Browsing by Subject "National Park Service"

Now showing 1 - 11 of 11
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    Analysis of Commercial Use Management Policies in the National Park Service
    (2017-04-28) Murphy, Kristin
    Private companies, or commercial services, provide goods and services within national parks including lodging, food, transportation, and guided activities. One way for commercial services to operate within a national park is by applying for a commercial use authorization (CUA), which is a short-term permit that "authorizes an individual, group, company, or other for-profit entity to conduct commercial activities and provide specific visitor services within a national park unit." Due to the NPS Centennial celebration and record-breaking visitation, Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park have experienced an overwhelming increase in CUA applications over the last few years. This paper uses a literature review of NPS policies and semi-structured interviews conducted with NPS employees to analyze how CUA programs operate at 10 other parks. Findings from this study will provide guidance and recommendations to Arches and Canyonlands on long-term strategies to improve the management of their CUA program.
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    Assessing the Potential Effects of Climate Change on Species in the Cumberland Piedmont Network of the National Park Service
    (2012-04-26) Bruno, Christopher; Hartger, Phil; Mendenhall, Laura; Myron, Emily
    In this study, we evaluate the climate change vulnerability of a subset of key species found in the Cumberland Piedmont Network (CUPN) of the National Park Service (NPS), an ecologically important and diverse region. We developed a list of species of conservation concern (globally and sub-nationally) within each of the fourteen NPS units in the CUPN. Next, we employed NatureServe’s Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) in order to determine which of those species may be most vulnerable to climate change, based on each species’ 1) direct exposure to climate change, 2) indirect exposure to climate change, 3) sensitivity, and 4) documented/ modeled response to climate change. CCVI results showed a range of vulnerability scores among taxonomic groups, including high vulnerability for mollusks and low vulnerability for migrant songbirds. Furthermore, we found that species of conservation concern were not necessarily those most vulnerable to climate change. Additionally, we modeled the current and projected habitat suitability in 2050 and 2080 for four case study species, three that were assessed by the CCVI to be vulnerable to climate change and one assessed to be presumed stable. We used the software package MaxEnt (chosen modeling method of NatureServe) and the program BIOMOD, which produces habitat suitability estimates using a variety of different algorithms. We combined the results produced by MaxEnt and BIOMOD to create an ensemble projection for each species. This shows areas where all models predict future suitable habitat. Finally, we examined which of the NPS Units within the CUPN were in danger of losing vulnerable species populations under the climate change scenarios we chose. These models predict that key species may disappear from some parks with climate change. This information can be incorporated into regional management and prioritization strategies that increase the long term viability of these species, as well as help NPS land managers better understand which species of conservation concern are likely to be most affected by climate change.
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    ItemOpen Access
    Assessing the Potential Effects of Climate Change on Species in the Cumberland Piedmont Network of the National Park Service
    (2012-04-26) Bruno, Christopher; Hartger, Phil; Mendenhall, Laura; Myron, Emily
    In this study, we evaluate the climate change vulnerability of a subset of key species found in the Cumberland Piedmont Network (CUPN) of the National Park Service (NPS), an ecologically important and diverse region. We developed a list of species of conservation concern (globally and sub-nationally) within each of the fourteen NPS units in the CUPN. Next, we employed NatureServe’s Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) in order to determine which of those species may be most vulnerable to climate change, based on each species’ 1) direct exposure to climate change, 2) indirect exposure to climate change, 3) sensitivity, and 4) documented/ modeled response to climate change. CCVI results showed a range of vulnerability scores among taxonomic groups, including high vulnerability for mollusks and low vulnerability for migrant songbirds. Furthermore, we found that species of conservation concern were not necessarily those most vulnerable to climate change. Additionally, we modeled the current and projected habitat suitability in 2050 and 2080 for four case study species, three that were assessed by the CCVI to be vulnerable to climate change and one assessed to be presumed stable. We used the software package MaxEnt (chosen modeling method of NatureServe) and the program BIOMOD, which produces habitat suitability estimates using a variety of different algorithms. We combined the results produced by MaxEnt and BIOMOD to create an ensemble projection for each species. This shows areas where all models predict future suitable habitat. Finally, we examined which of the NPS Units within the CUPN were in danger of losing vulnerable species populations under the climate change scenarios we chose. These models predict that key species may disappear from some parks with climate change. This information can be incorporated into regional management and prioritization strategies that increase the long term viability of these species, as well as help NPS land managers better understand which species of conservation concern are likely to be most affected by climate change.
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    ItemOpen Access
    Assessing the Potential Effects of Climate Change on Species in the Cumberland Piedmont Network of the National Park Service
    (2012-04-26) Hartger, Phil, Christopher, Laura, Emily Bruno, Mendenhall, Myron
    In this study, we evaluate the climate change vulnerability of a subset of key species found in the Cumberland Piedmont Network (CUPN) of the National Park Service (NPS), an ecologically important and diverse region. We developed a list of species of conservation concern (globally and sub-nationally) within each of the fourteen NPS units in the CUPN. Next, we employed NatureServe’s Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) in order to determine which of those species may be most vulnerable to climate change, based on each species’ 1) direct exposure to climate change, 2) indirect exposure to climate change, 3) sensitivity, and 4) documented/ modeled response to climate change. CCVI results showed a range of vulnerability scores among taxonomic groups, including high vulnerability for mollusks and low vulnerability for migrant songbirds. Furthermore, we found that species of conservation concern were not necessarily those most vulnerable to climate change. Additionally, we modeled the current and projected habitat suitability in 2050 and 2080 for four case study species, three that were assessed by the CCVI to be vulnerable to climate change and one assessed to be presumed stable. We used the software package MaxEnt (chosen modeling method of NatureServe) and the program BIOMOD, which produces habitat suitability estimates using a variety of different algorithms. We combined the results produced by MaxEnt and BIOMOD to create an ensemble projection for each species. This shows areas where all models predict future suitable habitat. Finally, we examined which of the NPS Units within the CUPN were in danger of losing vulnerable species populations under the climate change scenarios we chose. These models predict that key species may disappear from some parks with climate change. This information can be incorporated into regional management and prioritization strategies that increase the long term viability of these species, as well as help NPS land managers better understand which species of conservation concern are likely to be most affected by climate change.
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    ItemOpen Access
    Assessing the Potential Effects of Climate Change on Species in the Cumberland Piedmont Network of the National Park Service
    (2012-04-26) Bruno, Christopher; Hartger, Phil; Mendenhall, Laura; Myron, Emily
    In this study, we evaluate the climate change vulnerability of a subset of key species found in the Cumberland Piedmont Network (CUPN) of the National Park Service (NPS), an ecologically important and diverse region. We developed a list of species of conservation concern (globally and sub-nationally) within each of the fourteen NPS units in the CUPN. Next, we employed NatureServe’s Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) in order to determine which of those species may be most vulnerable to climate change, based on each species’ 1) direct exposure to climate change, 2) indirect exposure to climate change, 3) sensitivity, and 4) documented/ modeled response to climate change. CCVI results showed a range of vulnerability scores among taxonomic groups, including high vulnerability for mollusks and low vulnerability for migrant songbirds. Furthermore, we found that species of conservation concern were not necessarily those most vulnerable to climate change. Additionally, we modeled the current and projected habitat suitability in 2050 and 2080 for four case study species, three that were assessed by the CCVI to be vulnerable to climate change and one assessed to be presumed stable. We used the software package MaxEnt (chosen modeling method of NatureServe) and the program BIOMOD, which produces habitat suitability estimates using a variety of different algorithms. We combined the results produced by MaxEnt and BIOMOD to create an ensemble projection for each species. This shows areas where all models predict future suitable habitat. Finally, we examined which of the NPS Units within the CUPN were in danger of losing vulnerable species populations under the climate change scenarios we chose. These models predict that key species may disappear from some parks with climate change. This information can be incorporated into regional management and prioritization strategies that increase the long term viability of these species, as well as help NPS land managers better understand which species of conservation concern are likely to be most affected by climate change.
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    Climate Change and Climate Analogs for the Southern Appalachians
    (2023-04-27) Ochocki, Chloe; Schoenecker, Rachel; Thompson, Michelle
    The National Park Service aims to manage the natural resources within its protected lands and preserve biodiversity in the face of today’s biggest environmental challenges, including climate change. In this project we used a water balance model to explore possible changes in vegetation ranges in Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains national parks under climate change conditions, to inform the decisions of park managers. We plotted vegetation coverages of interest in a “climate space” defined by actual evapotranspiration and deficit, and change vectors charted the graphical movement of vegetation classes from historic to climate change conditions. These movements were translated to geographical shifts using analog maps. Based on our analyses, the vegetation within the two national parks undergo drastic changes to their historical hydrologic domains under climate change conditions. While our analysis was limited by coarse data resolution, it provides an important framework to begin understanding the implications of climate change for NPS units across the country.
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    Creating a Business Plan for Assateague Island National Seashore and The Startup of a Nonprofit Friends Group
    (2008-04-25T03:39:35Z) Warner, Brandon
    Assateague Island National Seashore (Seashore) is faced with significant financial challenges. As a management consultant over an eleven week period, I worked with park staff to produce a business plan that clearly outlined operational requirements, identified financial resources currently available, and analyzed funding gaps. In addition, I worked with the Seashore to identify operational and investment priorities and develop strategies for meeting them. The purpose of the business plan is to improve the Seashore’s ability to more clearly communicate its financial status with principal stakeholders. It is also intended to accomplish three main tasks. First, it provides the Seashore with a synopsis of its funding history. Second, it presents a clear, detailed picture of the state of current Seashore operations and funding. Finally, it outlines Seashore priorities and funding strategies. This document will assist management with financial and operational baseline knowledge for future decision making. Of the six strategies recommended in the business plan, one was the creation of an independent organization to partner with the Seashore. This was the recommendation I implemented for the second part of my masters project. There were two important goals for this initiative. First, creating a nonprofit with a plan to become financially sustainable and second, ensuring the organization supports the mission of the Seashore. Assateague Island Alliance (Alliance) was incorporated on January 1, 2008 and has submitted its nonprofit application to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as of April 25, 2008. The Alliance is focused on supporting the mission of the Seashore and improving its financial flexibility. As Executive Director, I’ve worked on the organization’s startup, board of directors recruitment, development of a mission, vision, and strategic plan, and engagement of the Seashore and community to build support for this new organization. Details on each of these initiatives are included in this master’s project.
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    Economic Impacts of Managed Access at Zion National Park
    (2021-04-26) Hughes, Emma; Starkey, Sean
    The following report aims to answer two objectives: (1) quantify the economic benefits associated with alleviating visitor congestion and (2) examine the potential impacts of certain visitor use management strategies on gateway communities. The report begins with a background of the congestion issue and more details on the two objectives. A literature review follows that explores visitation-related issues at other recreational attractions and the tie between management policies and its impact on gateway communities. The first objective is addressed by creating a regression model to estimate wait times to board the park shuttle at Zion National Park’s Zion Canyon Visitor Center that is then an input of a cost estimation model that uses the Department of Transportation’s Value of Travel Time (VTTS) as a proxy to estimate the value saved from reducing annual visitation from 2019 to 2015 levels at Zion National Park. The second objective utilizes a summary of case studies to highlight potential impacts to gateway communities from similar management decisions to see how they might affect Zion National Park and adjacent gateway communities. The report finds that there is significant value in managing visitation more proximate to visitation near 2015 levels from the perspective of visitors, park managers, and members of the gateway communities. A discussion of the implications and limitations of these findings conclude the report.
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    Prioritizing Proposed Wilderness Areas for Wilderness Designation
    (2010-04-30T16:24:43Z) Tarpinian, Brian
    The National Wilderness Preservation System protects especially pristine public lands that have been designated by Congress as wilderness. But wilderness areas are designated without consideration of existing protected areas or conservation needs. This study uses a Geographic Information System to rank the ecological urgency of proposed wilderness areas (n=631) so that future wilderness designations can be better informed by science. Results indicate that most proposed wilderness areas are in ecosystems that are already well-protected. But a few proposals would add substantial area to currently underrepresented ecosystems. The highest-ranking proposals are Beaver Creek Wilderness Study Area (a Bureau of Land Management unit in Colorado) and Assateague Island National Seashore Recommended Wilderness (a National Park Service unit in Maryland) because they are each located in virtually unprotected regions of the United States. The data acquisition process for this study uncovered management problems within the federal agencies such as a fear of the public and overall lack of interagency collaboration. A review of the lessons learned highlights ways to improve systematic conservation planning at the federal level. Data standardization within and between agencies is a necessary step toward improved communication. Furthermore, federal land management agencies need to increase the quality and quantity of publicly available data regarding protected areas. Decision-making in the federal agencies has been extremely localized, but a new initiative in the Department of Interior seeks to change that by implementing broad-scale and science-based Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs). The new LCCs may be the appropriate arena for employing the systematic wilderness stewardship principles outlined here.
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    Public land manager decision-making in East Jemez under ecological transformation
    (2022-04-17) Antonova, Gaby
    Climate-driven ecological transformation characterized by dramatic and irreversible shifts in ecological communities is challenging traditional land management strategies. A growing body of research and technical assistance is emerging to address ecological transformation. One example is the development of the Resist, Accept, Direct (RAD) framework which outlines three distinct land management options in the face of climate change. The resist option allows for managers to resist specific climate impacts and maintain natural and cultural resources within what land managers have historically defined as the “desired conditions.” The accept option allows managers to accept ecosystem changes and alter their strategies to work within a changing environment. The direct option allows park managers to guide “change toward a specific new state because it is feasible to steward change toward a more desirable outcome than what would be achieved with acceptance” (NPS, 2021). Despite the development of this robust framework to address ecological transformation, there has been insufficient focus on social, cultural, and institutional factors that play an important role in shaping managers’ decisions when faced with ecosystem transformation. This project empirically examines decision-making processes that U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and National Park Service (NPS) land managers in East Jemez, New Mexico use to select land management strategies and develop new methods for navigating ecological transformation. East Jemez was selected as a case study site as it is experiencing the firedriven ecological transformation from forests to grassland and shrubland. East Jemez is facing land management challenges associated with the transformation. Through semistructured interviews with 19 state and federal land managers, this study examined two questions: how do natural resource managers make land management decisions and determine future desired conditions during ecological transformation? How does this process vary between different land management agencies, in this case, NPS and USFS? Based on the qualitative analysis of the data collected through interviews with land managers, key findings fall into four categories: • General perceptions of the RAD framework, • Internal factors that influence decision-making, • External factors that influence decision-making, • Barriers to responding to ecological transformation. This report offers recommendations to agencies and agency staff for addressing barriers to responding to ecological transformation, including establishing and communicating agency land management guidelines under ecological transformation, supporting more collaboration through partner groups, and developing protocols to ensure key partner relationships are not affected when there is personnel turnover.
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    Tick-borne Disease Risk along the Appalachian Trail
    (2012-04-25) Shelus, Victoria
    Each year, 2-3 million visitors walk a portion of the Appalachian Trail, engaged in outdoor activities where exposure to ticks is likely. While the trail passes through the states with the greatest number of cases of Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, it is unknown how many people become sick after visiting the trail. This paper assesses tick-borne disease risk in the National Park Service (NPS) units located along the Appalachian Trail, and finds that the disease risk is unknown, and likely under recognized. It is recommended that tick sampling as part of a larger tick-borne disease surveillance program be implemented in the national parks. As a starting point to further study, general tick habitat suitability was modeled for the NPS units along the Appalachian Trail based on land cover, elevation and moisture. Potential tick sampling sites were selected based on areas of high tick habitat suitability and high visitor use.