plains 150,000

TOTAL $ 13,578,900

Natural Resource Challenge Funding Changes, FY 2002-2003

Inventory and Monitoring Program (continued)

CATEGORY UNIVERSITIES OTHER NON-FED USGS OTHER FED

Inventory and Monitoring Expenditures by Non-NPS Categories

Inventories

 Biological Inventories $ 2,312,300 $ 1,411,200 $ 557,900 $ 339,500

 Vegetation Mapping 812,400 910,600 0 44,800

 Water Resources 335,600 0 239,400 0

 Air Quality-Related Values 322,000 0 0 0

 Soils 0 0 0 940,000

 Geology 215,000 0 0 0

 Base Cartography 0 0 15,000 0

 Miscellaneous 0 0 0 25,000

Monitoring 4,472,400 4,759,000 649,900 608,100

TOTALS $ 8,469,700 $ 7,080,800 $ 1,462,200 $ 1,957,400

Natural Resource Challenge Funding Changes, FY 2002-2003

Natural Resource Data and Information Program

DESCRIPTION FUNDING

Funding available in FY 2002 $ 1,553,000

Across-the-board travel reduction (13,000)

Pay increase 12,000

Across-the-board reduction (10,000)

TOTAL ALLOCATION IN FY 2003 $ 1,542,000

Reprogramming of travel reduction to reflect funds that incurred travel, (1,000)

rather than personnel

TOTAL FUNDING AVAILABLE IN FY 2003 $ 1,541,000
70 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

Natural Resource Challenge Funding Changes, FY 2002-2003

Natural Resource Preservation Program (NRPP)

DESCRIPTION FUNDING

Funding available in FY 2002 $ 12,289,000

Across-the-board travel reduction 13,000

Across-the-board reduction 80,000

Challenge increase 497,000

TOTAL ALLOCATED IN FY 2003 $ 12,693,000

Reprogramming of travel reduction to reflect funds that incurred travel, (15,000)

rather than personnel

TOTAL FUNDING AVAILABLE IN FY 2003 $ 12,678,000

Natural Resource Challenge Funding Changes, FY 2002-2003

Natural Resource Preservation Program (NRPP)

CATEGORY ALLOCATION NO. PROJECTS

Allocation of NRPP Among Project Categories and Projects Funded

Natural Resource Management $ 6,287,700 70

Threatened & Endangered Species 532,000 14

Disturbed Lands Restoration 850,000 12

Small Park 999,800 69

Regional Block Allocation 1,400,000 81

Alaska Projects 497,000 unknown

USGS/BRD Technical Assistance 255,000 30

Servicewide 934,000 16

Reprogrammed 922,500

TOTAL $ 12,678,000

Natural Resource Challenge Funding Changes, FY 2002-2003

Research Learning Centers

FUNDING FIRST REC’D

LOCATION RESEARCH LEARNING CENTER FY 2001 FY 2002

Acadia National Park Acadia Center for the Environment X

Cape Cod National Seashore Atlantic Learning Center X

Gateway National Recreation Jamaica Bay Learning Center for X

 Area Applied Research on Urban Ecology

Glacier National Park Crown of the Continent Learning Center X

Great Smoky Mountains National Purchase Knob Learning Center X

 Park

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Great Lakes Research and Education Center X

National Capital Region Urban Ecology Learning Alliance X

North Cascades, Mount Rainier, North Coast and Cascades Learning X

 and Olympic National Parks Center

Point Reyes National Seashore Pacific Coast Learning Center X

Rocky Mountain National Park Continental Divide Research and X

 Learning Center

Santa Monica Mountains National Center for Teaching New America X

 Recreation Area

Seward, Alaska Sealife Center Ocean Alaska Science and Learning Center X*

Except as noted, each of these Research Learning Centers received $225,000 in Challenge funding the

year that they were funded. Because in many cases parks and others have contributed other funding to

the operation of the centers, erosions or additions to the funding are not available.

* Did not receive Natural Resource Challenge funding, but was developed in response to the Challenge.
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 71

Natural Resource Challenge Funding Changes, FY 2002-2003

Resource Damage Assessment and Recovery Program

DESCRIPTION FUNDING

Funding available in FY 2002 1 $ 1,394,000

Transfer of function/position 2 (95,000)

Across-the-board travel reduction (20,000)

Pay increase 5,000

Across-the-board reduction (8,000)

TOTAL AVAILABLE IN FY 2003 $ 1,276,000

1 Combines two former line items: Oil Pollution Act and Resource Protection Act 2 Response position transferred to another program area

Natural Resource Challenge Funding Changes, FY 2002-2003

Resource Protection Fund

DESCRIPTION FUNDING

Funding available in FY 2002 $ 300,000

Across-the-board reduction (2,000)

TOTAL AVAILABLE IN FY 2003 $ 298,000

Maryland educators working on a

project with the National Capital

Parks Urban Ecology Research

Learning Alliance identify and record

plants along transects in Dyke Marsh

at George Washington Memorial

Parkway. NPS PHOTO
72 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

Natural Resource Challenge Funding Changes, FY 2002-2003

Water Resources Program

DESCRIPTION FUNDING

Funding available in FY 2002 $ 7,905,000

Across-the-board travel reduction (41,000)

Pay increase 26,000

Natural Resource Challenge increases in FY 2003

Monitor water quality 497,000

 Watershed assessment 3,080,000

 Expand water resource protection and restoration 200,000

Across-the-board reduction (53,000)

TOTAL ALLOCATED IN THE FY 2003 $ 11,614,000

Reprogramming of travel reduction to reflect funds that incurred travel, (1,000)

rather than personnel

TOTAL FUNDING AVAILABLE IN FY 2003 $ 11,613,000

Water Resources Program Funding by Categories

Water Resources Projects

Water Resource Protection $ 1,329,000

Competitive Projects 380,300

Other Projects 15,000

Water Quality Monitoring 1,775,000

Water Resource Protection–Aquatic Resource Professionals 1,170,100

Watershed Condition Assessment Program 1,263,000

Competitive Projects 1,102,700

Critical Projects 500,000

Water Resource Technical Assistance 3,711,500

Reprogrammed 366,400

TOTAL $ 11,613,000

Allocation of Water Quality Monitoring Funding

Network

Central Alaska $ 98,000

Heartland 82,000

Northeast Coastal and Barrier 90,000

National Capital 71,000

Cumberland/Piedmont 59,000

Appalachian Highlands 70,000

Northern Colorado Plateau 108,000

Greater Yellowstone 71,000

Sonoran Desert 64,000

North Coast and Cascades 82,000

San Francisco Bay 70,000

Mediterranean Coast 76,000

Southwest Alaska 139,000

Northeast Temperate 60,000

Southern Colorado Plateau 124,000

Pacific Island 151,000

Great Lakes 123,000

Servicewide Data Management 237,000

TOTAL $ 1,775,000
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 73
Extensive prairie grasslands of

Badlands National Park support

diverse wildlife including bison,

bighorn sheep, pronghorn, swift

fox, and black-footed ferrets.

PHOTO © RUSS FINLEY/FINLEY-HOLIDAY FILMS
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 75

Appendix A: Biological Resources Management

Program Projects

Biological Resources Management Program Projects, FY 2003 Funding

REGION PARK PROJECT TITLE

AKR LACL Improve a Census Technique for a Harvested Population of Moose

AKR LACL Assess Dynamics of a Harvested, Low Density Population of Dall

Sheep

AKR WRST Determine the Status and Distribution of Mountain Goats

IMR BAND Develop Wilderness Stewardship Plan

IMR BAND Monitor Ecosystem Conditions Baseline Wilderness Plan EIS

IMR BIBE Implement Conservation Agreement for Two Candidate Plant

Species

IMR CANY Salt Creek Invertebrates

IMR CORO Conservation and Management of Jaguars, Mountain Lions, and

Other Felids

IMR CURE Gunnison Sage Grouse–Habitat Inventory of Surrounding Lands

IMR DINO Assess Impact of Non-native Channel Catfish on Endangered and

Sensitive Native Fish in the Yampa River

IMR GLAC Manage Invaders Threatening Glacier’s Wilderness

IMR GRCA Declining Northern Leopard Frog Population in the GRCA Ecoregion: Rims and River Surveys

IMR SAGU Status Assessment and Management of Lowland Leopard Frogs

IMR YELL Baseline Inventory of Thermophile Biodiversity

MWR BADL Document Location and Distribution of Nine Rare Plant Species

MWR BUFF Assess Roost Habitat Conditions for Three Endangered Bat Species

MWR INDU Develop Database for Sensitive Plants and Orchid Recovery Plan

MWR ISRO Develop Fishery Management Plan

MWR PIRO Evaluation of Seasonal Stream Usage and Interstream Migration

by Coaster Brook Trout

MWR THRO Evaluate Critical Resource Threats Using High Resolution Satellite

Imagery

NCR GWMP Potential Impacts of Mosquito Control Activities

NCR NCRO Compiling and Analyzing Historical Insect Data for Plummers

Island, MD

NER CACO Salt Marsh Restoration at Herring River: Dike Design and Construction at Mill Creek

NER DEWA Assess Long-term Viability of Newly Discovered Bog Turtle

Population

NER NERI Determine Status and Trends of New River Mussel Community

NER SHEN Gather Essential Operations Data for Invasive Vegetation Control

Decision-making

NER UPDE Determine Minimum Water Flows Required to Sustain Federally

Endangered Dwarf Wedge Mussels

PWR CRMO Assessment of Habitat for Sagebrush Steppe Dependent Birds

PWR GRBA Status and Distribution of Rare Plants in Sub-alpine and Alpine

habitat

PWR HALE New Alaenui Fence Section

PWR HAVO Investigate Ecological Impacts of the Kalij Pheasants

PWR LAME Development of Comprehensive Invasive Plant Management Plan

PWR LAVO Taxonomic Affinity, Spatial Ecology, and Resource Utilization of

Red Fox Population

PWR PINN Assessment of Vascular Plant Communities Before and After Feral

Pig Removal

PWR PORE Habitat Assessment of the Federally Endangered Myrtle’s

Silverspot Butterfly

PWR WAPA Assessing Impacts of a Subsistence Fishery on Coral Reef Resources

SER MACA Recovery and Reintroduction of American Chestnut

SER VIIS Propagation and Reintroduction of Solanum conocarpum, a

Critically Rare Shrub

Editor for SCC Guidance

TOTAL

$ 4,200

28,000

19,000

20,000

16,000

21,000

21,000

50,000

25,000

25,000

23,000

31,000

19,000

25,000

38,000

23,000

19,500

15,000

17,000

20,000

24,000

38,000

50,000

28,000

39,000

23,000

50,000

25,000

19,000

8,000

20,000

15,000

7,500

24,000

25,000

35,000

26,000

15,000

4,000

$ 935,200

FUNDING
Historic Piper Lane at Antietam

National Battlefield has been greatly

altered by grazing and intrusion by

exotic plant species. Natural

Resource Challenge funding has

enabled resource managers to

initiate restoration efforts, which

include enhancing native plant

propagation and minimizing the

effects of grazing. NPS PHOTO
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 77

Appendix B: Natural Resource Preservation

Program (NRPP) Projects

NRPP Natural Resource Management Fully Funded Projects

TOTAL FY 2003

PARK PROJECT TITLE FUNDING FUNDING

Olympic NP Evaluate Goat Management $ 79,000 $ 26,000

Petrified Forest NP Preserve Petrified Wood 168,000 56,000

Glacier Bay NP/Pres Quantifying Commercial and Sportfish Harvest 160,000 47,000

Congaree Swamp NM Develop Feral Hog Reduction Plan 43,000 39,000

Grand Teton NP Monitoring of Wolves 396,000 42,000

Sleeping Bear Dunes NL Restoration of Biodiversity 364,000 123,000

Great Basin NP Cutthroat Trout 164,000 36,000

Buffalo National River Assessment of Fish 405,000 58,000

Point Reyes NS Coastal Dune Restoration 333,000 116,000

Redwood NP Remove English Ivy 218,000 66,000

Cape Code NS Effects of Groundwater 195,000 45,000

Mammoth Cave NP Restore Habitat for Indiana Bat 245,000 180,000

Western Arctic NP Lands Assessment of Reindeer Impacts to Lichen Ecosystems 108,000 99,000

Redwood NP Restoring Lost Man Creek Watershed 900,000 134,000

Biscayne NP Reverse Declining Population by Fisheries Mgmt Plan 233,000 94,000

Glacier Bay NP/Pres Backcountry Management Data Collection Analysis 244,000 103,000

Buffalo National River Delineate Karst Groundwater Recharge Zone 100,000 50,000

Padre Island NS Assess Impacts on Seagrass Meadow 100,000 50,000

Fire Island NS Relationships Among Barrier Island Processes 188,000 81,000

TOTAL $ 4,643,000 $ 1,445,000

NRPP Natural Resource Management New and Ongoing Projects*

TOTAL FY 2003

PARK PROJECT TITLE FUNDING FUNDING

Cumberland Island NS Eradicate Feral Hogs $ 171,000 $ 56,000

Badlands NP Emergency Salvage of Collection of Fossils 341,000 95,000

Jean Lafitte NHP/Pres Establish a Biocontrol Program for Salvinia 111,000 37,000

Lake Meredith NRA Protect Native Habitat by Completing North 153,000 51,000

 Boundary Fence

Indiana Dunes NL Restore Biological Resources of the Cowles 101,000 32,000

 Bog Wetland

Pinnacles NM Reestablish California Condors 572,000 187,000

Olympic NP Wilderness Recovery at Boulder Hot Springs 54,000 14,000

Intermountain RO Initiate IMR Noxious Weed Inventory and 632,000 134,500

 Mapping Program

Great Basin NP Wild Cave Inventory and Management 216,000 62,000

Point Reyes NS Remove Iceplant at Point Reyes Lighthouse Headlands 339,000 113,000

Kalaupapa NHP Exclude Ungulates from Pu’u Ali’i Plateau 663,000 164,000

Pinnacles NM Restore Climbing Area 94,000 27,000

Lake Clark NP/Pres Refine Techniques to Survey Harvested Brown 285,000 75,000

 Bear Populations

Denali NP/Pres Determine Baseline Information Along Proposed 355,000 121,000

 North Access Corridor

Voyageurs NP Document Changes in Reservoir Management on 311,000 102,000

 Mercury Accumulation in Fish and Other Aquatic

 Ecosystem Components

Isle Royale NP Implement Wilderness Management Plan: 270,000 102,000

 Carrying Capacity and Long-term Monitoring

Pipe Springs NM Geologic Mapping and Seismic Profile Investigations 308,000 64,000

Fossil Butte NM Geological Mapping of Primary Formations 209,000 63,000

Rocky Mountain NP Restore Glacier Creek Livery and Wetland $ 103,000 $ 14,000

(continued on next page)
78 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

NRPP Natural Resource Management New and Ongoing Projects* (continued)

TOTAL FY 2003

PARK PROJECT TITLE FUNDING FUNDING

Big Bend NP Stop Feral Hog Invasion $ 130,000 $ 45,000

National Capital Parks Dragonflies and Damselflies Likely Affected by 63,000 18,000

 WNV Management

Wind Cave NP Monitor for Chronic Wasting Disease 428,000 144,000

Rocky Mountain NP Implement Interim actions for CWD Management 246,000 160,000

Oregon Caves NM Complete Cave Restoration 50,000 16,000

Golden Gate NRA Restore Ft. Baker Mission Blue Butterfly Habitat 632,000 208,000

Capitol Reef NP Threatened and Endangered Plant Pollinators 151,000 65,000

Glacier NP Lake McDonald Fishery Management 174,000 52,000

Glacier NP Assess Wolverine Population 186,000 70,000

Olympic NP Determine Migratory Pathways, Spawning Areas, 229,000 75,000

 and Potential Sources of Threats to Listed Bull Trout

Rocky Mountain NP Implement Invasive Plant Management Plan 150,000 68,000

Mammoth Cave NP Propagation and Restoration of Endangered 526,000 292,000

 Mussels in the Green River

Haleakala NP Prevent Miconia Invasion From Displacing 878,000 189,000

 Haleakala Rainforest

Channel Islands NP Reintroduce Island Fox on San Miguel and 826,000 213,400

 Santa Rosa Islands

George Washington Should We Restore Dike Marsh? 159,000 100,000

 MPkwy A Management Dilemma

Lake Meredith NRA Continue Salt Cedar Control 153,000 51,000

George Washington Saving the Potomac Gorge Through Partnerships 240,000 80,000

 M Pkwy

Grand Teton NP Bison Demographic Monitoring: Disease Surveillance 796,000 280,000

Yellowstone NP Multi-trophic Level Ecology of Wolves, Elk, 175,000 59,000

 and Vegetation

Theodore Roosevelt NP Evaluate Factors Influencing the Distribution and 162,000 91,000

 Movement of Elk

Biscayne NP Quantitative Analysis and Scenario Testing of 95,000 52,000

 Fisheries Management Alternative

Pinnacles NM Eradicate Feral Pigs 844,000 120,000

New River Gorge NR Fecal Bacteria Source Tracking 205,000 49,000

Badlands NP Document Significant Fossil Localities Within 290,000 104,000

 the Poleslide Member

National Capital Assess Condition and Identify Stressors of 248,000 76,000

 Region Parks Aquatic Resources

Assateague Island NS Evaluate Episodic Water Quality Event in 125,000 68,000

 MD/VA Coastal Bay

Zion NP Restore Highly Impacted Backcountry Areas 327,000 106,000

Rocky Mountain NP Prepare a Situation Assessment for Elk Management 122,000 68,000

 Environmental Impact Statement

Cuyahoga Valley NP Control Invasive Plant Species and Sensitive 180,000 83,000

 Resource Areas

Gateway NRA Investigation and Restoration of the Jamaica Bay 524,000 250,000

 Salt Marsh Ecosystem

Pinnacles NM Protect Dark Night Skies 272,000 54,000

Natural Resource Cost-estimate Reviews for NRPP-NRM Projects N/A 22,800

 Program Center

TOTAL $16,015,000 $ 4,842,700

* A Western Arctic/Noatak lichen inventory, a Western Arctic/Cape Krusenstern heavy metal

bioaccumulation assessment, and a Point Reyes National Seashore cape ivy removal project, originally

scheduled for FY 2003, were delayed. Funds for the latter two were reprogrammed out of NRPP, and

funds for the first were reprogrammed to other NRPP projects.
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 79

NRPP Threatened and Endangered Species Fully Funded Projects

TOTAL FY 2003

PARK PROJECT TITLE FUNDING FUNDING

Saint Croix NSR Mussel Communities $ 60,000 $ 20,000

Cape Hatteras NS Seabeach Amaranth: Habitat Assessment 136,400 33,000

Big Thicket NPres Reintroduce Texas Trailing Phlox 32,000 32,000

Wind Cave NP Reintroduction of Black-footed Ferrets 100,000 58,000

Santa Monica Recovery of Federally Endangered Pentachaeta 54,000 26,000

 Mountains NRA

TOTAL $ 382,400 $ 169,000

NRPP Threatened and Endangered Species New and Ongoing Projects

TOTAL FY 2003

PARK PROJECT TITLE FUNDING FUNDING

Rocky Mountain NP Reestablish, Stabilize, and Manage 19 Greenback $ 66,000 $ 16,000

 Cutthroat Trout Populations

Lake Mead NRA OHV Damage Control in Desert Tortoise 150,000 51,000

 Critical Habitat

Pinnacles NM Reestablish California Red-legged frogs in 103,000 32,000

 Bear Gulch Reservoir

Chesapeake & Recovery of Federally Endangered Harperalla 151,000 48,000

 Ohio Canal NHP

Hawaii Volcanoes NP Complete Reintroduction of Silversword 55,000 30,000

Mammoth Cave NP Restoration of Echo River Passage 93,000 31,000

Sleeping Bear Dunes NL Wildlife Management: Piping Plover Preservation 46,000 25,000

Olympic NP Effectiveness Monitoring Northern Spotted Owl 112,000 55,000

 Demographic Rates

Haleakala NP Critical Assessment of Habitat for Releasing 149,000 75,000

 Endangered Maui Parrotbill

TOTAL $ 925,000 $ 363,000

Research at Rocky Mountain

National Park indicates that the

relationship between elk and beaver

population densities affects the

natural condition of the riparianwillow ecosystem.

PHOTO ©RUSS FINLEY/FINLEY-HOLIDAY FILMS
80 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

NRPP Disturbed Lands Restoration Fully Funded Projects

TOTAL FY 2003

PARK PROJECT TITLE FUNDING FUNDING

Fire Islands NS Plug and Abandon Flowing Water Wells $ 76,400 $ 8,800

Palo Alto Battlefield NHS Restore Resaca Wetlands 116,900 6,900

Buffalo NR Develop Strategy for Runoff From Park Roads 96,800 40,200

Mammoth Cave NP Site Restoration of Wondering Wood Area 119,000 119,000

TOTAL $ 303,890 $ 174,900

NRPP Disturbed Lands Restoration New and Ongoing Projects

TOTAL FY 2003

PARK PROJECT TITLE FUNDING FUNDING

Big Bend NP Phase 2 Nine Point Draw Watershed Restoration $ 236,700 $ 83,500

Denali N Pres. Reclamation of Placer-Mined Glacier Creek 200,000 51,000

Lake Mead NRA OHV Restoration: North Shore/Lakeshore 250,000 86,100

 Scenic Drive Areas

Lassen Volcanic NP Restoration of an Abandoned Ski Area 205,000 153,000

Pinnacles NP Old Pinnacles Road Restoration 250,000 119,700

Rocky Mountain NP Restore Alpine Sewage Lagoons 82,300 70,300

Timpanogos Cave NM Restore Natural Cave Drainage 115,000 41,000

Yellowstone NP Reclaim Three Miles of Abandoned Turbid Lake Road 211,500 70,500

 and Reconstruct Turbid Lake Trail

TOTAL $ 1,550,500 $ 675,100

NRPP Regional Block Allocation Projects, FY 2003 ($1,400,000)

NUMBER NUMBER

REGION FUNDING PARKS PROJECTS

Alaska $ 200,000 2 7

Intermountain 200,000 11 12

Midwest 200,000 10 13

National Capital 200,000 10 27

Northeast 200,000 5 7

Pacific West 200,000 7 8

Southeast 200,000 6 7

TOTAL $ 1,400,000 51 81

NRPP Small Park Projects, FY 2003 ($999,800)

NUMBER NUMBER

REGION FUNDING PARKS PROJECTS

Alaska $ 20,000 2 2

Intermountain 289,400 20 24

Midwest 174,000 13 14

National Capital 20,000 2 2

Northeast 128,900 5 5

Pacific West 163,200 10 11

Southeast 204,300 5 11

TOTAL $ 999,800 57 69
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 81

NRPP Small Park Projects Funded in FY 2003

REGION STATE PARK PROJECT TITLE FUNDING

AKR AK Sitka NHP Conduct Stream Surveys and Water Quality $ 10,000

 Assessment on Indian River

AKR AK Klondike Gold Evaluate Resource Protection at the Historic 10,000

Rush NHP Town Site of Dyea

IMR AZ Walnut Canyon Assess Breeding and Habitat Status of Mexican 14,900

 NM Spotted Owl

IMR NM Pecos NHP Eradicate Exotic Trees 6,000

IMR WY Fossil Butte NM Riparian Restoration 14,000

IMR WY Devil’s Tower NM Control Non-native Plants 13,800

IMR CO Yucca House NM Spring Water Source and Quality 10,000

IMR NM Aztec Ruins NM Restore Native Plants to West Ruin 5,400

IMR TX San Antonio Assess Mammals and Inventory of Land Mammals 1,700

 Missions NHP Including Bats

IMR AZ Sunset Crater Assess Soil Genesis and Disturbance Impacts Within 4,600

 Volcano NM Unique Volcanic Cinder Terrain

IMR CO Colorado NM Control Non-native Plants and Plan for Revegetation 20,000

IMR UT Timpanogos Determine Cave Microbial Diversity 9,900

 Cave NM

IMR AZ Navajo NM Repair Monument Boundary Fence Line to Prevent 19,300

 Livestock Intrusion

IMR UT Cedar Breaks NM Survey Cave Resources 13,400

IMR AZ Tonto NM Document Nuisance Rattlesnake Movements 20,000

 and Behavior

IMR UT Cedar Breaks NM Suppression of Spruce Bark Beetle Infestation in 5,000

 Developed Areas

IMR OK Washita Battlefield Manage Non-native Plants in Oldfield Restorations 10,000

 NHS

IMR OK Washita Battlefield Perform Historical Vegetation Study 10,000

 NHS

IMR UT Timpanogos Develop a Comprehensive Integrated Pest 10,000

 Cave NM Management Plan

IMR AZ Pipe Spring NM Restore Native Bunch Grasses 19,700

IMR TX Lyndon B Johnson Provide Game Management Options for the Ranch 12,500

 NHP

IMR AZ Montezuma Develop and Implement Exotic Plant Management Plan 20,000

 Castle NM

IMR MT Grant-Kohrs Fencing Repairs to Improve Resource Management 20,000

 Ranch NHS

IMR UT Hovenweep NM Reestablish Historic Vegetation Long-term 8,400

 Monitoring Plots

IMR AZ Casa Grande Restore Native Plants Along Park Boundary Fence 12,400

 Ruins NM

IMR TX San Antonio Assessment of Bird Species–A Parkwide Bird 8,400

 Missions NHP Inventory Including Migratory Birds

MWR SD Jewel Cave NM Upgrade Cave Survey Equipment 4,900

MWR NE Agate Fossil Fossil Locality Evaluations 7,000

 Beds NM

MWR AR Arkansas Post NM Ant Diversity 9,700

MWR NE Homestead NM Planning and Compliance for Park Trails 11,000

 of America

MWR ND Fort Union Trading Develop Resource Management Plan With 14,000

 Post NHS New Guidelines

MWR MN Pipestone NM Restore Disturbed Lands and Exotic Weed Control 14,700

MWR NE Midwest Regional Regional RAMS and PMIS Training and Isle Royale 22,600

 Office Plant Inventory

MWR SD Mount Rushmore Implement Pest Management Plan 10,000

 NMem

MWR MN Grand Portage NM Soil Resource Inventory 19,900

MWR IA Effigy Mounds NM Design Sedimentation Protocol for Sny Magill Creek 20,000

MWR MO Wilson’s Creek NB Locate Historic Trees 11,500

MWR IA Herbert Hoover NHS Prairie Restoration Plan 8,000

MWR OH Hopewell Culture Resource Management Plan Scoping Session $ 10,700

 NHP

(continued on next page)
82 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

NRPP Small Park Projects Funded in FY 2003 (continued)

REGION STATE PARK PROJECT TITLE FUNDING

MWR MO George Washington Special Natural History $ 10,000

 Carver NM

NCR VA George Washington Fish Species Inventory—Dyke March on 10,000

 Mem Parkway the Potomac River

NCR VA Harpers Ferry NHP Assessing Aquatic Environmental Associations 10,000

 and Ecological Vulnerability

NER MA Boston Harbor Boat Wake Impacts and Their Role in Shore Erosion 25,000

 Islands NRA

NER MA Saugus Iron USGS Watershed Assessment 17,800

 Works NHS

NER NJ Morristown NHP Develop Forest Management Plan 21,600

NER PA Valley Forge NHP Assess Sediment Pollution in Valley Creek 24,500

NER VA Colonial NHP Develop Shoreline Conservation Mitigation Plans 40,000

PWR CA Devils Postpile NM Meadow Restoration/Wildlife Protection/Interpretation 30,000

PWR OR Fort Clatsop N Mem Tidal Zone Vegetation Survey 17,200

PWR ID Hagerman Fossil Acquire Paleontological Reference Materials 7,000

 Beds NM

PWR CA Muir Woods NM Decommission Abandoned Road 21,000

PWR ID Nez Perce NHP Remove Non-native Woody Species 23,000

PWR GU War in the Pacific Assess Sedimentation Patterns on Coral Reefs 20,000

 NHP

PWR OR Fort Clatsop N Mem Eradicate English Ivy and English Holly 14,000

PWR WA Whitman Mission Replace Exotic Grass with Native Grasses 2,000

 NHS

PWR CA Manzanar NHS Survey Amphibian and Reptile Species 8,000

PWR CA Manzanar NHS Survey Bird Species 10,000

PWR NP of American Resuscitate Weed-infested Rainforest on Mt. Alava 11,000

 Samoa

SER GA Chickamauga & Construct a GIS Database of All Known Water 16,500

 Chattanooga NMP Intakes and Withdrawals

SER GA Chickamauga & Control Exotic Asian Rice Eel 24,500

 Chattanooga NMP

SER NC Kings Mountain Inventory and Treat Invasive Exotic Plant Species 19,100

 NMP

SER FL Timucuan E&HPres Determine Impacts of Power Boats on Tidal Creeks 20,000

SER GA Chickamauga & Document Land Use Easements/Right of Ways 24,000

 Chattanooga NMP

SER FL Timucuan E&HPres Control Exotic Plants on Newly Acquired Lands 15,000

SER GA Chickamauga & Cooperative Water Quality Project at Local Schools 3,000

 Chattanooga NMP

SER FL Timucuan E&HPres Investigating Changes in Water Quality at Ft. George 7,000

SER FL Timucuan E&HPres Obtain Historical Aerial Photographs 15,000

SER NC Kings Mountain Provide Term Resource Management Assistance 40,400

 NMP

SER TN Obed W & SR Exotic Plant Survey and Eradication Project 19,800

TOTAL $ 999,800
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 83

NRPP Regional Block Allocation Projects Funded in FY 2003

REGION STATE PARK PROJECT TITLE FUNDING

AKR AK Alaska SO Alaska Regional Bear Management Initiative $ 40,000

AKR AK Alaska SO Host Alaska Science Symposium 10,000

AKR AK Alaska SO Initiate Publication to Promote and Publicize 25,000

 Science in Alaska Parks

AKR AK Alaska SO Create Public Outreach Materials for Ecological 30,000

 Tour of Alaska

AKR AK Alaska SO Develop Web-based Curriculum Project on the 30,000

 Culture of Wilderness

AKR AK Yukon Charlie Final Synthesis Study–Effectiveness of Mitigation 58,100

 Rivers NPres

AKR AK Wrangell-St Elias Communicate Resource Findings With the Public 6,900

 NP & Pres

IMR AZ Grand Canyon NP Resident Eagle Inventory: Emphasis on Declining 20,000

 Golden Eagles

IMR CO Florissant Fossil Collect and Propagate Native Seed 5,700

 Beds NM

IMR WY/ Yellowstone NP Restoration Stream Flow Allocation to Protect 17,000

MT Native Fish

IMR CO Florissant Fossil Control Four Species of Noxious Weeds 13,400

 Beds NM

IMR AZ Wupatki NM Assessment of Juniper Woodland Succession 19,800

IMR TX San Antonio Controlling Exotic Plant Species in Mission 20,000

 Missions NHP Labores Area

IMR AZ Southern Arizona Monitoring avian migration 20,000

 Group

IMR UT Bryce Canyon NP Soundscape Monitoring 20,000

IMR TX Lake Meredith NRA Complete Urban Interface Boundary Fence 20,000

IMR UT Timpanogos Assess Water Quality and Air Mass Movements in 20,000

 Cave NM the Cave System

IMR CO Curecanti NRA Determine Lamb Productivity and Survival as a Factor 18,000

 Limiting Bighorn Sheep Sustainability

IMR CO Colorado NM Conduct Paleontological Inventory in Partnership 6,100

 with Museum of Western Colorado

MWR MI Pictured Rocks NL Black Bear Ecology in Relation to Consumptive and 24,000

 Non-consumptive Human Use

MWR SD Wind Cave NP Drafting Quadrangles Maps 8,300

MWR MI Isle Royale NP Develop a Strategy to Prevent or Mitigate a 16,700

 Zebra Mussel Infestation

MWR WI Saint Croix NSR Sampling for Pesticides in Listed Mussel Habitats 18,000

MWR WI Saint Croix NSR Evaluate Air Pollution Effects on Lichens of the Riverway 21,800

MWR MN Voyagers NP Estimate Summer Use 24,800

MWR SD Wind Cave NP Cave and Karst Inventory 6,900

MWR AR Buffalo NR Control Exotic Species/Feral Swine 21,800

MWR NE Missouri NRR Zoological Survey 9,500

MWR SD Jewel Cave NP Impact of Wildfire on Composition, Abundance, 16,800

 and Distribution of Exotic Plants

MWR NE Scotts Bluff NM Restore Native Prairie Species 15,700

MWR MI Isle Royale NP Assess Threats to New Plant Species/Resurvey 5,700

 Rare Plant Plots

MWR MN Mississippi NR Identify Open Space and Habitat Opportunities 10,000

 & NRA

NCR NCR National Capital Building a Vegetation Classification for the Region 24,900

 Regional Office

NCR VA Manassas NBP Classification and Mapping of Forested Natural 3,800

 Communities

NCR MD Chesapeake & Evaluate Impacts of White-tailed Deer 10,000

 Ohio Canal NHP

NCR NCR National Capital Restoration of Ecological Balance in 8,900

 Central Constitution Gardens Lake

NCR VA George Washington Classification of Ecological Communities in 10,000

 M Pkwy Potomac Gorge Section

NCR WV Harpers Ferry NHP Butterfly Inventory $ 2,800

(continued on next page)
84 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

NRPP Regional Block Allocation Projects Funded in FY 2003 (continued)

REGION STATE PARK PROJECT TITLE FUNDING

NCR NCR National Capital Installation of Pollinator-friendly $ 6,000

 Central Plant Communities

NCR VA Prince William FP West Nile Virus Monitoring 8,000

NCR VA George Washington Subterranean Explorations: 9,600

 MPkwy Groundwater Amphipods

NCR NCR National Capital Aquatic Beetle Inventory of Piscataway 5,000

 East and Fort Washington Parks

NCR NCR National Capital Bee Inventory of Piscataway and 5,000

 East Fort Washington Parks

NCR VA Prince William FP Survey for the Small Whorled Pogonia, 9,700

 a Threatened and Endangered Plant

NCR MD Chesapeake and Provide River Navigation Services and GPS Mapping 2,200

 Ohio Canal NHP for Potomac Gorge Wetlands Study

NCR NCR National Capital Bat Inventory 7,800

 Central

NCR VA George Washington Protecting the Parkway’s Piedmont Streams Through 6,200

 MPkwy Surface Water Quality Monitoring

NCR VA Prince William FP Initiate a Vegetation Monitoring Program 9,700

NCR WV Harpers Ferry NHP Hack Support for Peregrine Falcons 3,900

NCR MD Chesapeake and Monitor West Nile Virus 8,000

 Ohio Canal NHP

NCR DC Rock Creek Park Inventory of the Vascular Flora of Glover 6,000

 Archibold and Palisades Parks

NCR MD Catoctin Mountain Control Invasive Exotic Plants 9,400

 Park

NCR MD Monocacy NB Conduct Rare, Threatened, and Endangered 4,000

 Species Survey on the Thomas Farm

NCR MD Chesapeake and Inventory Exotic Plants for Suppression Program 1,500

 Ohio Canal NHP

NCR DC Rock Creek Park Restoring Meadows 5,900

NCR MD Antietam NB Rehabilitation of Disturbed Areas 10,000

NCR MD Antietam NB Wildlife Education Outreach 3,600

NCR VA Manassas NBP Analysis and Interpretation of White-tailed 6,000

 Deer Exclosure Data

NCR NCR National Capital Fostering Natural Resource Stewardship 12,100

 Regional Office

NER NY Fire Island NS White-tailed Deer Monitoring 25,000

NER NY Gateway NRA Prepare Environmental Assessment for Experimental 75,000

 Restoration of Salt Marsh in Jamaica Bay

NER MD Assateague Estimate Nitrate Load in Stream-flow Discharge 42,200

 Island NS to Chincoteague Bay

NER PA Delaware Water Restore Wood Turtle Habitat 8,400

 Gap NRA

NER PA Delaware Water Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Bio-control Monitoring 5,000

 Gap NRA

NER VA Shenandoah NP Control Oriental Bittersweet 22,000

NER MD Assateague Assess Vegetation Impacts of Non-native Sika Deer 22,400

 Island NS

PWR CA Golden Gate NRA Restore Fort Funston Habitat 17,400

PWR CA Pinnacles NM Yellow Star Thistle Control 25,000

PWR CA Point Reyes NS Preserve Federally Endangered Sonoma alopecurus 25,000

PWR CA Point Reyes NS Protect/Restore Degraded Natural Resources 25,000

 in Pastoral Zone

PWR CA Santa Monica Abundance/Distribution of Small Mammals 25,000

 Mountains NRA

PWR CA Sequoia-Kings Distribution/Association of Fishers/Rare Forest 25,000

 Canyon NP Carnivores

PWR CA Sequoia-Kings Inventory of Karst Fauna 32,600

 Canyon NP and

 Yosemite NP

PWR CA Whiskeytown NRA Survey and Map Exotic Plants 25,000

SER TN Great Smoky Inventory American Chestnut Trees to Assess $ 20,000

 Mountains NP Restoration Potential

(continued on next page)
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 85

Eastern red bats were captured at

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

as part of a study to identify bat

species and sensitive roosting areas

within the National Capital ParksCentral area. Objectives of the

project include increased public

awareness and development of

management plans to protect bats

that may roost in major memorials.

NPS PHOTO

NRPP Special Alaska Projects Funded in FY 2003

PROJECT TITLE FUNDING

Identify Levels and Dynamics of Subsistence Resources Harvests for Buckland, Alaska $ 60,000

Document Cape Krusenstern Muskoxen Range Use and Develop Muskoxen 32,600

 Public Information Site

Escapement, Population Structure, Genetics, and Morphology 126,700

 of Sockeye Salmon Within Aniakchak

Identify Marine Bird Distribution and Evaluate Visitor Impacts 160,700

Prepare a Management and Monitoring Plan Based on Visitor Experience 39,700

 and Resource Protection (VERP)

Nutritional and Contaminant Assessment of Lynx and Snowshoe Hare in the 48,450

 Brooks Range near Wiseman, Alaska

Determine the Status of Steller Sea Lions in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve 11,250

Investigate Limnological Conditions in Tanada Lake Affecting Sockeye Salmon Production 17,750

TOTAL $ 497,150

NRPP Regional Block Allocation Projects Funded in FY 2003 (continued)

REGION STATE PARK PROJECT TITLE FUNDING

SER SC Congaree Swamp Conduct Acoustic Monitoring for Endangered Bird, $ 35,600

 NM Amphibian Calls, and Aircraft Overflights

SER LA Lean Lafitte NHP Quantify Deer Population and Develop a Hunting 45,000

 & Pres Management Plan for the Barataria Preserve

SER KY Mammoth Cave NP Restoration of Abandoned Oil/Gas Well Roads 35,000

SER FL Gulf Islands NS Determine Concentrations of Mercury Compounds 24,000

 in Fish, Water, and Sediment

SER VI Virgin Islands NP Determine Endangered St. Thomas Prickly-ash 25,000

 Population, Distribution, Status, and Trends

SER TN Great Smoky Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Beetle Predator Survey 15,400

 Mountains NP

TOTAL $ 1,400,000
86 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

NPS-USGS Biological Resources Division, Park-Oriented Biological Support

Summary of Progress Made for Projects Funded in FY 2003

PROJECT TITLE FY 2003 REPORT

Integrating Beaver, Water, and

Willow in the SAVANNA

Model at Rocky Mountain

National Park

Ecological Integrity of

McDonald Watershed, Glacier

National Park: Biotic Indicators

of Water Quality Impairment

at the Reconstruction of

Going-to-the-Sun Road

A Decision Support System for

the Saint Croix National Scenic

River

Bighorn Sheep in Great Basin

National Park: An Assessment

of Population Status, Limiting

Factors and Potential Enhancement Alternatives

Determine Wind Erosion Rates

to Support Protection of

Natural and Cultural Resources

at Bandelier National

Monument, New Mexico

Develop and Populate an

Avifauna Database at Mesa

Verde National Park

FY 03 results included completing the computer program and user

code as the final beaver submodel of the SAVANNA ecological model

for Rocky Mountain National Park and preparing two draft scientific

papers. Model results showed that when elk density reached a threshold of about 40-60 elk/km2

, then asymmetrical competition between

elk and beaver excluded beaver and the natural riparian-willow ecosystem collapsed. FY 2004 plans include presenting the beaver-willow

model to park staff in a seminar format and submitting the modeling

results for journal publication.

The assessment of ecological integrity analyzed macroinvertebrate

communities along the elevational and longitudinal gradient of

McDonald Creek and established a “reference-condition” for

biomonitoring studies using multivariate approaches to assessing water quality impairment. This reference condition will permit assessing

potentially impacted sites that may occur during Sun Road reconstruction. The next step will be to complete the final report.

National Park Service staff required an easy, but accurate, system to

enter data about plants and animals in the Riverway to ensure data

consistency among studies. Using these criteria, the park developed a

relational, Access database on unionid mussels, rare plants, and rare

animals in the Riverway. This database contains data entry screens with

drop-down menus to reduce errors associated with data entry conducted by multiple individuals, and to ensure that each individual

enters the same type of data. Database users can search and output information from the Access database into GIS to perform more detailed

spatial analyses that will ultimately aid in decision making in the

Riverway. This work is now completed.

Field work was completed. A panel of scientists visited the park to review background information on vegetation and the existing bighorn

sheep population and to evaluate the quality of available habitats. A

draft report was completed and will be finalized in early FY 2004.

This project provides technical assistance to Bandelier National Monument on the effects of accelerated soil erosion on natural and cultural

resources. Water erosion is known to be a major problem, but wind

erosion rates have been unexamined. In late FY 2002 the park established an array of 28 wind erosion samplers to collect wind-borne

particles in a circular pattern in the midst of a Bandelier watershed

where water erosion has been studied for 10 years. In FY 2003 the park

collected samples weekly or bimonthly, developing a baseline on the

magnitude and variability of wind-driven erosion. Staff will continue

to collect data in FY 2004 to further determine patterns and trends of

wind-borne erosion. In FY 2004 staff will summarize their findings to

date to inform an ongoing EIS for ecological restoration activities at

Bandelier.

More than 10,000 individual reference sources on the bird fauna of

Mesa Verde National Park, including published and unpublished reports, various counts, field notes, and wildlife record cards, have been

gathered. Approximately 40 percent of this information has been entered into an Access database that follows NPS format. Park staff have

been very supportive and interested. We have begun synthesizing data

in relation to species and habitat to provide a comprehensive overview

of bird occurrence, distribution, and population trends at Mesa Verde

National Park.

(continued on next page)
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 87

Development of a Model to

Evaluate Impacts of Fuels

Reduction/Prescribed Fire in

Pinyon-juniper Habitats on

Avian Communities Within

Colorado Plateau National

Parks (19 parks)

Research in Support of

Endangered Kemp’s Ridley Sea

Turtles at Padre Island National

Seashore

Estimating Black Bear

Abundance in Great Smoky

Mountains National Park Using

DNA Extracted from Hair

Samples

Testing and Evaluation of

Remote Sensing Methods for

Estimating Refuge

Characteristics of Karst

Wetlands (Everglades National

Park)

Distribution, Population

Dynamics, and Herbivory

Impacts of a Pioneering Elk

Herd on Chaco Culture National

Historic Park

A review of all published and non-published works associated with

breeding birds from Zion National Park was completed. Updated species lists are being developed of all birds that have been reported

within mature, mid-aged, and young-aged pinyon-juniper habitat in

the park; next, resident, migrant, and vagrant nonbreeding species

lists will be developed. Historical accounts have been compiled of information on population dynamics of breeding species within the

park. All areas of each pinyon-juniper vegetation type scheduled for

fuels reduction have been visited. Because habitat to be burned in

Zion does not include mid-aged habitats, permanent transects established prior to the proposed fuels reduction have been stratified by

only mature and young vegetation types. Coordination with park

staff and utilization of available park GIS vegetation data themes will

permit future correlation of vegetation and avian population transect

data with other biotic and abiotic parameters. Initial avian surveys

conducted at permanent transects collected baseline data prior to the

fuels reduction effort. Oral reports were given to Zion staff in both

2002 and 2003 and to other Colorado Plateau parks in 2003. Geographic information data themes of pinyon-juniper habitat have been

done for four parks.

Documented 19 Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle nests along the Texas coast

during 2003. Nesting turtles included one associated with an experiment to establish a secondary nesting colony and two other

head-started turtles. Hatchling emergence was about 85 percent. Collected blood and tissue samples for later DNA analyses.

More than 1,300 DNA samples were collected from 65 sites in Great

Smoky Mountains National Park during 10 weekly sampling periods.

Microsatellite DNA analysis is being performed on 250 randomly selected samples. Bear population abundance and density will be

determined based on capture histories derived from the DNA samples.

Results will be combined with a second year of DNA sampling in 2004

to establish protocols for a long-term black bear population monitoring program.

The project goal is to determine the feasibility of estimating density

of solution holes by aerial imagery. Digital imagery of transects in Everglades National Park was captured by aerial overflights during the

2003 dry season. The images were orthorectified and post-processed.

While successful identification of vegetation-free limestone areas was

possible, conditions were too dry to pick up any water/shadow in the

holes themselves. As an alternative, a search is underway of historic

archives for imagery from wetter periods that might provide distinction between open limestone area vs. limestone with solution hole.

The possibility that all visible open areas may be depressions will be

tested by ground-truthing. A high-resolution camera purchased at

year’s end will provide a very high-resolution foundation for rectification of, and change detection from, imagery to be collected in the

future when ground conditions are more suitable for analysis of the

holes. In FY 2004 transect overflights will be conducted to collect images when conditions are optimal, and a final report of the data will

be prepared.

Four cow and seven bull elk were radio-collared in April 2003. Cow

elk averaged 6.2 percent body fat in April 2003, the highest end-ofwinter fat levels seen in monitoring of more than 10 elk populations

throughout western North America. The majority of bull elk captured

on the park dispersed off the park onto adjacent Tribal and Bureau of

Land Management holdings. Cow elk captured on the park remained

on or adjacent to the Park. Elk locations were entered into a GIS database for analysis of elk use areas. Elk will be captured again in

December 2003 to increase sample sizes of resident adult females.

NPS-USGS Biological Resources Division, Park-Oriented Biological Support

Summary of Progress Made for Projects Funded in FY 2003 (continued)

PROJECT TITLE FY 2003 REPORT

(continued on next page)
88 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

Effects of Suspended Load on

Stream Biota (Redwood

National Park)

The Importance of Walnut

Canyon National Monument

as Habitat for Cougars (Puma

concolor) in an Urban

Interface Environment

Gaining Baseline Data on

State-listed Lake Sturgeon

(Acipenser fulvescens) and

Their Spawning Habitat Across

the International Boundary

Between Minnesota and

Ontario (Voyageurs National

Park)

Technical Assistance in

Determining Size and

Composition of Non-native

and Native Ungulate

Populations at Point Reyes

National Seashore

Vegetation Classification and

Mapping Tools for National

Parks: Demonstration Products

for Voyageurs National Park

NPS-USGS Biological Resources Division, Park-Oriented Biological Support

Summary of Progress Made for Projects Funded in FY 2003 (continued)

PROJECT TITLE FY 2003 REPORT

(continued on next page)

More than 400 suspended sediment samples were collected in four

streams. Lab analysis is completed for turbidity, particle size distribution, and organic/inorganic composition. Fish feeding behavior and

benthic macroinvetebrates were sampled under eight different flow conditions in four streams. Statistical analysis is now under way, and invertebrate identification must be completed. A final report on the effects of

suspended sediment loads on stream biota will be issued in 2004.

Four cougars were marked and monitored a total of 503 animal-days,

producing a total of more than 900 successive movements. The marked

cougars rarely crossed paved highways, exhibited selection for rough

terrain, often used areas near (less than one mile) urban areas, and increased their use of protected areas with advent of the big game

hunting season. Twenty-five recorded kills included four coyotes and

one bobcat. A one-year continuation proposal was submitted to a private foundation and a three-year proposal was submitted to the

research NRPP. The work involved eight students and 16 volunteers.

Talks were given at two conferences, and two posters were presented

at one conference. Capture of two additional animals, monitoring, and

GIS development will continue through FY 2004 along with report

preparation and development of future research plans.

In May and June 2003, radio/acoustic tags were implanted in an additional 20 lake sturgeon. Aerial and boat tracking of those fish and the

13 tagged in Fall 2002 was conducted weekly throughout the summer

and early fall. Some fish moved extensively, while others remained in a

relatively small area throughout the summer. Tracking of fish will continue in the spring and summer of 2004 with emphasis on

identification and characterization of areas apparently being used for

spawning. A final report will be completed by the winter of 2004-05.

Completed a peer reviewed study plan with a focus on the population

of fallow deer (Dama dama), the more abundant of the two non-native deer species. Captured fallow deer from November 2002 through

October 2003 using aerial net-gunning (37 animals) and modified Clover traps (five animals). Fitted captured animals with radio-collars and

collected biological samples (an incisor, blood, and feces) before release to assess age and reproductive and disease status. Instrumented

animals have been located from the ground bimonthly. Completed an

aerial census of the seashore’s fallow deer in January 2003. At that

time, all visible fallow deer were counted from the air, and instrumented animals were located both from the air and on the ground.

Obtained both average group size and a Lincoln-Petersen index using

the detectability of instrumented animals as a correction factor. The

first-year estimate for the Seashore fallow deer population was 859

animals (90% CI = 547-1170). This estimate, as well as herd composition data collected using telemetry, has been included in the park’s

Exotic Deer Management Plan Environmental Impact Statement, to be

released in draft form January 2004. A second aerial census is scheduled for January 2004 to secure a population estimate with a narrower

confidence band.

Research and analysis of the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program’s

vegetation sampling data initiated in FY 2003 will be concluded early

in FY 2004. Results will be incorporated into both a vegetation field

key and a scientific journal article regarding plant communities at

Voyageurs National Park. For the field key, an outline and page format

for each plant community were derived and representative ground

photos for each plant community were identified and selected. In FY

2004 all graphical and manuscript pieces will be compiled, analysis will

be completed, and the scientific article will be drafted and submitted

for journal publication. A journal article regarding photointerpretation
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 89

NPS-USGS Biological Resources Division, Park-Oriented Biological Support

Summary of Progress Made for Projects Funded in FY 2003 (continued)

PROJECT TITLE FY 2003 REPORT

Vegetation Classification and

Mapping Tools for National

Parks: Demonstration Products

for Voyageurs National Park

(continued from previous

page)

Baseline Monitoring of

Floodplain Vegetation and

Geomorphology Prior to Dam

Removal, Elwha River, Olympic

National Park

Protecting Ecological

Resources at Acadia National

Park Through Landscape Scale

Conservation and Easement

Planning

Water Developments in

Theodore Roosevelt National

Park, North Dakota: Implications for Ungulates and

Herbivory

Impact of Stocking Nonindigenous Salmonids on a

Federally Endangered

Freshwater Mussel Within the

Delaware Water Gap NRA

Evaluating the Impacts of

White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus

virginicus) on Vegetation

Within Pea Ridge National

Military Park

methods for mapping plant communities at Voyageurs National Park

drafted in FY 2003 will be finalized and submitted in FY 2004. The article presents the importance of collaboration between ecologists and

mappers for developing quality vegetation map products. An outline

and page format for the Resource Application report booklet was derived so each resource application page contains four sections:

Introduction, Application, Results, and Graphics. The report booklet

will be finalized and prepared for publication in FY 2004. Demonstrations of the vegetation field key tool and resource applications using

the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program’s vegetation map, were

presented at the 2003 George Wright Society Biennial Conference.

Six cross-valley transects were sampled within Olympic National Park in

Summer 2003: three in the “control” reach in Geyser Valley (upstream

of Glines Canyon Dam), and three in the reach between the two dams

on the Elwha River. Transect topography was surveyed; vegetation

patch types and geomorphic surfaces were identified; vegetation plots

were established; tree, shrub and herbaceous vegetation was sampled;

and up to 12 more transect locations for future sampling were identified. FY 2003 results included topographic cross-sections for the six

transects; tree ages, tree density, cover, and basal area by species;

shrub species composition and cover; herbaceous species composition

and cover; and dominant sediment particle sizes within the vegetation

plots. In FY 2004 all remaining field data collection will be conducted,

including parallel sampling to that conducted in FY 2003 along up to

12 more transects (three more in Geyser Valley, three more between

the dams, and six below both dams). Data entry and preliminary data

analysis will also occur in FY 2004. Final data analysis and report preparation will extend into FY 2005.

The principal investigators obtained relevant biological inventories

from park staff to incorporate into the decision support process. The

investigators also met with park staff and the Maine Land Trust to obtain their input. The park asked USGS to also include boundary decisions currently being discussed by the park as well as prioritizing lands

for conservation easements. The principal investigators met with USGS

personnel developing the vegetation classification for Acadia NP to incorporate vegetation data into the modeling process. A preliminary

decision tree structure has been developed and discussed with park staff.

Developed portable videography units that resolve many problems associated with using cameras for vertebrate monitoring. Deployed

seven units at water developments and monitored ungulate use from

June through September. Developed a vegetation sampling protocol

and collected data on plant community composition in the vicinity of

water developments. Data collection will continue, and data processing will begin during FY 2004.

The project study plan was approved in May 2002. Field work needs to

be conducted during the winter and early spring. No work was conducted during the winter of 2002-2003 because the principal

investigator changed jobs, and too much rain caused poor field study

conditions.

Twenty deer exclosures were constructed within the park between

January and March 2003. Vegetation data on all 53 deer browse plots

and the 20 deer exclosure plots were collected in August 2003. All vegetation data have been entered into a database and error checked.

The field work has been completed. During FY 2004, data will be analyzed, a report will be prepared for park management, and a journal

manuscript will be prepared for submission.

(continued on next page)
90 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

NPS-USGS Biological Resources Division, Park-Oriented Biological Support

Summary of Progress Made for Projects Funded in FY 2003 (continued)

PROJECT TITLE FY 2003 REPORT

(continued on next page)

Development of Parasite Risk

Assessment and Control

Strategies for Captive

Breeding of Island Fox

(Urocyon littoralis) at Channel

Islands National Park

Habitat Requirements of the

Endangered California

Freshwater Shrimp (Syncaris

pacifica) in Streams on the

Point Reyes National Seashore

and Golden Gate National

Recreation Area

Assessing the Risk of Aerially

Borne Pesticides to Declining

Amphibian Species in the

National Parks of the Sierra

Nevada Mountains, California

(Sequoia/Kings Canyon,

Yosemite, and Lassen Volcanic

National Parks)

Evaluation of Canid Scents as a

Management Tool to Reduce

Mammal Predation on Piping

Plover Nests in Coastal Barrier

Parks (Gateway National

Recreation Area and Cape

Cod, Cape Hatteras, Cape

Lookout, and Fire Island

National Seashores)

From November 2002 to July 2003 an intensive parasite monitoring

project was instituted for each park captive fox breeding facility. The

College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Tennessee analyzed

fecal samples using multiple parasite identification and quantification

procedures to produce a complete picture of the parasites impacting

the foxes. In June 2003 the Island Fox Parasite Working Group met a

second time to review the draft parasite risk assessment and control

plan developed in 2002 in light of the parasite monitoring project results. Currently the Parasite Working Group is revising and

proofreading the Parasite Risk Assessment and Control Report in

preparation for submission of a final draft.

California freshwater shrimp were sampled using a combination of

methods on four occasions (February, May, August, and November

2003) from 16 sites in Lagunitas Creek and four sites in Olema Creek, a

small tributary of Lagunitas Creek. Shrimp were detected in Lagunitas

Creek at no more than 13 sites on any given sample trip. Shrimp have

not been caught in Olema Creek. Water quality and other habitat variables from each site were measured, and fish were sampled for gut

contents. Preliminary observations indicate that shrimp typically inhabit submerged substrates such as root hairs of riparian vegetation

where water current velocities are low or nonexistent. Gut contents of

native sculpins (Cottus spp.) yielded evidence of predation on shrimp.

Three additional sampling trips are scheduled for 2004 (February, May,

and August).

The Pacific chorus frog (Pseudacris regilla) was used as a surrogate species to test effects of atmospherically transported pesticides on

declining amphibian species in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Field

translocation experiments conducted in three national parks in California examined differences among two impacted sites and a reference

site. A laboratory experiment conducted in Spring 2003 attempted to

replicate, in a controlled environment, pesticide exposure effects seen

in the field. Egg masses of P. regilla collected at Point Reyes National

Seashore (containing approximately 480 embryos) were shipped overnight to the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. Upon arrival, egg

masses were held in environmental chambers until hatching. After

hatching, 6 tadpoles (pre-Gosner stage 25) were placed per 8-liter pesticide-spiked aquarium for a total of 80 aquaria and 480 tadpoles. P.

regilla tadpoles were exposed for 10 weeks to one of three dosage levels of malathion, chlorpyrifos, diazinon; to a mixture of the three; or to

acetone and blank controls. Animals were weighed and staged at 28

days and again at the end of the experiment when snout-vent-length

and proximal joint measurements were taken. Samples are stored at -

80° C awaiting tissue, cholinesterase, and DNA analyses. Survivorship,

growth, time to metamorphosis (or Gosner Stage 41-45), and percent

malformations are being determined relative to pesticide exposure.

Experiments to evaluate the use of natural predator odors in deterring

red foxes and other medium-sized mammals from predating piping

plover nests were undertaken at all five sites. Work was terminated in

October when Hurricane Isabel washed out all sampling stations. Data

are now being compiled and organized for analysis and a report is expected by summer 2004.
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 91

NPS-USGS Biological Resources Division, Park-Oriented Biological Support

Summary of Progress Made for Projects Funded in FY 2003 (continued)

PROJECT TITLE FY 2003 REPORT

Southern Colorado Plateau

Park Network: Vegetation

Mapping Needs Assessment

(19 parks)

Determining Rates and Causes

of Summer Elk Calf Mortality

in Yellowstone National Park

Amphibian Habitat Fragmentation in Salt Creek,

Canyonlands National Park:

Implications for Reproduction

and Distribution

At the request of the Southern Colorado Plateau network, the project

was refocused to develop more specific information for three parks for

which the network planned to initiate vegetation mapping work in

late FY 2003 and FY 2004. Initial work for Canyon de Chelly National

Monument, Mesa Verde National Park, and Petrified Forest National

Park identified existing plot data, vegetation maps, aerial photography, and vegetation literature. A detailed work plan for vegetation

mapping within each park was developed that included identification,

description, and assignment of mapping tasks; cost estimates; and a

projected work schedule. A scoping meeting was held at each park to

initiate vegetation mapping activities and to get each park’s input on

the work plan and schedule. A field plot sampling plan was developed

for Petrified Forest NP, and field data collection and data compilation

of field measurements was accomplished.

Fifty-one newborn elk calves in Yellowstone’s Northern Range were

outfitted with mortality-sensing transmitters, weighed, examined, and

sampled for blood. As of September 30, preliminary indications

indicate that bears killed 19 (37%); wolves, 5 (10%); coyotes 3 (6%%);

other predators, 2 (4%); bears or wolves, 2 (4%); and other causes, 3

(6%). The survival rate was 33 percent. Blood parameters are being

analyzed. Calves will be monitored for cause of death through May

2004.

Bufo woodhousii (Woodhouse toad) eggs were placed in pools in the

road and closed-road sections. Pools in the road were driven through

once at a speed of about 8 km hr-1 (5 mph) and remaining eggs

counted. Eggs were counted again after 24 hours in both open-road

and closed-road pools. Significantly fewer eggs remained in pools that

had been driven through, and even fewer remained after a day. There

was no difference in closed-road pools in number of eggs after 24

hours. Pitfall traps and visual encounter surveys along transects in

open-, closed-, and no-road segments were also conducted May-July

and September. Very few amphibians were seen; populations in all

areas appear to be greatly reduced by drought conditions over the

past five years.

Canyonlands National Park received

Natural Resource Challenge funding

to study amphibian habitat in Salt

Creek. Strings of Woodhouse toad

eggs were placed in pools (left) and

counted after vehicle drive-throughs

at 5 mph. Counts were also conducted in pools closed to vehicles. A

count done 24 hours later showed

that fewer eggs remained in pools

where vehicles had driven (right).

NPS PHOTOS
92 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

Various hardware and database

systems for all NPS natural resource

programs are maintained by the

Natural Resources Information

Division. A significant effort to

improve the Division’s website,

NatureNet, was completed in 2003.

NPS GRAPHIC

NRPP Servicewide Projects Funded in FY 2003

EXPENDITURES FUNDING

Recurring Funding Expenditures

Director’s Natural Resource Awards $ 50,000

Support for Professional Meetings (Society for Ecological Restoration, 30,000

 Natural Area Association, George Wright Society)

Natural Resource Publications 108,000

TOTAL $ 188,000

Servicewide Database Initiatives Expenditures

Research Permitting and Reporting System (RPRS) $ 78,000

Natural Resource Management Assessment Program (NR-MAP) 30,000

TOTAL $ 108,000

Special Projects Expenditures

Coordination of CESU Network $ 107,800

WACAP Snow Sampling 26,200

Peer Review Sensitivity of Plants 5,000

Acoustical Data Collection 100,000

Museum of Natural History/Center for Biodiversity and Conservation 10,000

World Heritage Meeting 5,000

Vulnerable Coastal and Glacial Resources 184,000

Natural Resource Laureate Program 50,000

Prototype Natural Resource Information Synthesis 133,000

Scientific Publications 13,000

Marine Protection Cooperation 4,000

TOTAL $ 638,000

Reprogrammed $ 292,000

TOTAL $ 934,000
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 93
New surveillance techniques are being tested at Capitol Reef National

Park to protect endangered cacti

that have been advertised for sale

on the Internet.

PHOTO © RUSS FINLEY/FINLEY-HOLIDAY FILMS
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 95

Appendix C: Resource Protection Program Projects

Resource Protection New and Ongoing Projects

TOTAL FY 2003

PARK PROJECT TITLE FUNDING FUNDING

Yosemite NP Resource Stewardship and Protection $ 125,000 $ 105,000

 Curriculum—Phase 2

Shenandoah NP Develop and Test Biome Level Protection 150,000 106,000

 Model—Phase 2

Capitol Reef NP Establish Procedures for Use of Surveillance Systems 115,000 65,000

 to Protect Rare Cacti From Illegal Collecting

TOTAL $ 390,000 $ 276,000

Resource Protection Fully Funded Projects

TOTAL FY 2003

PARK PROJECT TITLE FUNDING FUNDING

Mount Rainier NP Evaluate Potential for and Extent of Legal and $ 24,000 $ 24,000

 Illegal Mushroom Harvest in Park

TOTAL $ 24,000 $ 24,000
Using coordinates provided by

USGS, a GIS specialist navigated to a

water gauge at Zion National Park,

where a new GPS reading was taken

and added to the park’s water

resources GIS layer. NPS PHOTO
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 97

Appendix D: Water Resource Protection Projects

and Aquatic Resource Specialist Positions

Water Resource Protection Projects, FY 2003 Funding

PARK REGION PROJECT TITLE FUNDING

ALL ALL Support to the Office of the Solicitor $ 164,500

AZ Parks IMR Hydrologic Data Collection in Support of the 20,900

 Adjudication of the Little Colorado River Basin in Arizona

BLCA IMR Participation in the Adjudication of Colorado Water Div. #4 13,000

CAVE IMR Hydrologic Investigation, Restore Streamflow 21,100

CHIC IMR Hydrologic Data Collection, Participation in State Administrative Process 111,000

GRCA IMR Groundwater Study, Spring Protection 65,500

MEVE IMR Implementation of Water Rights Decree 1,200

MOCA IMR Hydrologic Data Collection in Support of the Adjudication of the 43,900

 Verde River Basin in Arizona

MT Parks IMR Implementation of the Montana-NPS Compact 1,800

SAGU IMR Investigation of Hydrology and Water Related Values 145,900

UT Parks IMR Participation in the Adjudication of Various Areas in Utah 3,000

BUFF MWR Investigation of Hydrology and Water Related Values 80,000

SLBE MWR Hydrologic Data Collection, Crystal River 13,000

THRO MWR Investigation of Hydrology and Water Related Values 11,500

CRLA PWR Assessment of Feasibility and Cost, Improve Priority Date 18,800

DEVA PWR Devil’s Hole and Spring Flow Monitoring, Groundwater Study, 105,100

 Participation in Groundwater Model Development

GRBA PWR Assessment of Hydrologic Conditions and Vulnerability of Park Streams 40,000

 to Groundwater Development

LAME PWR Spring Flow Monitoring, Participation in Cooperative Aquifer Stress Test, 329,000

 Groundwater Model Development

OBRI SER Stream Flow Monitoring, Investigation of Hydrology and Water 73,600

 Related Values

ALL ALL Technical and Administrative Support to All Projects 66,200

TOTAL $ 1,329.00
98 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

Water Resources Division Competitive Projects, Final-Year Funded Projects

PARK REGION PROJECT TITLE FUNDING

GRTE IMR Baseline Water Quality Parameters/Land Use Characteristics $ 29,400

 of Five Snake River Headwater Tributaries

ISRO MWR Develop Water Resources Management Plan 25,000

SACN MWR Historical Trends in Phosphorous Loading from Permitted 25,000

 Point Source Discharges

CATO NCR Evaluate Water Quality for all Park Streams 14,000

ACAD NER Assess Current and Historic Atmospheric Deposition of 49,000

 Toxic Contaminants

DEWA NER Develop Groundwater Monitoring 41,000

MORR NER Distribution of Consumer Chemical Tracers to Evaluate 42,500

 Potential Septic System Sources of Fecal Bacterial Contamination

LAVO PWR Restoration of Drakesbad Meadow 25,000

MOJA PWR Perform Baseline Hydrologic and Biologic Inventory of Wetlands 25,000

OLYM PWR Analyze Channel Dynamics on the Hoh and Quinault Rivers to 15,000

 Protect Fish and Aquatic Resources

OLYM PWR Lake Ozette Tributary Sediment Sources, Transport, Potential, 50,000

 and Control

PORE PWR Hydrologic and Ecological Impacts of Commercial Oyster Framing 25,000

 on the Biota of Drakes Estero

REDW PWR Evaluate Watershed and Stream Channel Conditions Related to 20,700

 Disturbance History and Coho Habitat in Mill Creek

REDW PWR Install Streamflow Gaging Station on Prairie Creek 14,700

BISC SER Develop Waterflow Needs in Biscayne NP Using Adjacent Coastal 72,300

 Wetlands Indicators

CANA SER Develop Water Quality Monitoring Program 50,000

MOCR SER Restore Native Vegetation to Savannah Wetland 18,200

TOTAL $ 940,700

Water Resources Division Competitive Projects, Continuing Projects, FY 2003

PARK REGION PROJECT TITLE FUNDING

WRST AKR Investigate Liminological Conditions in Tanada Lake Affecting $ 17,300

 Sockeye Salmon Production

CURE IMR Data Collection & Analysis of Required Water Quality Parameters; 49,800

 Outstanding Waters Designation

PEFO IMR Stream and Riparian Characterization and Analysis 26,800

WABA IMR Conduct Riparian Corridor Restoration Study at Washita Battlefield NHS 49,500

BUFF MWR Characterization of Macroinvertebrate Community and Drift 19,200

 in a Tributary of BUFF, Prior to Damming

BUFF MWR Ground and Surface Water Interactions of the Buffalo NR 42,500

BUFF MWR Inventory and Assess Springs and Perennial Streams Buffalo NR 50,000

ISRO MWR Assess Hydrocarbon Pollution Threats to Park Waters 49,500

SACN MWR Determine Groundwater Impacts to the St. Croix NSR 40,000

SACN MWR Classify Critical Aquatic Habitat for the St. Croix NSR 45,200

NCRO NCR Capture and Assess Stream Health in Highly Fragmented Parks 52,200

CACO NER Management of Dune Slack Wetlands 16,000

CACO NER Pilgrim Lake Dynamics 50,000

DEWA NER Regional Point Source Management to Support Special Protection 50,000

 Water Quality Regulations

GOGA PWR Plan Rodeo Lagoon Watershed Wetland Riparian Habitat Restoration 43,500

GRBA PWR Aquatic Survey and Condition Assessment of GRBA 58,500

HAFO PWR Water Quality Impacts to the Snake River from Landslides 25,000

PORE PWR Enhanced Wetlands Mapping for Tomales Bay Watershed 47,600

PORE PWR Restoration of Horseshoe Pond to Coastal Lagoon 62,500

REDW PWR Evaluate Stream Temperature Regimes for Juvenile Coho 29,100

BISC SER Identify Restoration, Reservations and Minimum Flows and Level 50,000

 Targets for Biscayne NP

MACA SER Develop Water Resource Management Plan 25,000

TOTAL $ 940,700
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 99

Aquatic Resource Specialists, FY 2002 and FY 2003 Funded Positions

REGION DUTY STATION/DISCIPLINE STATUS*

AKR YUCH/Aquatic Ecologist FY 02 funded and filled

AKR LACL/Fishery Biologist FY 02 funded and filled

IMR UT State Coord Office/ FY 02 funded and filled

 Fishery Biologist

IMR Sonoran Desert Network/ FY 02 funded and filled

 Groundwater Hydrologist

IMR GRTE/Hydrologist FY 02 funded; to be filled in FY 04

IMR/MWR CHIC/Groundwater Hydrologist FY 03 funded; to be filled in FY 04

MWR SACN/Aquatic Ecologist FY 02 funded and filled

MWR ISRO/Fishery Biologist FY 02 funded and filled

NER/NCR Center for Urban Ecology/ FY 02 funded and filled

 Aquatic Ecologist

NER DEWA/Hydrologist FY 02 funded and filled

NER FIIS/Marine Ecologist FY 03 funded; to be filled in FY 04

PWR PORE/Aquatic Ecologist FY 02 funded and filled

PWR MORA/Geomorphologist FY 02 funded and filled

PWR LAME/Groundwater Hydrologist FY 03 funded; to be filled in FY 04

SER CHAT/Fishery Biologist FY 02 funded and filled

SER CHAT/Wetlands Ecologist FY 02 funded and filled

* The recruitment process did not allow for the FY 2003-funded positions to be filled in the fiscal year.

Additionally, one position funded in FY 2002, the Intermountain Region hydrologist at Grand Teton NP,

will not be filled until FY 2004. Therefore, lapsed funding was incurred. The lapsed funding was used at

the regional level to support park water resource management issues.

Watershed Condition Assessment Program, FY 2003

PROGRAM ELEMENT FUNDING

Watershed Condition Assessment Methods Compendium $ 250,000

Water Resources Competitive Project Program 1,102,700

NPS-USGS Water Quality Assessment Partnership Program 365,000

WRD Watershed Condition Assessment–Critical Projects 500,000

Coastal Parks Phase I Watershed Condition Assessments 289,000

Marine Science Advisor 170,000

Other (including development of data systems) 189,000

TOTAL $ 2,865,700

Watershed Condition Assessment Critical Projects, FY 2003 Funding

REGION/STATE PARK PROJECT TITLE FUNDING

PW/CA WHIS Sampling Water and Sediments for Contaminants: $ 24,000

 Supplemental Assistance for a Cooperative Project

PW/IM GLCA/ Development of a Comprehensive Water Quality 75,000

NV, AZ, UT LAME Monitoring Plan for Glen Canyon and Lake Mead NRAs

PW/NV GRBA Susceptibility of Great Basin NP Resources to Groundwater 164,000

 Withdrawals in Cross-Boundary Ground-Watersheds

SE/FL BISC Groundwater Characterization and Assessment of 75,000

 Contaminants in Marine Areas of Biscayne NP

SE/SC COSW Effects of Modified Dam Operations and Run-of-River Flow 68,500

 in the Congaree River to Floodplain Hydrology

Western States SEKI/ Assessing Airborne Contaminants in Water, Fish, and 93,500

ROMO Sediment in Western U.S. Parks

TOTAL $ 500,000
A field plot sampling plan was developed for Petrified Forest National

Park, and field data collection and

data compilation of field measurements was accomplished.

PHOTO © RUSS FINLEY/FINLEY-HOLIDAY FILMS
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 101

Appendix E: Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

(CESU) Projects Supported With Natural Resource

Challenge Funding

Intermountain Region - Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

DINO Stratigraphy and Dating of the Lower Cretaceous $ 8,000 R

 Cedar Mountain Formation

GLCA Plesiosaur Excavation and Late Cretaceous 15,000 R

 Paleontological Research

PEFO Revised Geologic Assessment of Sonsela Sandstone 13,000 R

ARCH Lomatium latilobum Monitoring 13,000 TA

COLM Inventory of Exotic Plants and Development of 15,000 TA

 Long-Term Strategies for Control

MEVE Population Status Survey for Schmoll’s Milkvetch 15,000 TA

TICA Controlling Invasive Plants 10,000 TA

ZION Upgrade Stream Gauge on the East Fork of the 7,000 TA

 Virgin River

ZION Restore Natural Riparian Function on the Virgin River 3,000 TA

MULTI Haskell Indian Nations College Fieldwork $ 15,000 E

TOTAL $ 114,100

Intermountain Region - Desert Southwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

CHIR Bat Species Diversity Study $ 4,400 R

CORO Food Resources and Winter Avian Abundance 5,000 R

GUMO Red Squirrel Survey 4,200 R

TUMA Kino Fruit Trees (Phase 1) 5,000 R

MULTI Hummingbird Monitoring Network Field Sites 26,300 R

 (JOTR, TUMA, CORO, CHIR)

MULTI Arizona-Sonora Avian Monitoring Program 8,000

 (FOBO and two Mexican sites in Sister Park)

MULTI Use of Remote Sensing to Quantify Border Impacts 9,000 R

 (CORO, ORPI)

MULTI CESU Assistant Research Scientist Position 35,000 R

CAVO Erosion Control and Restoration 10,200 TA

MOJA Workshop on Mohave Tui Chub Recovery Plan 4,500 TA

PAAL Mesquite Eradication 4,800 TA

PAIS Printing of Shoreline Trash Study 7,000 TA

MULTI Mission Parks Initiative (Phase 2) 5,000 TA

 (TUMA, PECO, SAPU, SAAN)

 Printing CESU Brochure (Sonoran Institute) 600 TA

ORPI A Field Guide to Sonoran Desert Pollinators 5,000 E

SPCO PBS Program on El Camino Real Adentro 4,500 E

MULTI Hummingbird Monitoring Network Website $ 3,000 E

 (JOTR, TUMA, CORO, CHIR)

TOTAL $ 141,500

Alaska Region - North and West Alaska Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

No challenge funding
102 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

Midwest Region - Great Lakes-Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

NIOB Effects of Red Cedar Removal on Bird Populations in $ 35,000 R

 Upland Habitats of Niobrara Valley (administered

 through Great Plains CESU)

EFMO Baseline Information for Dousman Creek– 1,000 R

 Yellow River Project

ISRO/KEWE Geographic Information Systems Project Support 30,000 TA

MULTI Identify Research, Technical Assistance, and Education 17,000 TA

 Needs in National Parks in the Great Lakes-Northern

 Forest Biogeographic Region

VOYA Publication: Aquatic Synthesis of Voyageurs NP 1,000 TA

NPS contribution for initial award to Upper and $ 10,000

 Middle Mississippi Valley CESU

TOTAL $ 94,000

Intermountain Region - Rocky Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

BLCA/CURE Determine Bighorn Sheep Lamb Productivity $ 10,000 R

GLAC Survey of Fish Populations along the 10,000 R

 Going-to-the-Sun Road

GRTE Pronghorn Migration Corridors 10,000 R

FOLA Conservation of Historic Structures and Weed Control 10,000 R

YELL Snowshoe Hare Distribution and Abundance 10,000 R

ROMO Herbivory by Biological Control Agents on Toadflax 5,330 R

BICA Bighorn Sheep Distribution and Abundance 9,580 R

MULTI Wilderness Travel Simulation Modeling 10,000 R

GRTE Restoration of Snake River Riparian Habitat 5,000 TA

ROMO Certification of Vascular Plant Lists 10,000 TA

GRKO Weed Control in Irrigated Pastures 5,000 TA

BEOL Vegetation Management Planning 4,000 TA

BLCA/CURE Natural Resource Interns 5,000 TA

GLAC Herbarium and Database Organization 2,100 TA

FLFO Paleontology Database and Web Site 1,975 TA

BLCA/CURE Staff Training in Biostatistics 2,475 E

GLAC Research Learning Center–Workshop 2,500 E

ROMO Research Learning Center–Workshop 2,500 E

YELL Workshop on Management of Grizzly Bears 2,500 E

GLAC Salish Kootenai College NR Intern 5,400 E

GRKO Curriculum Development and Teacher Training 2,500 E

GRSA Video on Dunes Parks 2,500 E

GLAC Bull Trout Education Brochure 2,500 E

MULTI Weed Text Book for NPS units 4,000 E

MULTI Wilderness Management Workshop 2,500 E

MULTI NR Managers Annual Meeting $ 6,125 E

TOTAL $ 143,485
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 103

Midwest Region - Great Plains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

CAVO/ Noxious Weeds Inventory and Mapping at Capulin $ 28,493 TA

 FOUN/LAMR Volcano NM, Fort Union NM, and Lake Meredith NRA

MULTI Develop a Research and Technical Assistance Needs 10,000 TA

 Catalog for National Parks in the Great Plains

MULTI Grant Writing Training for Resource Managers $ 5,094 E

TOTAL $ 43,587

Midwest Region - Upper and Middle Mississippi Valley Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

No challenge funding

National Capital Region - Chesapeake Watershed Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

CHOH Effects of Aluminum on Benthos of the Potomac $ 40,000 R

 River

TOTAL $ 40,000

Northeast Region - North Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

CACO/FIIS/ Creation of a GIS-Based Automated Coastal Change $ 18,687 R

 GATE/ASIS Analysis Toolbox

CACO/FIIS Feasibility of Sampling Surf-Zone Fishes in NS Waters 47,195 R

BOHA Analysis of Shoreline Process, Boston Harbor Islands 7,495 R

Servicewide Support of Scientific Sessions and Special Publications 8,000 TA

 Honoring Dr. James Allen (former NPS and USGS

 Coastal Geomorphologist)

GATE Conduct Topographic Survey and Establish Volume 4,755 TA

 Data for Marsh Restoration at Jamaica Bay

NER North Atlantic Coast CESU operations $ 18,975 TA

TOTAL $ 105,107

Pacific West Region - Californian Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

No challenge funding
104 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

Pacific West Region - Great Basin Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

JODA Study of Bat Roots in the John Day Fossil Beds NM $ 30,900 R

YOSE National Register Documentation 6,000 TA

MOJN Website Development for the Mojave Inventory 6,000

 and Monitoring Network

GRBA Baseline Assessment of the Inventory of Bird Species 3,800 TA

 at Great Basin National Park and update of the NPS

 NPSpecies Database

MOJN MS Access and ArcView training for Mojave Inventory $ 2,000 E

 and Monitoring Network

TOTAL $ 48,700

Pacific West Region - Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

FOVA Lead isotope and Trace Element Analysis of $ 2,850 R

 19th-Century Lead Artifacts Recovered from Lewis

 and Clark, Hudson’s Bay Company, and U.S. Army

 sites of the Pacific Northwest

OLYM Hypospectral Imaging Acquisition and Analysis of 25,000

 the Elwah River Corridor

CCSO Administrative Support for NPS Research Coordinator $ 25,150

 Including the Production of PNW CESU Newsletter,

 Maintaining NPS Information on the PNW CESU

 Website, Charges for Peer Review, Small Technical

 Assistance Efforts, and Administrative Assistance at

 the UW

TOTAL $ 53,000

Southeast Region - Gulf Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

MULTI Gulf Coast Workshop for All Units $ 31,000 TA

MULTI Student Intern for All Gulf Coast Units $ 6,500 TA

TOTAL $ 37,500

Southeast Region - Piedmont-South Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

No challenge funding
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 105

Southeast Region - South Florida/Caribbean Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

GUIS Santa Rosa Beach Mouse Use of Hurricane- $ 22,000 R

 Fragmented Landscape

TOTAL $ 22,000

Southeast Region - Southern Appalachian Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

PARK PROJECT TITLE COST R, TA, E FUNDING

COSW Inventory and Mapping of Carolina Bogmint $ 12,456 R

DESO Natural Resource Baseline Inventory (administered 6,945 R

 through South Florida-Caribbean CESU)

BISO Allegheny Woodrat Inventory 4,028 TA

HOBE Natural Resource Assessment of the Park 3,500 TA

HOBE Technical Assistance with GIS Database 2,000 TA

CARL Oral History Interviews 4,025 TA

BLRI Update Natural Resources Geographic $ 10,000 TA

 Information System

GPS coordinates are collected by a

Geoscientist-in-the-Park to define

the location of a survey marker in

Cumberland Island National

Seashore as part of a coastal

geology study sponsored by the

Geological Society of America.

USGS PHOTO BY ELIZABETH PENDLETON
Moose graze in a shallow stream at

Grand Teton National Park.

PHOTO © RUSS FINLEY/FINLEY-HOLIDAY FILMS
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 107

Appendix F: Parks Included in the NPS Inventory and

Monitoring Program (With Acronyms)

NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program Parks With Acronyms

CODE PARK NAME REGION STATE

ABLI Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site Southeast KY

ACAD Acadia National Park Northeast ME

AGFO Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Midwest NE

ALAG Alagnak Wild River Alaska AK

ALFL Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument Intermountain TX

ALPO Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site Northeast PA

AMIS Amistad National Recreation Area Intermountain TX

AMME American Memorial Park Pacific West CM

ANIA Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve Alaska AK

ANTI Antietam National Battlefield National Capital MD

APCO Appomattox Court House National Historical Park Northeast VA

APIS Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Midwest WI

APPA Appalachian National Scenic Trail Multi

ARCH Arches National Park Intermountain UT

ARPO Arkansas Post National Memorial Midwest AR

ASIS Assateague Island National Seashore Northeast MD

AZRU Aztec Ruins National Monument Intermountain NM

BADL Badlands National Park Midwest SD

BAND Bandelier National Monument Intermountain NM

BELA Bering Land Bridge National Preserve Alaska AK

BEOL Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site Intermountain CO

BIBE Big Bend National Park Intermountain TX

BICA Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area Intermountain MT

BICY Big Cypress National Preserve Southeast FL

BIHO Big Hole National Battlefield Pacific West MT

BISC Biscayne National Park Southeast FL

BISO Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area Southeast TN

BITH Big Thicket National Preserve Intermountain TX

BLCA Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park Intermountain CO

BLRI Blue Ridge Parkway Southeast NC

BLUE Bluestone National Scenic River Northeast WV

BOHA Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area Northeast MA

BOWA Booker T. Washington National Monument Northeast VA

BRCA Bryce Canyon National Park Intermountain UT

BUFF Buffalo National River Midwest AR

BUIS Buck Island Reef National Monument Southeast VI

CABR Cabrillo National Monument Pacific West CA

CACH Canyon de Chelly National Monument Intermountain AZ

CACO Cape Cod National Seashore Northeast MA

CAGR Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Intermountain AZ

CAHA Cape Hatteras National Seashore Southeast NC

CAKR Cape Krusenstern National Monument Alaska AK

CALO Cape Lookout National Seashore Southeast NC

CANA Canaveral National Seashore Southeast FL

CANY Canyonlands National Park Intermountain UT

CARE Capitol Reef National Park Intermountain UT

CARL Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site Southeast NC

CASA Castillo de San Marcos National Monument Southeast FL

CATO Catoctin Mountain Park National Capital MD

CAVE Carlsbad Caverns National Park Intermountain NM

CAVO Capulin Volcano National Monument Intermountain NM

CEBR Cedar Breaks National Monument Intermountain UT

CHAT Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area Southeast GA

CHCH Chickamauga / Chatanooga National Military Park Southeast GA

CHCU Chaco Culture National Historical Park Intermountain NM

CHIC Chickasaw National Recreation Area Intermountain OK

CHIR Chiricahua National Monument Intermountain AZ

CHIS Channel Islands National Park Pacific West CA

(continued on next page)
108 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program Parks With Acronyms (continued)

CODE PARK NAME REGION STATE

CHOH Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park National Capital MD

CIRO City of Rocks National Reserve Pacific West ID

COLM Colorado National Monument Intermountain CO

COLO Colonial National Historical Park Northeast VA

CORO Coronado National Memorial Intermountain AZ

COSW Congaree Swamp National Monument Southeast SC

COWP Cowpens National Battlefield Southeast SC

CRLA Crater Lake National Park Pacific West OR

CRMO Craters of the Moon National Monument Pacific West ID

CUGA Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Southeast KY

CUIS Cumberland Island National Seashore Southeast GA

CURE Curecanti National Recreation Area Intermountain CO

CUVA Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area Midwest OH

DENA Denali National Park and Preserve Alaska AK

DEPO Devil’s Postpile National Monument Pacific West CA

DETO Devils Tower National Monument Intermountain WY

DEVA Death Valley National Park Pacific West CA

DEWA Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Northeast PA

DINO Dinosaur National Monument Intermountain CO

DRTO Dry Tortugas National Park Southeast FL

EBLA Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve Pacific West WA

EFMO Effigy Mounds National Monument Midwest IA

EISE Eisenhower National Historic Site Northeast PA

ELMA El Malpais National Monument Intermountain NM

ELMO El Morro National Monument Intermountain NM

EVER Everglades National Park Southeast FL

FIIS Fire Island National Seashore Northeast NY

FLFO Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument Intermountain CO

FOBO Fort Bowie National Historic Site Intermountain AZ

FOBU Fossil Butte National Monument Intermountain WY

FOCA Fort Caroline National Monument Southeast FL

FOCL Fort Clatsop National Memorial Pacific West OR

FODA Fort Davis National Historic Site Intermountain TX

FODO Fort Donelson National Battlefield Southeast TN

FOFR Fort Frederica National Monument Southeast GA

FOLA Fort Laramie National Historic Site Intermountain WY

FOLS Fort Larned National Historic Site Midwest KS

FOMA Fort Matanzas National Monument Southeast FL

FONE Fort Necessity National Battlefield Northeast PA

FOPO Fort Point National Historic Site Pacific West CA

FOPU Fort Pulaski National Monument Southeast GA

FOSC Fort Scott National Historic Site Midwest KS

FOSU Fort Sumter / Fort Moultrie National Monument Southeast SC

FOUN Fort Union National Monument Intermountain NM

FOUS Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site Midwest ND

FOVA Fort Vancouver National Historic Site Pacific West WA

FRHI Friendship Hill National Historic Site Northeast PA

FRSP Fredericksburg Spotsylvania National Military Park Northeast VA

GAAR Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve Alaska AK

GARI Gauley River National Recreation Area Northeast WV

GATE Gateway National Recreation Area Northeast NY

GETT Gettysburg National Military Park Northeast PA

GEWA George Washington Birthplace National Monument Northeast VA

GICL Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument Intermountain NM

GLAC Glacier National Park Intermountain MT

GLBA Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Alaska AK

GLCA Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Intermountain UT

GOGA Golden Gate National Recreation Area Pacific West CA

GOSP Golden Spike National Historic Site Intermountain UT

GRBA Great Basin National Park Pacific West NV

GRCA Grand Canyon National Park Intermountain AZ

GREE Greenbelt Park National Capital MD

GRKO Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site Intermountain MT

(continued on next page)
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 109

NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program Parks With Acronyms (continued)

CODE PARK NAME REGION STATE

GRPO Grand Portage National Monument Midwest MN

GRSA Great Sand Dunes National Park Intermountain CO

GRSM Great Smoky Mountains National Park Southeast TN

GRTE Grand Teton National Park Intermountain WY

GUCO Guilford Courthouse National Military Park Southeast NC

GUIS Gulf Islands National Seashore Southeast FL/MS

GUMO Guadalupe Mountains National Park Intermountain TX

GWCA George Washington Carver National Monument Midwest MO

GWMP George Washington Memorial Parkway National Capital VA

HAFE Harpers Ferry National Historical Park National Capital WV

HAFO Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument Pacific West ID

HALE Haleakala National Park Pacific West HI

HAVO Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Pacific West HI

HEHO Herbert Hoover National Historic Site Midwest IA

HOBE Horseshoe Bend National Military Park Southeast AL

HOCU Hopewell Culture National Historical Park Midwest OH

HOFU Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site Northeast PA

HOME Homestead National Monument of America Midwest NE

HOSP Hot Springs National Park Midwest AR

HOVE Hovenweep National Monument Intermountain CO

HUTR Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site Intermountain AZ

INDU Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Midwest IN

ISRO Isle Royale National Park Midwest MI

JECA Jewel Cave National Monument Midwest SD

JELA Jean LaFitte National Historical Park & Preserve Southeast LA

JODA John Day Fossil Beds National Monument Pacific West OR

JOFL Johnstown Flood National Memorial Northeast PA

JOMU John Muir National Historic Site Pacific West CA

JOTR Joshua Tree National Park Pacific West CA

KAHO Kaloko Honokohau National Historical Park Pacific West HI

KALA Kalaupapa National Historical Park Pacific West HI

KATM Katmai National Park and Preserve Alaska AK

KEFJ Kenai Fjords National Park Alaska AK

KEMO Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Southeast GA

KIMO Kings Mountain National Military Park Southeast SC

KLGO Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Alaska AK

KNRI Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site Midwest ND

KOVA Kobuk Valley National Park Alaska AK

LABE Lava Beds National Monument Pacific West CA

LACL Lake Clark National Park and Preserve Alaska AK

LAME Lake Mead National Recreation Area Pacific West NV

LAMR Lake Meredith National Recreation Area Intermountain TX

LARO Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area Pacific West WA

LAVO Lassen Volcanic National Park Pacific West CA

LIBI Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument Intermountain MT

LIBO Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial Midwest IN

LIRI Little River Canyon National Preserve Southeast AL

LYJO Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park Intermountain TX

MABI Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park Northeast VT

MACA Mammoth Cave National Park Southeast KY

MANA Manassas National Battlefield Park National Capital VA

MANZ Manzanar National Historic Site Pacific West CA

MEVE Mesa Verde National Park Intermountain CO

MIMA Minute Man National Historical Park Northeast MA

MISS Mississippi Nat’l River and Recreation Area Midwest MN

MNRR Missouri National Recreational River Midwest NE

MOCA Montezuma Castle National Monument Intermountain AZ

MOCR Moores Creek National Battlefield Southeast NC

MOJA Mojave National Preserve Pacific West CA

MONO Monocacy National Battlefield National Capital MD

MORA Mount Rainier National Park Pacific West WA

MORR Morristown National Historical Park Northeast NJ

MORU Mount Rushmore National Memorial Midwest SD

(continued on next page)
110 Funding the Natural Resource Challenge FY 2003 Report to Congress

NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program Parks With Acronyms (continued)

CODE PARK NAME REGION STATE

MUWO Muir Woods National Monument Pacific West CA

NABR Natural Bridges National Monument Intermountain UT

NACE National Capital Parks East National Capital DC

NATR Natchez Trace Parkway Southeast MS

NAVA Navajo National Monument Intermountain AZ

NEPE Nez Perce National Historical Park Pacific West ID

NERI New River Gorge National River Northeast WV

NIOB Niobrara National Scenic Riverway Midwest NE

NISI Ninety Six National Historic Site Southeast SC

NOAT Noatak National Preserve Alaska AK

NOCA North Cascades National Park Pacific West WA

NPSA National Park of American Samoa Pacific West HI

OBRI Obed Wild and Scenic River Southeast TN

OCMU Ocmulgee National Monument Southeast GA

OLYM Olympic National Park Pacific West WA

ORCA Oregon Caves National Monument Pacific West OR

ORPI Organ Pipe Catcus National Monument Intermountain AZ

OZAR Ozark National Scenic Riverways Midwest MO

PAAL Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site Intermountain TX

PAIS Padre Island National Seashore Intermountain TX

PECO Pecos National Historical Park Intermountain NM

PEFO Petrified Forest National Park Intermountain AZ

PERI Pea Ridge National Military Park Midwest AR

PETE Petersburg National Battlefield Northeast VA

PETR Petroglyph National Monument Intermountain NM

PINN Pinnacles National Monument Pacific West CA

PIPE Pipestone National Monument Midwest MN

PIRO Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Midwest MI

PISP Pipe Spring National Monument Intermountain AZ

PORE Point Reyes National Seashore Pacific West CA

PRWI Prince William Forest Park National Capital VA

PUHE Puukohola Heiau National Historic Site Pacific West HI

PUHO Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park Pacific West HI

RABR Rainbow Bridge National Monument Intermountain UT

REDW Redwood National Park Pacific West CA

RICH Richmond National Battlefield Park Northeast VA

ROCR Rock Creek Park National Capital DC

ROMO Rocky Mountain National Park Intermountain CO

ROVA Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Site Northeast NY

RUCA Russell Cave National Monument Southeast AL

SAAN San Antonio Missions National Historical Park Intermountain TX

SACN Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway Midwest WI

SAGA Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site Northeast NH

SAGU Saguaro National Park Intermountain AZ

SAHI Sagamore Hill National Historic Site Northeast NY

SAIR Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site Northeast MA

SAJH San Juan Island National Historical Park Pacific West WA

SAMO Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Pacific West CA

SAPU Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument Intermountain NM

SARA Saratoga National Historical Park Northeast NY

SCBL Scotts Bluff National Monument Midwest NE

SEKI Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park Pacific West CA

SHEN Shenandoah National Park Northeast VA

SHIL Shiloh National Military Park Southeast TN

SITK Sitka National Historic Park Alaska AK

SLBE Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Midwest MI

STRI Stones River National Battlefield Southeast TN

SUCR Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Intermountain AZ

TAPR Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Midwest KS

THRO Theodore Roosevelt National Park Midwest ND

THST Thomas Stone National Historic Site Northeast MD

TICA Timpanogas Cave National Monument Intermountain UT

TIMU Timucuan Ecological and Historic Reserve Southeast FL

(continued on next page)
 National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 111

NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program Parks With Acronyms (continued)

CODE PARK NAME REGION STATE

TONT Tonto National Monument Intermountain AZ

TUMA Tumacacori National Historical Park Intermountain

TUZI Tuzigoot National Monument Intermountain AZ

UPDE Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River Northeast PA

VAFO Valley Forge National Historical Park Northeast PA

VICK Vicksburg National Military Park Southeast MS

VIIS Virgin Islands National Park Southeast VI

VOYA Voyageurs National Park Midwest MN

WABA Washita Battlefield National Historic Site Intermountain OK

WACA Walnut Canyon National Monument Intermountain AZ

WAPA War in the Pacific National Historical Park Pacific West GU

WEFA Weir Farm National Historic Site Northeast CT

WHIS Whiskeytown National Recreation Area Pacific West CA

WHMI Whitman Mission National Historic Site Pacific West WA

WHSA White Sands National Monument Intermountain NM

WICA Wind Cave National Park Midwest SD

WICR Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Midwest MO

WOTR Wolf Trap Farm Park National Capital

WRST Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve Alaska AK

WUPA Wupatki National Monument Intermountain AZ

YELL Yellowstone National Park Intermountain WY

YOSE Yosemite National Park Pacific West CA

YUCH Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve Alaska AK

YUHO Yucca House National Monument Intermountain CO

ZION Zion National Park Intermountain UT

A biologist monitors the status of

Palmer’s agave plants in long-term

plots at Coronado National

Memorial. The primary food source

for endangered lesser long-nosed

bats, more than 100 agaves were

relocated in preparation for the

construction of a vehicle barrier

along the the park boundary. NPS PHOTO
An evening bat flight occurs as the

sun sets in Carlsbad Caverns

National Park, one of six NPS units

in the Chihuahuan Desert Vital Signs

Monitoring Network.

PHOTO © RUSS FINLEY/FINLEY-HOLIDAY FILMS
U.S. Department of the Interior

The mission of the Department of the Interior is to protect and provide access to our nation’s natural and cultural

heritage and honor our trust responsibilities to tribes. We:

• encourage and provide for the appropriate management, preservation, and operation of the nation’s public lands

and natural resources for use and enjoyment both now and in the future;

• carry out related scientific research and investigations in support of these objectives;

• develop and use resources in an environmentally sound manner, and provide an equitable return on these resources

to the American taxpayer; and

• carry out trust responsibilities of the U.S. Government with respect to American Indians and Alaska Natives.

National Park Service

The National Park Service is a bureau within the Department of the Interior. We preserve unimpaired the natural and

cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and

future generations. We also cooperate with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.

May 2004 / Printed on recycled paper

The National Park

Service cares for special

places saved by the

American people so that

all may experience our

heritage.
National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Natural Resource Stewardship and Science

1201 I Street NW

Eleventh Floor

Washington, DC 20005

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