Highlights of Natural Resources Management-1994

56 Pages·1995·3.6 MB·English

by  National Park Service

129.119:994
Highlights of Natural
Resources Management
Natural ResourcesReport NPS/NRPO/NRR-95/18
United States Department ofthe Interior I
to
National ParkService
Highlights of Natural Resources Management
A
Report on National Park Service Natural
Resources Management Activities in 1994
For additional copies:
Publications Coordinator
National Park Service
Natural Resources Publication Office
P.O. Box 25287
CO
Denver, 80225-0287
^^ Printed on Recycled Paper
Highlights of Natural
Management
Resources
Natural Resources Report NPS/NRPO/NRR-95/ 18
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Natural Resources Publication Office
Table of Contents
Big Steps
Landmark Water Rights Agreement Protects Yellowstone's Hydrothermal Features / 2
News Briefs
ParkService I&M Program Initiates Vegetation Mapping / 4
Agencies Conserve Native Plants / 4
Wilderness ConferenceYields Concrete Recommendations / 5
Gray Wolves Released Into Yellowstone / 5
TaskForce Evaluates Exotic Weed Management in the NPS / 6
Marine Debris Monitoring Program Completed / 6
Hantavirus Checked by IPM Techniques / 7
Stewardship Today forParks Tomorrow / 8
NewPark Science EditorCommitted to Research/Resource Management Connection / 9
Stepping Into Resource Management
—
KNOW
Step 1 the Resources and Their Condition
California'sThreatened IslandFoxGets HelpFromGovernmentandPrivateOrganizations / 12
Americorp Helps Dry Tortugas Survey Sea Turtles / 13
YellowstoneResearch Focuses on Microbial Resources / 14
GIS Provides Detailed Soils Map for Glacier National Park Quickly and Inexpensively / 15
Breeding Birds Counted at Indiana Dunes / 16
Microbes Studied in Oregon Caves Ecosystem / 17
Early Fossils Discovered by Badlands Visitors / 18
—
Step 2 MAINTAIN Resources and Systems in Their Natural Condition
Sideways Cedars Stabilize Streambanks / 20
Cooperative Efforts Help Control Exotic Plants / 21
Parkand Neighbors WorkTogether to Manage Leafy Spurge at Theodore Roosevelt / 22
Revegetation with NativeGrasses Reduces Soil Erosion and Protects Anasazi Ruins / 24
—
Step 3 RESTORE Resources to Their Natural Condition and Function
The Disurbed Lands Restoration Program / 26
Bison Inspire Creative Prairie Restoration Technique / 27
Volunteers Help Remove Tunnel Blasting Debris From Timpanogos Cave System / 28
Wetland Restoration Provides Habitat forThreatened Orchid in Utah / 30
Volunteers Aid in Rare Plant Management / 31
—
Step 4 PROTECT Resources and Natural Systems
Reserved Water Rights Secured at Rocky Mountain National Park / 34
An Ootheca* in Building #51: Managing German Cockroaches With IPM / 35
Tortoises Protected Through HCP Partnership / 36
NRPP Makes a Difference in Resource Management
Big South Fork to Restore Sites Along theRiver Affected by Acid Mine Drainage / 38
Black-footed Ferret Released Into Badlands National Park / 39
Peregrine Falcons Fledge in Shenandoah National Park / 40
Bent's Old Fort Fights Tamarisk Invasion / 42
The Public Helps Us Protect Resources
Buffalo River Watershed Students Get WET / 44
Antietiem Monitors Aquatic Resources / 44
Video Describes Air Pollution in the Sierra / 45
NPS Units Represented in the Highlights of Natural Resources Management Report / 46

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Big Steps
Landmark Water Rights Agreement Protects
Yellowstone's Hydrothermal Features
By Mary Hektner, Natural Resource Management Specialist, Yellowstone National Park, and
Chuck Pettee, Hydrologist, Water Rights Branch, Water Resources Division
Yellowstone National Park's reachingramifications.Surfacefea- northand westoftheparkindicate
world-famous geysers and hot tures may respond to relatively that there are trans-boundary con-
springs will now be the most pro- small changes in subsurface reser- nections between surface and/or
tected of their type in the world. voir pressure, temperature, and subsurface hydrothermal features.
Afteradecadeofnegotiationswith flowpathwaysatdistancesasgreat Protection and management of
the Montana's Reserved Water as6miles.Additionally,changesin the park's hydrothermal resources
Rights Compact Commission, a these reservoir characteristics may requires the park to consider the
waterrightsagreementbetweenthe take many years to manifest them- consequences of any activity that
NationalParkServiceandMontana selves at a surface feature. Experi- could alter the pressure, tempera-
providesunprecedentedprotection ence has shown thatonce a change ture, or water flow path character-
for the park's extensive hydrother- occurs, there is little chance that istics of Yellowstone's hydrother-
mal system. removing the cause will fully re- mal system. Recently, private
Thermal groundwater systems, store thesurface feature. development activity in Montana
orhydrothermal systems, arechar- Unfortunately, in Yellowstone justnorth ofYellowstonehashigh-
acterizedbycomplexcombinations this larger hydrothermal system is lighted concernaboutprotectionof
ofwaterpressure,temperature,and not entirely encompassed within the hydrothermal system.
flowpathways.Alteringanyofthese park boundaries. Studies of areas The federal reserve water rights
three components can have far- with hydrothermal features to the negotiation process gave the Na-
tional Park Service an opportunity wheretraditionalwesternwaterlaw legitimateinterpretations.Thecom-
to apply the usual rulesof western may fail to protect Yellowstone's plexityand sensitivityofthepark's
water law to protecting Yellow- hydrothermal system and it's hydrothermalsystemmayneverbe
stone's hydrothermal system. The uniquecharacteristics.Forexample, fully understood. Often complete
compact with Montana includes even withadvance notice of devel- understanding of such a system
provisions for (1) adjudication of opment plans, the scientific evi- comesonly ifit can be dismantled.
theUnited States' right tomaintain dencenecessarytodefinitivelypre- Where uncertainty exists, typi-
water in the hydrothermal system dictimpactsisnotalwaysavailable. cal western waterlaw would prob-
within the boundaries of the park, AlthoughscientistsresearchingYel- ablyhavethedevelopmentproceed,
(2)arequirementthatapermitmust lowstone's hydrothermal system possibly with monitoring.Thebur-
be obtained prior to development, have gained some insight into its denthenwould fallontheNational
(3)alimitationofwaterusebyper- extent and function, they have not ParkServicetodemonstrateimpair-
mitconditions, and (4) the guaran- yet definitively described the sys- ment, which, as described above,
tee that the state will administer tem, nordo theyhavethe technical wouldbedifficultifnotimpossible.
conflictsbetweentheUnitedStates' tools necessary to predict impacts By negotiating, as opposed to liti-
rightandotherwateruses withina from variousdevelopmentscenari- gating, both parties were able to
"controlledgroundwaterarea"out- os. In addition, even the applica- address this concern by agreeing
side, butadjacent to, thepark. tion of the best available technical that any scientific doubt concern-
The National Park Service also analysismay result in inconclusive ingadverse effectswill beresolved
recognized that there are areas findings subject to several equally in favorof protection ofthehydro-
thermalsystemwithinYellowstone.
Approval ofany development per-
CONTROLLEDGROUNDWATERAREA mit requiresa review ofthe permit
YELLOWSTONENATIONALPARKAREA, MONTANA byscientistswithhydrothermalsys-
tem expertise. Clear and convinc-
ing evidence will be required that
no potential exists for adverse ef-
fects to the hydrothermal system.
A technical oversight committee
was established to provide the sci-
entific review and guide technical
data-gatheringeffortswithinthede-
lineated area. (See map.)
Whilethecompactisamilestone
in the protection of the park's re-
sources, it does not cover all exi-
gencies.Certaintypesofdeepdrill-
ing could introduce new water/
steamflowpaths,thuschangingthe
pressurein thesystem. Additional-
ly, other types of thermal resource
development,suchasheatexchange
units, could remove heat from the
system. Such activities may not be
subject to the legal requirementsof
LEGEND the waterrights compact. To cover
SubareaI CSSoulnbattaerroeBlaolueBdnoduGanrrdoyaurnydwater theseareasas well asinclude areas
SubareaII surrounding the parkin Idaho and
K(KnCoRwAn)Ci-(uwiittihrimniaSlubRserseoaur1c)eAxes 10 15 20 Wyoming, Representative Pat Wil-
liams (D-Montana) has introduced
the "Old Faithful Protection Act."
AllgroundwaterdevelopmentwithinthedelineatedYellowstone Thisactwould temporarilyprohib-
ControlledGroundwaterAreashownon theadjacentmapwill it any development that could af-
require a permit. The boundaries of the area were based on fect Yellowstone's thermal system
recommendationsmadebyagroupofscientistsfromtheMontana until the states develop a program
University who were familiar with the specific geologic, forprotecting the system.
geophysical,geochemical,andhydrologicconditionsofthearea.
NEWS
BRIEFS
Park Service I&M Program Initiates Vegetation Mapping
As one component of the Ser- The vegetation mapping project MappingvegetationServicewide
vicewide Natural Resource Inven- isbeingcarriedoutbytheParkSer- will takeseveralyearstocomplete.
tory and Monitoring Program, the vicethroughapartnershipwiththe Expected early accomplishments
National Park Service has initiated National Biological Service, who are: (1) establishment of national
a major effort to map the vegeta- will provide funding and technical vegetationclassificationstandards,
tion of the majority of park lands oversight for the project. In 1993, (2) developmentofstandard meth-
underitsjurisdiction. The areas to theNational ParkServiceawarded odology and protocols for consis-
be mapped include all natural re- afive-yearcontracttoEnvironmen- tent data gathering and manage-
source park units and environs in tal Systems Research Institute, Inc. ment, (3) development of standard
the United States and possessions, This company enlisted a team of methodology and protocols for ac-
excluding Alaska. The purpose of professional sub-contractors, each curacyassessment,(4)protocoltest-
themappinginitiativeistoprovide recognized leaders in their respec- ing and evaluations in four "pilot"
uniform, consistent baseline data tive areas of expertise, to complete units, (5) assessments of existing
thatdocumentsthe state ofvegeta- the project. Those sub-contractors datasetsinthefirst100unitsonthe
tion in national park areas in the include The Nature Conservancy, Servicewideprioritylisting,(6)aeri-
mid-1990s time frame. theNationalCenterforGeographic al photography acquisition for ap-
Theagency'srecentlydeveloped Information and Analysis, Merrick proximately 75-80 units, and (7)
Natural Resource Inventory and & Company, Aerial Information completed mapping projects for
MonitoringGuideline(NPS-75)em- Systems, and EA Engineering Sci- approximately10prairieparkunits.
phasizes the need tocollectquality encesand Technology.
inventory and monitoring data on
a long-term basis. The vegetation
mapping initiative is a significant Agencies Conserve Native Plants
stepin thatdirection. Besidesgen-
eratingbaseline data for long-term In 1994, eight federal agencies tection and recovery activities are
inventoryandmonitoringgoals,the joined together with 40 non-gov- generally underfunded and fewer
vegetationmapsproducedthrough ernment organizations to form the than halfof the endangered plants
this effort will also have shorter- Federal Native Plant Conservation have approved recoveryplans.
termapplicationsforparkresearch, Initiative.Thiscooperativeventure The Federal Native Plant Initia-
resourcemanagement,planning,in- is designed to coordinate native tivewill attempttobringtheplight
terpretation, and operations. Ex- plantconservationefforts.Member ofnativeplanttotheeyesoffederal
amplesofapplicationsincludehab- agencies will pool information and land managers and the public. Al-
itatanalyses,firefuelmodeling,site expertise and work together to ed- readythegrouphasrecievedagrant
suitability analyses, evaluation of ucate the public, promote conser- fromtheNationalFishandWildlife
resources at risk, ranger activities, vationactivities,andconductresearch. Foundation, which, with matching
general management plans, re- Federal agencies manage up to funds,willprovide$250,000forna-
source managementplans, etc. 29% of the nation's lands and pro- tive plant conservation work. Sig-
Many parks and some National videhabitatforinnumerablenative natoriestotheMemorandumofUn-
Park System regions have under- plantspecies.AccordingtotheCen- derstanding include the Fish and
taken vegetation mapping in the ter for Plant Conservation, more WildlifeService,NationalParkSer-
past, using a variety of techniques than 200 species of native plants vice, Bureau of land Management,
andmethodologiesthatfocused on have gone extinct since the early National Biological Service, Agri-
specific purposes for those data. 1800s, and nearly 5,000 species of cultural ResearchService,U.S. For-
Although this met the immediate native plants are "at risk" in the estService,NaturalResourcesCon-
needs of the parks, the data gener- United States. Yetonly525 of these servation Service, and Department
ally have not been consistent from native plants are protected by the ofDefense.
onearea toanother. EndangeredSpeciesAct. Plantpro-