PACIFIC 

PARK 

SCIENCE 

VOLUME I- NUMBER 1 

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

FALL 

1980 
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PACIFIC FALL I a 

PARK 1980 A report to park managers of ment and onSCIENCE going research in parks with emphasis on its 

implications for planning and management 

l+omtheDirector..... 

As former director of the Pacific Nonhwest Region. it gives me panicular 

pleasure to welcome MM &I&# into the sciencelmanagement 

process of the Western United States. The inspired concept of Cooperative 

Park Study Units had its birth in the Pacific Northwest Region just 10 years 

ago, and I see the newsletter as a logical extension of the CPSU function - 

to put the highest quality science to the most intensive use in managing 

and interpreting the resources this nation has entrusted to our care. 

I made deliberate reference to the scienceimanagement process because 

it is the process nature of our function that I believe still needs attention. 

With mounting threats to the National Park System demanding our finest 

total effon, we have yet, as managers, to make full use of the tools science 

makes available. 

It is the responsibility of science to gather information as a basis for 

management, to interpret the results of research, and to provide resource 

managers with alternatives. It is the responsibility of managers to increase 

their knowledge of science and the dynamics of the resources they 

manage. 

Science end management must do more than just meet - they must 

mesh. 

InTleJbswl 

Cooperative Research Mix Aids Usen, Preservers lpage II 

Prescribed Burntng (page 11 

Crulseshlp study ipage 2 1 

lnmrprntation lpags 3 I 

Of Energy In Gsnsral lpege 3 I 

Of 8 Volcano I” Pernculsr lpage 1 I 

hr P~llutanf~ Monitored At Lbosphere Reserve ipage 4 1 

hOP18 end b8S ipage 5 I 

lbghorn Study IdentiesTwovieble Herds (page 6 I 

Channel Islands NP Resource lnventmy Underway lpage 6 I 

Whatrya Mm “Let I, Burn”?!?! Ipage II 

Look Whet We’re Ooingl Ipage 9 I 

C.P.S.U. Idea Celebrates 19th Birthday Ipage 

Super~nrendeors’Camer Ipage I 

Information Crossfile Ipage I 

WAS0 Publications (Inside book cover) 

Sierra Itrums Appealing Scourge Ipage 

Rsar Eiblkgnphy Nears 6099 

References I” Searchable Form Ipage I 

I was an enthusiastic supporter of the sciencelresource management 

workshops that were conducted for seven consecutive years in the Pacific 

Northwest Region. I saw the improvement in our operations that grew 

from the closer ties and better communication. 

I&Y%% M sa*lpr can act as an important link in holding together 

what I consider one the healthiest anywhere in Serv. 

ice the evolving, integration of activities for 

management programs. 

applaud the Region’s move the CPSU format and 

decision to in producing newslener. The 

science programs to evolve problem-solving ways. more 

than park and of interacting a national to the of 

both and the Park System. 

CPSU process teaching, research extension, and 

measure of aoccesz depends regular dissemination information. 

I the newslener bringing the dimension more 

to the tying the functions more to the of 

resource 

It is effort that need the and support all park in 

the I think will pay dividends for for manageand for public. 

Russ Director 

FmmtheEdii..... 

MM&&e is designed to be a two-way street. We hope it will 

be a busy thoroughfare, and that is up to you. 

From the editorial offices, we will go after as many stories as the issues 

will accommodate, and try to go in depth into as many as possible. But the 

real lifeblood of PPS will be your letters. comments. responses, ideas, 

gripes, bouquets, and leads. We want to hear about interesting ideas. books 

and anicles you have discovered and want to share. We want your views 

on anything pertaining to park science and park management. 

We’ll describe on-going research in the parka of the West; wall carry 

comments by the managers on that research and how it has been utilued. 

We will welcome management input as it concerns science and research - 

any comments about how it is serving, could serve bener, or IS missing the 

boat completely. 

We want science to be recognized as an indispensable tool, and we want 

to help make it more useful - usable - than ever before. We don’t think 

there is a bener way to do that than simply to open wide a conversation on 

science and management in a region where the two already are working 

very well together. 

The floor is open; the microphones are working - you’re on! 

Jean Manhews, Editor 
Cooperative 

Research Mix 

Aids Users, 

Preservers 

The gatherlog of data on undisturbed land and the 

applicatron of research results rn managmg for both 

multiple use and preservation is the crux of a 

cooperative research program involving the National 

Park Service. the U.S. Forest Service and two orwarsities in the Pacific Northwest - Oregon State and 

the Unrversitv of Washington. 

Three cases in point - the Hoh river “pulse study” 

in Olympic National Park, the prescribed burn study 

at Lava Beds National Monument, and the owboard 

interpretation study of cruiseship travelers to Alaska, 

illustrate the two kinds of interaction involved that 

3mong government agencies and universitres, and 

that across scientific disciplines. 

Managing an enormous. relatively pristine park in 

the face of equally enormous problems such as acid 

rain, au pollution and disappearing gene pools calls 

for measures based on knowledge as holistic as the 

set of circumstances that give rise to the problems. 

An attempt to gain just such a knowledge base was 

made when Dr. Jerry Franklin of the USFS Forestry 

Sciences Laboratory at Oregon State University, Corvallis, organized a team of scientists to “take the 

pulse” of a wrlderness drainage lying mostly within 

Olympic NP. 

Results of the intensive research that filled 11 days 

and involved scienttsts, technicians and graduate 

students from 11 drfferent organizations and a broad 

range of disciplines, will appear early next year as 

pan of the first cooperative publications between 

LJSFS and NPS. As a General Technrcal Report, It will 

be published through the Pacific Northwest Forest 

and Range Experiment Station in Portland, Oregon. 

In addition to an opening paper by Franklin, outlinIng the rationale and objective for the shon-term inn 

tensive research effort rn the Hoh drainage, six 

papers discuss various aspects of the research conducted during the pulse. one paper deals wrth closely 

related work done in the area at another time, and a 

final paper by FrankIln. Frederrck Swanson, USFS. 

and James R. Sedell, Weyerhaeuser Co.. sumrnarrzes 

relationships wrthin the valley floor ecosystems. 

All seven of the lndlvidual “beats” of this pulse 

study contain information essential to management. 

and together they extend understanding of north~ 

western ecosystems to a distinctive variant lthe rainforest1 and a larger scale la river drainagel. 

Papers m the study deal with Ill Habitat and Food 

Resources for lnvenebrata Communities. 121 Ecology 

and Habitat Requirements of Fish Populations, 131 

interactions Among Fluvial Processes, Forest Vegeta~ 

tron. and Aquatic Ecosystems. 141 Structure, Composrtion and Reproductive Behavior of Terracb 

Forests, 151 Biomass, Coverage and Decay Rates of 

Dead Boles rn Terrace Forests, and 161 Home Range 

and Habitat Use of Non-migratory Elk. Each of the 

papers contains management-specific discussion of 

research results. 

At this stage of the search to bring science-based 

knowledge into the mainstream of park planning and 

management, the Hah Rwer pulse study is important 

for its demonstration of the numbers and types of 

data that can be gathered by an interdisciplinary 

research team in a shon urna span. 

In their summary. Franklin, Swanson and Sedell 

deal with both the specifics and the generalities of 

the project. Specifically, they state that “the South 

Fork study demonstrates the use of a National Park 

and Biosphere Reserve as a benchmark site for 

scientific research and a control area for adlacent 

manipulated landscapes. The only remaining natural 

examples of river valleys in the coastal region are 

within the Olympic National Park.” 

Generally. they describe the way they feel similar 

studies can be organized to produce maximum 

benefits for both science and management: “A successful project.” they say. “is based on substantial 

logistical planning and a balance between careful 

definition of objectives and ample opportunity to purr 

sue promising leads and for serendipitous 

discoveries.” 

Prescribed Burning 

The prescribed burning research at Lava Beds National Monument is another case where research 

and management objectives both have been met 

through cooperative effort - Monument and Modoc 

NF personnel. working with Dr. Roben Martin and 

his USFS staff in forest ecology from the Silvicultural 

Laboratory at Bend, Dreg. 

Historically, fires started by Indians or lightning OCR 

curred every 5 to 15 years prior to the advent of successful fire control. Fire control and a catastrophic 

outbreak of western pine beetles in the late 1920’s. 

coupled with heavy grazing at the turn of the century 

had contributed to heavy fuel accumulations and a 

greatly modified vegetation cover. 

Management objectives for the Lava Bed burns 

were four: to restore “historic” vegetation sequence, 

to reduce accumulated fuels. to train personnel in 

fire use, and to develop fire management plans and 

programs. 

Research objectives, which dovetail and in some 

cases overlap those of management, were to 

develop burning techniques and prescriptrons appropriate to achreve management objectives for fuel and 

vegetation, to record effects of fire under differing 

conditions, and to develop cost data. 

Burning techniques have been developed over the 

years from 1974 to the present and effects on 

vegetation have been measured. The information 

NPS management with Its problems of preservation 

and maintenance, state park and wildlife agency Peru 

sonnel all usually restricted to their own institu~ 
gathering will continue regarding the effects of fire 

on flora and fauna over the long term. Larger burns 

fil into plans for fire management planning and have 

provided cost data for planning future bums. 

Of interest to managers is the finding that even 

two or three prescription fires to reduce fuel 

loadings in one era to manageable levels are less expensive on a per hectare basis than the cosr of the 

catastrophic wildfires they can prevent. 

Cruiseship Study 

The sociological research undertaken jointly by the 

NPS and the University of Washington’s College of 

Forest Resources adds the important “user” or 

“visitor” dimension to the scientific research programs underway in the Pacific Northwest. Animal1 

human encounters as part of backcountry experi~ 

ences, profiles of backcountry campers and their 

perceptions of “crowding,” and studies of the 

characteristics of hiking parties, for example, are 

aiding management at such parks es McKinley and 

Olympic to assess the extent to which users are 

complying with backcountry regulations as well as 

how they can influence and then meet user expectations. 

Better preparatron of visitors and improved intw 

pretive processes could result from the study recently completed of cruiseship passengers traveling 

to Southeast Alaska. Five types of tourism - ethnic, 

cultural. historic, environmental and recreational - 

were found to contribute to the overall lure that 

brings visitors in this way to such places es Glacier 

Bay. The study pinpoints peaks and valleys of 

rraveler interest and suggests several better ways to 

arouse enlightened curiosity and then when and how 

10 satisfy it. 

Analysis of the study by a University of Washington research assistant, Barbara Koth. and Roger 

Clark, recreation research project leader with the 

USFS Pacific Northwest Range and Experiment Star 

tion. working with Dr. Donald Field, suggests specific 

ways that interpretive offerings can be matched to 

passenger behavior patterns. Periodic updates and 

modifications can make cruiseship interpretation sew 

sitive to both shomerm and longrange management 

goals. 

It is the Cooperative Park Studies Unit approach 

now in effect throughout the Pacific Northwest and 

the Western Regions of NPS that provides the process pathways where creative synergism can work - 

to the benefit of both science and management. IJni~ 

versity faculty and graduate studems, research 

scientists from the National Park and other Services, 

2 
tional bailiwicks - can interact beneficially as they 

deal wrth mutual or overlapping problems in an 

economic, holistic way. 

The total knowledge gained in such efforts has 

more meaning than the mere sum of its parts. In ads 

dition, such efforts sometimes can incorporate 

previously gathered data that may have lain around 

for years, uninterpreted and unused. 

The human squeeze far space and resources impacts national parks, national forests, fish and 

wildlife preservers and manipulators alike. Add the 

crunch of shortened funds and energy and the impetus emerges to bring together scientists from a 

wide variety of missions in ways that are startlingly 

different from the patterns of the immediate past. 

In the Hoh River study, for example, the Forest 

Service recognizes the relatively untouched national 

park natural areas as gene pool repositories and as 

benchmarks for environmental monitoring, providing 

information that cannot be found in managed, highly 

manipulated forests. On the other hand, the intensive 

management research the Forest Service has pursued from the beginning has produced and continues 

to provide important knowledge that can show NPS 

managers how to maintain and perpetuate the 

natural resources It is their mission to protect. 

INTERPRETATION 

Of Enernv In General 

Science as a &base for interpretation probably 

has no better showcase than the energy story. 

where environment, economrcs and ethics all play a 

role in today’s need for conserving and economrzing. 

The University of Idaho Cooperative Park Study Unit 

in Moscow has produced a &page guide to energy 

interpretation that offers \ialuable tips for managers 

and interpreters who want to Identify and utilize the 

energy rnterpretation opportunities in their parks. 

The booklet was produced on contract for the 

Idaho Office of Energy as a guide for state park personnel, but its general approach and splendid 

References Cited and Annotated Bibliography sections make it an unusually useful tool for the intw 

preter who wants to develop a scientifically sound 

program without having to wade through a graduate 

course in thermodynamics. Gary E. Machlis: Sam H. 

Ham and Robert P. Deyerberg lwho wrote the 

book1 take you to the promised land without dragg~ 

cng you through the desert. 

The book focuses on energy interpretation as “the 

presentation of energy~related ideas m such a way 

CHINA GATE 

CHtNAGAlE : The United States has its yellow stone 

- the People’s Republic of China has its yellow 

mountains. Both are honored parks. This photograph, taken by Or. Gary E. Machlis, sociology proj~ 

f?ct leader at the University of Idaho CPSLI. is the entrance gate of Huangshan lyellow mountains1 provincial park in Anwei Province. Machlis has just rep 

turned from two months’ stint in Chma, where he 

laugh1 a four-weeks course on Forest Recreation 

Development in Chtna at the Nanking Technological 

College of Forest Products for 60 faculty and park 

managers from throughout China - the content to 

be published in Chinese next year. Machlis spent his 

second month traveling extensively in China, visrting 

urban parks, tourist developments and potential nap 

tional parks. His impressIons will be carried in the 

Winter issue of the newsletter. 

as to make these ideas meaningful and important to 

visitors.” Throughout. the book suggests ways to 

relate facts and concepts to visitors’ own personal 

experiences. The basic energy prrnciples lwhich are 

not easy to grasp1 are given fresh, relevant, accurate 

airrng in ways that lead to increased awareness and 

understanding. Guides to deeper study are provided 

for the energetic. curious, ambitious interpreter. 

Dispensing with jargon, clever use of analogies, 

development of topics and themes that relate to 

both the park and the visitor’s home environment are 

dealt with rn the context of both the energy subject 

matter and the interpretive process. The result is a 

document whose usefulness extends far beyond the 

Idaho state borders. 

A well known axiom in communications is the one 

that goes “If you really want to learn, teach some~ 

one.” Parks that undertake the communication of the 

energy story often wind up doing the top-notch 

management jobs. Such a story has pay-off points at 

both ends. 

Understanding the way energy flows through 

systems - natural, humanbuilt, and the interfaces 

between the two - can “save a bundle” for those 

who put their knowledge to practical use. And in addition to management savings, there are personal 

rewards, as Supt. Betts and Site Energy Coordinator 

Matthews at Mount McKrnley, and Supt. Hentges 

and SEC Harrison at Craters of the Moon found out 

recently when they received incentive awards. 

Energy consumption in buildings at McKinley was 

reduced 43 percent per gsf; gasoline use was 

lowered 32 percent and diesel fuel, 41 percent. At 

Craters of the Moon, building use energy came 

down by 47 percent and gasoline consumption by 20 

percent. Both parks had initiated demonstration projects and they went on to prove that they listen to 

themselves when they tell others about energy cons 

servation. (Awards story first reported rn PNR Energy 

Newsletter. 41801 

Enqylnterpetatim AGuidef~ldahoGtate 

Parks con be had by writing to Dr. Machlii. Cof. 

lege of Fcwstry, Univelsity of Idaho. hlc6cflw. 

IO G3843. and endosinfi $1. If checks are used. 

make them payable to College of Forestry. 

3 
3 

INTERPRETATION 

Of a Volcano 

In Particular 

Seldom does a scientific event spark the public’s 

mterest and imagination to the point where more 

than superficial tolerance for informarian is achieved. 

In the case of Mount St. Helens, the public thirst for 

knowledge seems unquenchable. and Glenn 

Hinsdale, PNR’s unquenchable chief of urban and enwonmental activities, has come up with a superb 

piece of scientific interpretation. 

Titled “Incident at Mount St. Helens,” and published as an Environmenral lluickie la public service projecr obtainable from PNA’s headquarters at 601 4th b 

Pike Building, Seanle, WA 931011, this B-page 

publication is written with scientific integriry, 

historical perspectw, newspaper-crisp freshness, 

and a sensitive appreciation for the intelligence of 

the audience. Congratulations to Hinsdale and 10 the 

Region far a timely interpretive job exceedingly well 

done. 

Air Pollutants 

Monitored At 

Biosphere 

Reserve 

Editor’s Note: Science is the human way of orgam2- 

iog information to try to predict the future. Management is the human way of orgem2Yog action to try to 

mfluence the future. Scientific management in the 

National Park Service is the bnng/ng of 8s much 

predictive capabfity as possible to the planning and 

operation of park units. 

cooperat;ve scientific programs among agencies 

with impress/ve capabJ;ties have made possible a 

variety of predictably salutary outcomes as the result 

of park management practices. Perhaps the grandest 

of schemes to have emerged withto this general offort is the Man and the Biosphere (MABI Programme, launched by the General Conference of 

UNESCO at lis 16th session in 1970, with the follow. 

mg aims: 

“To develop with/n the natural and social sciences 

a basis for the rational use and conservation of the 

resources of the biosphere and for the improvement 

of the relationsh@ between man and the environ 

menl 

“To predict the consequences of todays act&x on 

tomorrow> world and thereby to increase maok 

ability to manage efficiently the natural resources of 

the biosphere. ” 

Of the 14 major international themes. or projct 

areas. within the MAB Programme, Project b’ is a 

worldwide network of biosphere reserves, to include 

on a representative basis samples of all major types 

of ecosystems for in situ conservation and to provide 

sites for basejoe research activities. Conservation of 

gene pools and whole ecosystem processes, integrated ecological research and enwronmental training activities are the heart of biosphere reserve rotionale and work. 

The Pacific Nonhwest and Western Regions of 

NPS contain 15 of the 35 US. biosphere reserves, 

where basic research is contributmg to the abibty of 

managers to track deterioration of the resources and 

to take preventive and/or corrective meawes aImed 

at preservation of habitat and perpetuation of 

species. 

As airborne pollutants circulate and settle in 

mounting quantities over expanding area, veriousfy 

based scientists are pooing their knowledge and efforts in air meawrement projects jontly funded by 

agencies and institutions wth mutual concerns, 

Meanwhile, talk of fuel-related development at Pan 

Angeles, on the rim of the Olympic National Park and 

Biosphere Reserve provides context for research into 

present conditions at the park. Careful docomontat/on of existing states will be crucial ewdence in any 

future attempts to control human impact on the 

natural environment of that area 

The following repot? from Bruce Wiersma, 

ecologist with the Ll.S Environmental Protection 

Agency> Environmental Monitoring Systems 

Laboratory in Las Vegas, Never, goes one step funher 

comparing data collected from two biosphere 

reserves. It would seem from the data that the 

degree of en area’s ‘@%eness” could depend in 

large part on whether the prevoibng winds blow in 

from several thousand miles of open sea or across a 

similar distance of industriak2ed land 

GVDr.G.GNCBWK47lE 

Our work at Olympic National Park this summer 

was supported by the National Park Sewice. In addition to NPS personnel from Olympic. we were assisted in this project by Sarah Greene. Forestly Sciences 

Laboratory, U.S. Forest Sewice. Corvallis, OR; Or. 

Cliff I. Davidson, Camegie~Mellon University, Pitts 

burgh. and Or. Clyde W. Frank, University of Iowa. 

Biosphere reserves are remote, pristine areas set 

4 
aside in perpetuity. A pollutant monitoring system is 

being developed for implementation on the reserves. 

Purposes of monitoring pollutants on these areas are 

ill to serve as locales for background reference 

levels of certain pollutants, 121 to provide a frame of 

reference against which changes in impacted areas 

can be measured, and 131 to reflect changes of a 

global nature before such changes are obvious in 

more impacted areas. 

The reserves are areas that can be used to monitor 

the behavior of pollutants that have long range 

transpon characteristics. This project is developing a 

monitoring system for pollutants on biosphere 

toserves. Olympic NP was first sampled in the summer of 1979 and again in 1990. Samples taken 

included air, water, soil, forest litter, and vegetabion. 

Sampling was coordinated with watersheds I” the 

park. Watersheds sampled included the Hoh River. 

Ouinalt River, and the Dosewallips. Pollutants of I”~ 

west were trace elements. pesticides, and certain 

trace organlcs. 

In the summer of 1980, special power systems 

were tested under field conditions. These power 

systems were used !o operate the air monitoring 

equipment. Two types of power systems were used. 

a portable solar panel and a hydrogen fuel cell. The 

solar panel was designed to fit on a pack frame. 

Coupled wth a banery system this unit could power 

the air sampling equipment for indefinite periods. 

Eight such units were deployed in rhe park; all performed in a highly sarisfactory manner. Two 

hydrogen fuel cells were deployed. Both operated off 

a 3ll~lb. hydrogen cylinder. Both performed according 

to expectations. 

The Great Smoky Mounrains NP had been sampled 

previously and some of these data have been palred 

with results from Olympic NP. Copper and lead 

levels in moss and lltter are compared here for the 

two biosphere reserves. 

Comparison of moss samples from Olympic and 

Great Smoky Mounrains NPs, lmwrograms per 

graml: 

Moss Olympjc 

Summer 

Moss - Smoky 

Spring 

Copper Lead 

4.4 5.7 

13.5 42.4 

Comparison of forest floor samples from Olympic 

and Great Smoky Mountain NPs. Imicrograms per exotic plant mc~rs~ons inlo the Klpahulu Valley, all 

graml: within Haleakala NP. 

Copper Lead R. Gerald Wright, systems ecologist and formerly 

Olympic litter 10.0 16.7 key man for the proposed Wrangells-Mt. St. Elias NP 

Smoky - unincorporated in Alaska, went to the University of Idaho CPSU in 

organic matter - July as project leader in biology. HIS 1980 publication 

spring 1978 19.2 37.9 with Lynne Zeitlin-Hale of a conceptual ecological 

Smoky fermentation model of Glacier Bay NM was a major product of his 

spring t979 26.2 83.6 four years in Alaska. 

PEOPLE AND 

PLA CES 

Douglas B. Houston, research biologist, has been 

transferred from the Rocky Mountain Region to the 

Pacific Northwest, effective October 5. Houston 

spent rhe pwous 19 months at the Oregon State 

University CPSU in Cowallis, wring a monograph on 

his nine years’ research an Yellowsrone elk. He WIII 

be duty stationed at Olympic National Park, to work 

on ungulate habitat relations and to help park 

management Identify aquatic research needs and 

priorities. 

“I have the feeling,” Houston said, “that there is a 

vasl amounl of fisheries information available as a 

result of research done by other agencies. My firsr 

job WIII be to review this research and interpret It I” 

the light of Olymptc park management obfectives.” 

Two research biologists, Gary E. Oaws and Lloyd L. 

Loope, recently made the continent~wide leap from 

the South Florida Research Center at Everglades NP 

to the NPS Western Region. Neither stopped at rhe 

WStSr’S SdQS. 

Oavis, a marine biologist, IS ar Channel Islands NP, 

beginning a Congressionally mandated inventory of 

all terrestrial and marine species in the park. IMore 

details on p. 6 I Loope, a plant ecologist. made it 

clear 10 Hawaii, where he is working with endangered species such as silversword and with 

5 
Bighorn Study 

Identifies Two 

Viable Herds 

A four year study of bighorn sheep in the Sierra 

Nevada was completed recently by Dr. John 

Wehausen as pan of his doctoral research at the 

University of Michigan. Supported by a contract 

from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, the 

study identified two viable herds of bighorn ramaining in the Sierra Nevada. 

Minimum hard sizes of 217 and 30 individuals were 

established for the Mt. Baxter and Mt. Williamson 

herds. The Mt. Baxter hard is of special interest to 

park managers because the sheep summer primarily 

within the park along the Sierran crest. In winter 

they drop into the foothills above Owens Valley on 

land administered by the lnyo National Forest. 

The study was undertaken primarily to determine 

the present status of the Sierra bighorn as well as 

make recommendations regarding their future 

management. Known to be widely distributed before 

the appearance of Europeans in the area, it has been 

hypothesized that competition with domestic sheep, 

impact of increasing recreational use and hunting all 

have had a hand in the drastic decline of the populat1on. 

Intensive field study indicates that the Baxter hard 

has been increasing since the 1960’s. Lungworm infection is well below the levels known from other 

areas and there is no indication that diseases 

presently play a stgnlflcant role in the dynamics of 

the herd. Similarly, there appears to be litde significant competition for forage on either the summer or 

winter ranges. Neither predation nor human disturbance appear to be significant factors in limiting the 

population. 

Because natural colonization of new ranges is rare 

in bighorn sheep, it was determined that introduction 

would be required if expansion of bighorn range in 

the Sierra Nevada is desired. As pan of his study, 

Wehausen identified a number of likely reintroduction sites based on historical distribution and ability 

of areas again to suppon sheep. He also recommended that the Baxter hard was, at the time, 

healthy enough to serve as stock for reintroduction. 

During the last two years a total of 40 sheep have 

been trapped from the winter range of the Baxter 

herd. All but 10 of these have bean relocated to two 

sites within their historical range. Many of the sheep 

have been radio-collared and their movements currently am being followed by California Department of 

Fish and Game personnel. 

Another management action stemming directly 

from Wehausen’s research is closura of all lands 

above 10,000 feet within the bighorn range to cross 

country travel. This joint action by Park Service and 

Forest Service personnel has resulted in signtiicant 

rastrictions on peak climbing in the area. 

Channel Islands 

N P Resource 

Inventory Underway 

The first step in conducting a Congressionally mandated inventory of all terrestrial and marine species 

in Channel Islands NP has been taken. A review and 

analysis of the scientific literature on the five channel islands and surrounding marine resources was 

contracted to Or. Charles D. Woodhouse at the Santa 

Barbara Museum of Natural History in California. 

Dr. Woodhouse, assisted by about 25 other scientists, will produce an annotated bibliography on the 

cultural and natural resources of the park. The work 

will help park planners and managers develop a comprehensive general management plan. Such a plan is 

required by Public Law 96-199. and must be submitted to Congress by October 1983. The literature 

review also will be used to help identify areas where 

additional research is needed to buttress management of park ecosystems and the substantial cultural 

resources found on and around the islands. 

6 
Whattya Mean 

‘“Let It Burd?!?! 

Often it isn’t enough simply to get the correct data 

on which to build resource management. When 

these data dictate practices that run counter to the 

“conventional wisdom,” then a public information 

dimension is strongly indicated. 

A perfect cese in point involves the role of natural 

fire in management of forested areas. Human instincts and years of special pleading by Smoky the 

Bear have combined to create a public atdtude of 

monumental skepticism toward fire as a management device. 

At Olympic NP, Oenison M. Rauw. research assistant in the University of Washington College of 

Forest Resources. conducted a two-year test aimed 

at assisting park management to establish contact 

with the local community, industry, state and federal 

land managers and park visitors with regard to the 

park’s concerns on fire management. The idea was 

that fire management at Olympic NP must include 

careful consideration of resource values outside as 

well as inside park boundaries. 

The two-year study began with distribution of a 

questionnaire to park visitors and peninsula 

residents, dealing with fire experience, fire knowledge and fire atdtudes. During this phase, intewiews 

were conducted with state, federal and private 

timber managers to define their anitudes concerning 

fires. 

Oespite evidence that residents and visitors had a 

fair grasp of the rationale behind prescribed burning, 

the 725 questionnaires completed and returned left 

no doubt that significant reluctance exists toward 

managing for natural fires in the park, regardless of 

management objectives. 

Phase two was development of a slide tape program to increase public understanding. “Fire: An 

Olympic Event” was shown to park visitors and 

peninsula residents throughout the second summer. 

Phase three. conducted simultaneously, was 

administration of a quiz before and another after the 

slide tape program showings. 

To the pra-season questionnaire, a majority of 

respondents agreed that not all fires are destructive 

and over half felt that fire benefits some species of 

wildlife, but their anitude toward establishing a 

natural fire zone within the park was nevertheless, 

negative. Sixtyfive percent felt all forest fires should 

be controlled at any cost, whether in a national park 

or a national forest. 

Most support for a prescribed burn was given for 

hazard fuel reduction and restoring native vegetation. 

Less was given for fire with respect to scientific 

research of insect/disease control. 

Most significant finding from questionnaire 

analysis was that the independent variable - knowledge about fire - accounted for most of the total 

variance of each fire attitude. Other independent 

variables - age, fire experience, education, 

residence, and previous fire losses - were only 

weakly associated with fire anitudes. The conclusion 

was obvious: that a change in knowledge would be 

most likely to influence a change in anitude toward 

fire. 

Phase three - the pre- and post-show fire quizzes 

- showed statistically signtiicant increases in fire 

knowledge after viewing the slide tape program. The 

average number of questions missed on the preshow test was 3.5; the average on the post-show 

test was 1.8. Most dramatic change was scored on 

the wildlife question, where correct answers shot 

from 33 percent before the show to 88 percent afterwards. 

The study gives solid statistical backing to the 

decision of managers and interpreters at a number 

of park sites to actively work toward increasing 

visitors’ fire knowledge. At Olympic, park manegement is confident that this broader appreciation of 

fire will gain valuable visitor and community support 

for future fire policy. 

The study was a joint research project of the NPS 

and the University of Washington CPSU. Also involved were Steward G. Pickford and James K. Agee. 

associate and assistant professors respectively at the 

University’s College of Forest Resources. 

7 
ASST. ZOOLOGY Professor John Ruben watches 

as Student Nancy Becker uses an air-scribe TO clean 

away rhe matrix in which the bones of this “biting 

cat” were preserved. In the background is a cast of 

the skull of an oreodont. Both fossils were unearthed 

at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, where 

plant and animal fossils show five epochs. from the 

Eocene to the end of the Pleistocene. Superintendent 

Ben Ladd credits Ruben with locating a number of 

fossils - “a feat for which we don’t have the professional capability ourselves.” Dr. Ruben is a paleontologist as well as a zoologist. and he has used the 

OSIJ lab, fully equipped for fossil preparation and 

replication, to produce exhibits that Ladd describes 

as “adding immeasurably to the park experience.” 

Ladd said reproductions are being set up under 

plastic bubbles at approximately the locale where 

they were discovered, and Ruben is supplying the 

data for park interpreters to use in telling the story 

Ruben is now available to the NPS as a consultant 

on retainer. his sewices including full use of the OSU 

labs costs the Park Service $3500 a year. 
Look What 

We’re Doing! 

Five separate publications describing the scientific 

research projects in the Pacific Northwest and 

Western Regions now are available. The 91.page 

PNR Annual Science Report for 1979 is an expanded 

version of the usual report, m response to the 

absence of the traditional SciancelResource Manages 

ment Workshop, held for three days in each of the 

previous seven years. It includes a paper developed 

by Jim Agee, Don Field and Ed Starkey on the 

Cooperative Park Studies Unit concept that sums 

marizes the history and function of CPSU’s and includes guidelines for research contracts in parks. 

Selected abstracts from Investigators’ annual reports 

comprise the remainder of the publication. It can be 

had by contacting the Science and Technology Divi~ 

sion, Pacific Northwest Ragloo, 601 4th and Pike 

Building, Seattle, WA 98101; 12061 442~1355 or FIS 

399-1355. 

The Western Region’s research output is contained 

in separate reports, one from each of the four 

CPSU’s - University of California, Oav~s, CA 95616; 

University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HA 98622; University 

of Arizona. Tucson, AZ 85721; and University of 

Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154. The information given 

IS largely of a preliminary nature and was prepared 

primarily on an interim basis, but a reading of the 

documents lapproximately 20 to 25 pp each1 pro 

vides a broad view of the kinds of research being 

conducted and an educated clue as to how management and interpretation are being served. 

* w Rqnn 1971F1979, recent 

lublication of the CPSU at the Unwersity of 

needs and behavior of people in parksl, and applications of research to resource management isuch as 

management assessments and reports, backcountry 

monitoring programs. interpretive program analysis. 

visltor monitoring programs and the development of 

a framework for assesslog social impacts.1 

WashIngton College of Forest Resources, provides ins 

formation about socIological research and reports ef~ 

funs to apply the findings to resource management 

and mterpretation. The book focuses on highlights of 

the program and describes products that have pro 

van useful to management, as well as publications 

stemmlng from the research and now in production. 

An interagency agreement among the National 

Park Service. U.S. Forest Service and Collage of 

Forest Resources at the University of WashIngton 

continues to undergird the conduct of social science 

research into problem areas pertinent to park 

management. The work falls into three broad 

categories: baseline studies (regional studies designs 

ed to promote understanding of human laisure 

bewvior and the panicipation patterns of people in 

selected recreational activities, park~based studies la 

wde vamaty of research problems concerned with 

The park-based studies are undenaken in response 

to requests by management and are site-specific. in 

this category, the Sociology Studies Program has 

concentrated on proudlog informatIon for the backs 

country and for interpretive plans. An example of the 

latter IS the cruiseshlp interpretation study described 

in this we Ip. 2 I. The computerized backcountry 

permit information system - a major project begun 

m 1973 and turned over to Washington. D.C. in 1976. 

was conducted with frequent management Input - 

a design component that runs throughout 

sociological research. In this case, the work led to 

reorganization of travel zones by ranger district. 

redefinition of travel zones, addition of a page of 

summary information, and a regional summary for all 

the major parks of the Pacific Northwest Region. 

The 1979 sociology program personnel. under project leader Don Field. conslsted of Nell H. Cheek, Jr., 

research social scientist. and research associates 

Darryl1 Johnson, Barbara Koth, Maureen 

McDonough, Gary Machlls. Pat Stkowski and Peter 

Womble. Laurie Bnggs, programmer; Nadyne 

Snyder, program asslstantleditor; John Murphy, 

editor, and Barbara Graves illustrator. completed the 

1973 roster. Fifteen collaborators from five univarsines, the Park Service and the Forest Service, 

assisted and three project advisors served !n a 

wview capacity. 

Abstracts of all projects conducted in the nine 

years of operations are contalned in the publicaaon, 

which can be had by contacting Nadyne Snyder, Colt 

lege of Forest Resources, University of Washington 

NPSICPSU, Seattle, WA 38195; 12061543-6210 or FIS 

332 6210. 

9 
SUPERINTENDENTS 

CORNER 

The emphasis in this first issue of PPS is on the 

synergistic nature of the sciencelmanagement prop 

cess as it operates through the Cooperative Park 

Studies Unit concept. It seemed fining then, that the 

first words from this corner should mirror the subject of CPSU’s from a particular park 

superintendent’s point of view. 

The item comes from Fan Vancouver National 

Historic Site, where decay was found in king and 

gate posts and in palisade pickets that had been 

pressure-treated with pentachlorophanal in mineral 

spirits. A wood preservation axpett, Prof. Robert 

Graham of the Oregon State Universiry faculty [made 

available through the OSU~CPSU connectionl went to 

the park, determined the exact nature of the probe 

lam, and prescribed a volatile fungicide that would 

control the internal decay. 

Surface decay, a more difficult case. requires further research, but interim control techniques have 

been recommended and Supt. James Thompson is 

satisfied that the “stitch in time” could add substantially to the life of these wood structures. 

“Now we know how to prolong the life of the 

wood,” he said, “and we know too that replacement 

today would cost at least 30 percent more than the 

original construction.” 

Jim recalled the help provided by University of 

Texas faculty and students on a contract basis to 

White Sands, NM where he was superintendent 

from 1873.78. “They helped us manage kit foxes and 

carrion consumers.” he said, “and gave us priceless 

advice in dealings with the Army over placement of a 

trench for the White Sands Missile Range. 

“Put ma down as a believer,” he concluded. 

“Research pays off!” 

C.P.S.U. Idea 

Celebrates 10th 

Birthday 

The continuity of leadership provided by Oon Field 

and Dean Bethel is reflected throughout the Western 

states in the continuing CPSU thrust: to find a flexi~ 

ble, adaptive modal for providing scientific inquiry to 

a cluster’of parks rather than a single park. to furnish an umbrella under which expertise from the 

University communities can be drawn upon for solutions to a wide variety of specific management problems to offer wider access to new information 

in the face of new threats and promises within the 

National Park System. 

For specific reactions from two superintendents. 

see the John Oay Fossil Beds item on page 9 and 

the Superintendents’ Corner on page 10. 

The strong growth pattern demonstrated by 

CPStl’s in the past decade is tampered by the 

historic instability of research orgsnization within the 

Park Service, and NPS scientists are aware of the 

need to keep the program useful to the administrations of both the Service and the cooperative univarsities. Constant feedback is necessary if the constraints imposed by both parks and academia are to 

be well mat. This publication is intended to provide 

one more arena for airing problems and savoring 

successes. 

If you get to be 10 years old, presumably you’re 

doing something right. 

This year, the Cooperative Park Studies Unit idea 

- National Park research through university-based 

programs is celebrating its 10th anniversary in the 

region where it was born - the Pacific Northwest, 

and the university dean who helped midwife the 

movement is throwing a birthday pan. 

In 1970, armed with a paper signed by then Oirectar George B. Hartzog, Jr., three NPS scientists in 

Seattle set up an interdisciplinary team that would 

look at sociological, botanical and zoological phases 

of changing conditions in NPS sites throughout the 

Pacific Northwest Region. They were Oon Field, Garrett Smathers and Dick Weisbrod Isociologist. 

botanist and zoologist, respective1y.l and the activating agreement was signed by Robert Linn. than NPS 

chief scientist, and James S. Bethel. dean of the College of Forest Resources at the University of 

Washington. James Agee, who succeeded Weisbrod, 

has provided the recant leadership in both botanical 

and zoological areas. 

Oean Bethel, who is hosting the anniversary 

celebration, is at least as enthusiastic today as he 

was when the idea was a-borning. The program’s 

growth to the present network of 35 units, operating 

out of univefiitias all across the U.S., testifies to the 

rewards provided the various communities involved 

- scientific, university and park. 

In the beginning, the University of Washingtonbased unit emphasized services to Olympic. Nonh 

Cascades, Mount Rainier and Alaska. Then, in 1972, 

the University of Alaska unit was established; 

Oregon State University followed in 1975, and this 

year a unit opened at the University of Idaho. 

The Western Region was quick to recognize and 

adopt a good thing, staning its own CPSU network 

in 1971 with a unit at the University of Nevada. This 

was followed in 1973 with units at the Universities 

of Hawaii and Arizona and in 1979 with the Univarsiry of California at Oavis. Last year the Western 

Region went all the way and decided that CPSU’s 

would be the backbone of the Western Region’s 

science organuation. In a memo dated March 15. 

1979, Bruce Kilgora, associate regional director for 

resource management and planning, described the 

need for “solid, professional scientific data to suppan management and at the same time a more flexible, cost-effective science program.” 

Howard Chapman, regional director, concurred, 

and the move was made. 

10 
breaks of moth activities. As the more severely 

defoliated trees die, remaining trees appear to 

benefit from increased nutrients, moisture and 

sunlight. The fallen needles and insect frass I”a mixture of excrement and pardy digasred needlas”l have 

been estimated to increase nitrogen and other 

nutrients to nearly 10 times the amount returned in 

normal linerfall. 

Insect Ecologist Lloyd Wickman of the Pacific 

Northwest Station’s Forestry Sciences Laboratory in 

Conrailis, Oregon, has studied forest pests for 25 

years and comments on the close interrelationships 

among all components of forest eco-systems and 

their shared thousands of years of evolution. 

Ha suggests that insect defoliators play roles 

similar to that of the bark beetle in pine forest succession, and concludes that separating out the ins 

dividual strands of process may prove impossible - 

that only an ecosystems approach will ever coma 

close to giving a true picture. 

Wickman then goes one step further and includes 

scienlists and managers in his ecosystems view. “It 

will take years.” ha said, “to answer the many intriguing questions about the effects of defoliation on 

forest ecosystems,” and ha believes the job “can only be done by a succession of scientists working on 

plots protected by a succession of cooperating land 

managers.” 

INFORMATION 

CROSSFILE 

FORESTRY RESEARCH WEST, a report for land 

managers on recent developments in forestry 

research at the four western Experiment Stations of 

the Forest Service, U.S. Depanment of Agriculture, 

comes out four times a year and is full of infarmadon useful to both researchers and park managers. 

Add your name 10 their mailing list by writing 

forestry Reswch West, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 240 West Prospect St., Fort Collins, CO 80526. 

The August issue carries a piece describing the 

developing longterm picture of forest dynamics that 

is emerging from tussock moth research. It recounts 

evidence of enhanced growth following older out11 
11593, is a monthly newsletter published by the 

U.S. Depanment of the Interior’s Heritage Conserve 

tion and Recreation Service. Its content is information related to responsibilities of the Secretary of the 

Interior under Section 3, Executive Order 11593. Its 

pages are full of articles about preservation of 

America’s heritage - citizen action, legislative 

thrusts, tourism, landscape and resource preservation, architectural history. archeology and a variety 

of initiatives for conservation in these fields. Much of 

the material is condensation of articles and books 

dealing in more detail with the subject matter. A 

staff of eight based in Washington, D.C.. welcomes 

aniclas and suggestions. To contribute or to 

subscribe lit’s freel, write The Editors, 11593, 

Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service, U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20243. 

SYNTHFSIS is a quarterly newsletter published by 

the University of Idaho Forest, Wildlife and Range Experiment Station, Moscow, Idaho 93943. The newsletter provides news of upcoming seminars and 

courses in the subject areas. capsules of research 

project findings, information about personnel opportunities and actions, and listings of currant publications. Subscriptions may be had for the asking. 

WATER RESEARCH IN ACTION is a bimonthly 

published by the Texas Water Resources Institute 

and reporting research from state water resources 

institutes and the Office of Water Research and 

Technology, U.S. Dept. of the Interior. It generally 

contains one full anicle IJulylAugust 1990 featured 

flood plain management, SeptemberlOctober focused 

on instream flow requirements) plus a descriptive 

roundup of new studies under various headings appropriate to the lead article. Thus, the flood plain 

management roundup dealt with studies under 

economics, legal and institutional, technology 

transfer, and technical. Instream flow’s roundup described institutes in the areas of habitat modeling, 

habitat studies and flow patterns. To get on the mailing list, write Water Research in Action, Texas Water 

Resources Institute. Collage Station, TX 77943. 

OF fDeutscherforschungsdienstf, the German Research Service, carries in its Vol. XIX, No. 9 for 1980. 

news of the first find oflarge saurians in Germany - 

Iguanadon bones found in a “rock pocket” that is baing kept under police guard and a secret las to 

whereabouts1 from the world. “Somewhere in North 

Germany,” excavation is underway in the Sauerland 

rocks in the Devon formation - over 300 million 

years old. Pans of the pelvis, backbones, extremity 

bones and jaw bones have been discovered - impregnated with pyrite. an iron-sulphide mineral that 

rapidly decomposes in humid air, releasing sulphuric 

acid which destroys the bones. A specral initial traatment has bean developed in which wax is “sucked” 

into the bones, thus preventing air from entering and 

pyritic decomposition. 

12 
Also in DF comet news of Bremen’s first environmental park. To quote “Inconspicuous pests 

such as caterpillars are no longer to be destroyed 

with chemicals - they are to be dealt with by the industrious forest-ant population. Lice assume their 

natural role once more. It is possible to observe the 

useful ants ‘milking’ these tiny creatures, profiting 

from it themselves but leaving enough for the 

several swarms of bees to be settled there. An 

unusual idyll which is to become the object of study. 

By 1984 the largest ecological station in the Federal 

Republic of Germany IS to be set up in Bremen. It 

will form the centre~piece of Germany’s first environmental park.” 

The article deals in detail with the site Yin the 

charming Schonebecker Auetal - the meeting pornt 

of a major urban area and untouched nature”1 and 

the federal-wide pilot nature of the project. OF is 

published by the German Research Service. 

Ahrstrasse 45 fWissenschaftszentruml. Postfach 20 

50 06. D 5300 Bonn 2. 

FIRELAMP, acronym for Fire and Land Management 

Planning, IS a multiIresource model that simulates 

the affects of natural prescribed fires on the future 

productron of resources such as timber, forage, 

wildlife, recreation and water. Begun in 1977 by 

scientists at the USFS Northern Forest Fire 

Laboratory in Missoula and scientists in the College 

of Forestry and Natural Resources at Colorado State 

University. FLAMELAMP is still in the development 

stage. The program is berng translated from a 

srmulation development language ISIMCOMPI to 

standard FORTRAN language so it can be put on additional computers. Details can be found in the most 

recent lundatedl issue of a “probably several times a 

year” publication called fire Effects and Use R B D 

News/em from the USFS Intermountain Forest and 

Range Experiment Station in Missoula. For copies 

containing this and other fire R b 0 news, write the 

Station’s Northern Forest Fire Laboratory, Drawer G, 

Missoula. MT 59809. 

CORPS’PONDENT, the Ponland District U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers’ “unofficial biweekly offset 

publication” IP.0. Box 2946, Pordand, OR 972091, 

devotes its Sept. 19, 1980 issue largely to lime 

nological studies of Crater Lake. The anicle 

describes ongoing research and the progress reports 

being made available to the National Park Service to 

help with lake management. Doug Larson, Corps of 

Engineers limnologist, began his Crater take studies 

in 1967, as part of a study team from Oregon State 

University. Larson and Stan Geiger, senior aquatic 

biologist with Beak Consultants, Inc., working 

almost entirely with their own funds and time, are 

continuing the investigation of thermal, spectral, 

chemical and biological propenies of the lake. So far 

they have found more than 100 species of phytoplankton (drifting plant life1 distributed down to 

about 200 meters 1850 feetl. More on this subject in 

the next issue of Pacific Park Science. 

13 
Sierra Bruins - 

Appealing 

Scourge 

NyltavldGraba.ResmrchGcimtkt 

ssquoia ml Kff Canyon NP’s 

Many a veteran camper remembers the way it 

used to be for bears in places like Yellowstone, Sequoia, or Yosemite National Parks. There were the 

dumps, often called “bear pits,” and operated a Me 

like the Roman coliseums. The Park Service thoughts 

fully provided bleacher seating for visitors, and a burly ranger supervised dumping the day’s garbage and 

kept a semblance of peace among as many as a 

dozen or more bears. Visitors got an entenaining 

show while the bears got fat and maybe even happy. 

All was not sweetness and light, however. Black 

bears. the “gentler” of our two species, were 

responsible for more than 60 injuries to Yosemite 

visitor one year; bold bears regularly had to be 

trapped and relocated, or simply dispatched with a 

bullet. But these were also the days before 

ecological sensitivity and lawsuits, and there were 

few complaints. 

In many ways we have come light years since 

then. Natural features. including UMJS americanus, 

are no longer treated by the Park Service as specs 

tacles. but rather as integral - and integrated - 

elements of natural ecosystems. The dumps are long 

closed; Yellowstone’s famous “bear jams” are no 

more. and the rare visitor who intentionally tempts a 

bear is slapped with a fine. Even the garbage cans 

have special bearproof tops. But to the intense 

frustration of resource managers and Park visitors 

alike, the smart, strong, sometimes scary bruins 

have resisted mightily a return to pre-park ways. 

In the National Parks of California’s Sierra Nevada 

- King’s Canyon, Sequoia and Yosemite - biologists 

have been scrutinizing the ecology and behavior of 

black bears for seven years. One goal was to reccm~ 

mend refinements in bear and human management 

that can lead us closer to park bear populations that 

live as they did before Europeans arrived. as free as 

possible from influence by the millions of visitors 

ISequoia and Kings Canyon NP’s constitute 8 World 

Biosphere Reserve. where unperturbed populations 

of plants and ammals are perpetuated.1 

From 1974 through 1978, as a graduate student at 

the University of California. I collected data on nearly 

300 different bears in Yosemite. Park Service bear 

technicians and my own crew worked cooperatively to trap, dart and snare bears in campgrounds 

and backcounty areas. By using brightly colored vinyl 

ear flags and radio collars, I accumulated almost 

2.000 “fixes” on my marked animals. Even visitors 

helped by noting the fla’g pattern of the bear that 

had helped himself to their food. 

During the course of my five years in Yosemite. 

bear~proof tops were installed on garbage cans and 

dumpsters; bear-proof food lockers were supplied 

experimentally to one beleaguered campground; 

14 
Iear-resistant cables for suspending supplies were 

rtrung in the most troubla~prone backcountry campgrounds. 

As if the Park Service efforts ware not enough 

irassura on the bears, 1976 and 1977 saw one of the 

lost severe droughts ever recorded for the Sierra 

Nevada. 

It is expensive and tima~consuming to collect data 

In solitary animals with low populatron densities 

bless than one for each 3 km2 of good Siarran bear 

labitatl and long life spans lfour individuals I “mat” 

n Yosemite were more than 20 years oldl. I also 

earned. to my dismay, that I was starting too late to 

38 gening good baseline information. The mobs of 

xars that marauded Yosemite Valley had mostly 

dissipated by 1975 with the new intensive 

“HumanlBear Management Program.” That year 

marked Yosemite’s nadir in bear incidents as wall, 

with nearly a thousand reported. 

But as the crisis appeared to fade in the campgrounds. park managers and rangers intensiking 

their survey of backcountry problems were shocked 

to find that hundreds, perhaps thousands of backpackers were having their food swiped by persistent, 

sophisticated ursines. Whether the backcountry 

problem was increasing dramatically or simply was 

being freshly revealed by better sampling was 

unclear. 

Meanwhile, I found that some longstanding and 

reasonable assumptions about the connections between bears and human food were not supported by 

the mounting evidence. While very few bears ware 

primarily dependent upon human foods, nearly all 

bears whose home ranges intersected with a campground or backpacking area were supplementing 

their diets from these sources of largesse. 

It took a relatively modest quantity of concentratad, high protein camper food, combined with the 

bulk of low quality herbs and grasses, to transform a 

previously unusable high country area into good 

summer bear habitat. Human food with some 

bizarre exceptions - does not seem to be physically 

bad for bears; indeed, Yosemite’s population was 

breeding at close to its biological maximum rate and 

some females were going into the baby-making business at the tender age of three. 

Increased food supplies seem to contribute to lowering the reproductive age by one full quarter lfrom 

four to three years). towering age is a more powerful factor for raising populations then increasing litter 

15 

srzes. When you start pumping out new generations 

in 314 of the time, the arithmetic implications for 

management are profound. 

These bears were also the biggest anywhere, with 

adult males in the fall often exceeding 400 pounds - 

occasionally, 500. As individuals they were thriving, 

but as a population they were showing some severe 

perturbations from the natural order the Park Service 

was after. 

By the time I finished my work in Yosemite it was 

apparent that even a small “leakage” of food from 

the human system to the bears’ was enough to have 

a ranling ecological impact and to keep the level of 

“incidents” unacceptably high. Closing off that 

nutrrant flow has bean and continues to be the No. 1 

item in bear management. Among other courses of 

action, capture and relocation was expansive and 

usually resulted in the bear’s eventual return. Killing 

bears, like relocating them, introduced its own, 

possibly extreme, disturbance into bear society. 

The work I am now doing as a research scientist 

in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks is 

designed to answer some of the thorniest questions 

still plaguing managers. Using radio telemetry. I will 

be following the fate of a sample of relocated 

nuisance bears, to determine what becomes of the 

ones who do not return. Do they become established 

successfully in new areas, or do they die? From my 

tagging in Yosemite I found that young bears, 

especially males one and two years old, seem to 

disappear at an amazing rate. Again using radio 

telemetry, I will try to determine if these animals die 

or disperse. We may find that certain age and sex 

classes in bear populations can be relocated or even 

destroyed without markedly disturbing the remainder. 

Finally, by closely monitoring sub~populations of 

bears in heavily and lightly visited areas of these 

Parks, I hope to learn more details of the extent of 

the changes we have wrought on bear ecology and 

behavior. 

Together with the findings of bear biologists in 

other places, we may at last be able to tell managers 

what actions will enable bears and people to live 

together in reasonable harmony, and how to accomplish that goal in the least disruptive and most 

cost-affective manner. It won’t come easily or cheaply; Years of struggle with our treasured ursine adversaries and thousands of ruined vacations that continue as I write this have taught us there is no quick 

fix. 
Bear Bibliography 

Nears 6000 

References In 

Searchable Form 

The bear bibliography project. supported by the 

National Park Service since 1976, is well along 10~ 

ward the arbitrarily selected “maintenance” level. 

The project is collecting references on bear biology 

and management into computer-searchable files. 

Diane Tracy, Candy Anderson. and Fred Dean of 

the Alaska Cooperative Park Studies Unit’s biology 

and resource management program, have been collecting, screening, verifying, and processing literature 

citations dealing with bear for more than four years. 

Supported almost entirely by NPS funds, the project is a prima example of cooperation between 

several regional offices and the Washington Office. 

The Pacific Northwest Region has taken the lead, 

both in funding and in providing continuity. with 

critical suppon from Washington, Denver and San 

Francisco. The multiplicity of support reflects the 

Service-wide nature of bear management and preservation problems. 

Recent stock-taking by project personnel indicated 

that over 5,600 references on the two species of 

greatest concern to National Park Service managers 

lbrown or griuly bears and black bears1 are currently 

on tapes in searchable form. Roughly 1,500 more 

citations have been added to the working files since 

last spring; these will be included with the searchable files as soon as practical. Biologists and bear 

managers from around the world are making use of 

the bibliographies, even in the current draft form. 

Printed copies are being sold at the cost of producing them I$890 per species bibliography packet plus 

15 percent handling, if carbon copies are acceptablel; 

that includes the list of citations with keyword 

descriptors of the contents for those that have been 

indexed to date as well as an index and vocabulary 

lists which help in designing searches. 

So far about 60 copies of the bibliographies have 

been requested, mostly by researchers and state and 

provincial management workers. National Park Sewice regional offices have distributed copies to many 

c: the western “bear parks.” The Alaska Cooperative 

Park Studies Unit is using an upgraded version of the 

U.S. Forest Service’s FAMULUS computer programs 

to handle the processing and searching of the bibliographies. Since these programs are widely available, potential users may want to purchase tapes 

and do their own searching; however, to data most 

users have requested searches through the Alaska 

Cooperative Park Studies Unit. Several workers have 

conceded that even extensive searches costing between $100 and $200 have more than paid their way 

when balanced against the cost of time and salaries 

involved in doing the lob manually. 

The “maintenance” level mentioned above has 

been roughly set at having nearly all of the important 

brown and black bear references [both published and 

unpublished1 on the files and perhaps somewhat 

over half of these read in detail for the assignment 

of keywords. The latter process varies from paper to 

paper, but in some cases as many as 40 descriptive 

terms are added to the citation to aid in information 

retrieval. 

If you are interested in obtaining copies, having 

searches made, or simply learning more about the 

project, contact the Alaska Cooperative Park Studies 

Unrt, 210 Irving Building, University of Alaska, Fairbanks 99701 19071479-76721. 

16 
PACIFIC 

PARK 

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

SCIENCE FALL 1980 

WAS0 Publications 

Five scientific monographs and one occasional 

paper are in production from the Washington office, 

Division of Science and Technology, according to 

Napier Shelton, writerleditor in charge of the operetion. 

By the time this issue goes to press, advance 

copies should be OVT on SM X12, Giant Sequok 

Ecology: fire and Reproduction by Thomas Harvey, 

Howard Shellhammer and Ronald Stecker and on 

SM X13, The Impact of Three Exotic Plant Spec;es 

on a Potomac island by L. Kay Thomas Jr. SM X14, 

The Grizhes of Mount McKinley by Adolph Murie 

will have gone to the printer, end two other SM’s 

are in paste-up - Ecology of the Carmen Mountains 

Whitetrailed Deer and Social Behavior end fcology of 

the Co/bred Peccary in BI@ Band Nat;onel Park The 

occasional paper I#61 deals with the climate of 

Yellowstone and Grand Taton National Parks and 

will go to the printer in December. 

The next issue will carry stories from Aedwood IStephen Viers on 

rehabilitation of cutover areas), from Olympic IJohn Aho and Bruce 

Moorhead on campsite backcountry rehabilitationi and from Crater lake 

Isevere stories, ranging from limnology and lake monitoring to technology 

transferl. 

Roger Cantor and Aho will describe the reorganization at Olympic NP to 

bring scientific research more closely into the maaagement scheme. And 

Napier Shelton and Gary Machlis will make separate reports on their recent 

land separatel trips to China. 

As your friendly reahor says. “All this and much, much more.” 

U.S. OEPKSTMENl OF THE MEKlOfl 

HATIONAL PKKK SERWCE 

PmFlC llomHwEST WESTEM 

REmoH REGKIW 

Daniel .I TobIn, Jr.. Regional DIrector Howard H Chapman, Regional Dorector 

Donald R Field. As1 Reg. Dir. for Dennis 9. fenn, Regional Chief 

Suence snd Technology sctennst 

Ediita, Jean Mathews 

Telephone 150317514519 

84204579 

Let us hear about your research, publications, symposia, conferences, 

both before they occur and afterwards. 

Please sdd my name to 

your mailing lksl for 

PARK SCIENCE 

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