Table Of Content

Highlights of Natural Management Resources 1991 I 29.119:991 OOCUtlWS pUBtlC (TO* QEfOSlTORY Highlights of Natural Resources Han 28 ^2 NOV CLEMSON Natural Resources Programs Natural Resources Report NPS/NRPO/NRR-92/07 National Park Service Highlights of Natural Resources Management A Report on National Park Service Natural Resources Management Activities in 1991 For additional copies: Publications Coordinator National Park Service Natural Resources Publication Office P.O. Box 25287 Denver, CO 80225-0287 (303) 969-2156 Printed on Recycled Paper €l|* 1991 Highlights of Natural Management Resources Natural Resources Report NPS/NRPO/NRR-92/07 Designed and edited by Lissa Fox United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resources Publication Office 1 8 1 Table of Contents Introduction / New For 91 Can-do Attitude Brings Success/4 The Inventory andMonitoring Program Inventory and Monitoring Program Initiated/ 6 Denali National Park and Preserve/ 6 Channel Islands National Park/ 8 Great Smoky Mountains National Park/9 ShenandoahNational Park/ 10 Ten Years ofTraining: The Natural Resources ManagementTrainee Program / 1 The National Natural Landmarks Program / 15 The NPS Joins Watchable Wildlife / 17 Work Continues on WolfRestoration into Yellowstone / 1 AwardsRecognize Excellence Director's Award forResearch: Charles vanRiper, III / 20 Director's Award forNatural Resource Management: Daniel Taylor/21 Director's Superintendentofthe YearAward forNatural Resources Stewardship: RichardRambur/ 22 75th Anniversary Director's Award: DaleEngquist/ 23 Global Change Research Update/24 Research Highlights/ 24 The SierraNevada/25 The Olympic Peninsula/ 26 Updates/ 27 1 Species Recovery: Cooperation and an Integrated Approach Working Togetherto Save Two Butterfly Species/ 30 Canaveral Explores RaccoonManagement to Protect Sea Turtles/ 31 Black-foots Back in the Badlands/ 33 Cooperative Research and Management Aids the Mexican Spotted Owl / 34 Wolves in Washington/ 36 Rocky Mountain Region Conducts Bighorn Sheep Initiative / 36 Fish Restoration Challenges Great Smoky Mountain National Park/ 38 Cooperating to Save the Kemp's Ridley/ 39 Resource Management Techniques FastTechnology forSlow Animals/42 OlmstedNHS Manages Landscape With GIS /43 Mussels Indicate Contamination/45 Managing PrescribedFire With GIS /46 Jamestown IslandFisheries: A Prelude to Management Actions/46 Afterthe GoldRush: Reclaming Mined Land in Alaskan Parks /48 Not Just Science! Other Aspects of Resource Management Managing Cultural Landscapes with Agricultural Practices/50 Trespass Issues at Coulee Dam National Recreation Area/5 People and Bears Leam to Live TogetheratRedwood National Park/ 52 Introduction During 1991, the Natural Resources Program throughout the National Park Service made several significant achievements. In some cases, activities ofpast years came to fruition. For example, several years ofeffort that began with a regional study ofwinter haze conditions at Grand Canyon culminated in a negotiated agreement to reduce emissions at the Navajo Generating Station. Inothercases, we setacourse foryearsto come. The previously planned Global ChangeProgram achieved asolid foundation withFY 1991 funding and additional FY 1992 funds. Late in the year, with FY 1992 funding, the first year of the planned 10-year Inventory andMonitoringProgram was initiated, with selection and fundingoffourprototype monitoringparksandofafull-timecoordinatortooverseetheprogram Inadditiontosuccessful . initial implementation ofthese programs, the groundwork was developed for future improvements. TheVailsymposium,heldinconjunctionwiththe75thAnniversaryoftheNationalPark Service, coincided with internal Natural Resource program evaluation and planningefforts to start strategic planning for the future. Theseareexcitingtimestobeapartofmanagingthenaturalresourcesofourparks. Thepositive changesbroughtaboutinkeyrecentissues-theEvergladeswaterqualitylawsuitandreductions ofemissions affecting the Grand Canyon and Shenandoah, for example—have provided very visible models ofthe need forand value ofresource data in protecting park resources. We do not yet have the ability to fully accomplish the National Park Service's resource preservation functions. Improvements and advancements in the structure, commitment, tools, and techniques ofthe agency's natural resource program are needed. However, the many accomplish- ments ofthe past yearandthemoodsetby the 75th Anniversary forcontinued positivechange set a positive stage forthe future. i^i^ J. $?!* New for '91 g*£^a**- Mouth ofSanta Elena Canyon,Mesa de Anguila, Big Bend NationalPark, Texas Can-do Attitude Brings Success By Robert L. Arnberger, Superintendent, Big Bend National Park Notefrom Associate Director, NaturalResources: When ItwasadisappointingdayinlateOctober1991. 1had planningfornatural resourceprograms, we sometimes lose just been told that the Targeted Parks Initiative was a sightofthe importanceofawilltosucceed. Individualsand dead duck in budget-balancing waters. The entire staff theirattitudesmakecriticalcontributionstotheachievement had participated in the job ofdeveloping the proposal, ofresourcemanagementgoals. Torecognizetheimportance andavigorhadgrownfrom thepossibilityofitsaccom- ofthehumanfactor,IaskedRobArnberger,Superintendent ofBig Bend National Park, to write an article about his plishment. It was hard not to be disappointed, and experiencesthispastyearwhen the effortsmadebyhispark downrightfrustrated,whenthewordcamethatnospecial were not initially awarded with success. I have been im- financial help would be coming ourway. pressedbyRobandothersuperintendentsinhispositionwho However, the glass can be halfempty, or it can be havefoundwaysto benefitfromthe investmenttheymade in half full. Big Bend National Park and International developingactionplansforabudgetinitiativethatCongress BiosphereReserveisoneofthepremieredesertparkson decidednottofund. ThespiritRobandhisstaffhave shown the face of the earth. It combines a unique blend of incapitalizingonpositiveexperiencesshouldbean example natural and human history and spectaculargeology and to allofus. paleontology inasettingof"mountainislandsseparated by desert seas." Yet the science and resource manage-