Tools and Approaches

GIS Database

GIS (geographic information system) mapping was used to examine how large-scale, character-defining features of the landscape changed over time. The park began by geo-rectifying aerial photographs taken in 1939—scanning the photographs and identifying known points such as road intersections. Using special software, the known points were lined up and the map image stretched to line up with present-day aerial photos. Then they were overlaid with 1992 digital ortho quarter quadrants (DOQQs). (Each quadrant is numbered and photographed at a scale of 1:50,000, or one inch to 416 feet.). The old photographs were overlaid with the 1992 images to identify changes in features such as field patterns, forests, and structures. Park staff also have the ability to overlay both the geo-referenced 1939 aerials and rectified 1992 DOQQs within the same view and in the same coordinate system. With the transparency values adjusted on either one of the layers, both features can be seen simultaneously. This allows for a quick comparison of changes occurring from one layer to the next. An alternative method is also possible, in which polygons are digitized from one layer and then overlaid on the other.

Compliance Committee

The park has developed a compliance committee, an interdisciplinary team that meets monthly to assess the requirements for park activities to comply with state and federal laws. The committee includes a representative from the superintendent’s office, three division chiefs, and professional staff at various levels from all the major disciplines. The committee chair makes sure that all the important issues are addressed in meetings, including both natural and cultural resource issues. According to one staff member, compliance committee meetings can be difficult at times, but the rule is that everyone’s concerns are to be aired.

The compliance committee has yielded several valuable benefits that further the park’s goals for resource management and environmental leadership:

		The existence of the committee has raised awareness among park staff that planning and compliance reviews should be considered for a variety of park activities, not just major development projects.
		Having a recognized committee that meets regularly has provided a structure for development of a standardized process for compliance reviews, available to any staff member responsible for coordinating or managing a park activity. This eliminates the need for park staff to determine on their own who needs to be contacted and then make those contacts individually. Now, staff can take advantage of “one-stop shopping” by contacting the committee chair and asking to be on the agenda for the next compliance meeting.
		Regular meetings of an interdisciplinary and interdivisional group of coworkers create a real sense of teamwork that is invaluable when discussing problems and trying to find solutions to some very challenging compliance issues.
		Regular compliance meetings make more efficient use of staff time. During each meeting, the committee reviews and discusses up to eight different projects. Formerly, each project would have required an individual meeting, meaning that the same staff members would have had to attend up to eight different sessions to accomplish what is now done in a single meeting. Of course, not all discussions result in a resolution. In some cases, a project discussion at the compliance meeting identifies complex issues that require a separate meeting; also, major development projects typically require a dedicated meeting. However, the majority of topics are efficiently addressed, with issues identified, a course of action agreed upon, and tasks assigned. If necessary, a follow-up discussion on the status or results of the assigned tasks is put on the agenda for the next meeting.

Some of the motivation for the formation of the compliance committee came from conflict and frustration arising from “eleventh-hour” compliance requirements that came to light only after a project design was completed, funding was received, and the contract documents were ready to be sent out for bid. As a group, the committee is in firm agreement that upcoming projects and activities, proposals submitted for funding, and sometimes simply ideas be brought to the table in order to discuss National Environmental Policy Act and other compliance requirements and incorporate them into cost estimates and project design from the beginning. Although last-minute compliance problems will still occur, the group agrees that regular meetings are the best way to minimize these problems.