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National Park Service
NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN NATIONAL PARKS Veteran park managers, watchdog groups, and public interest groups expect to tackle the principle philosophical issues overriding the national management of the natural heritage of the National Park Service (NPS). The discussion will occur in 35 workshops at the September Discovery 2000 Conference in St. Louis, September 11-15, 2000. The conference, a call to arms by NPS Director Robert Stanton, is the first time in 10 years that the Service has addressed future expectations of the 84-year-old agency. Keynote speaker E.O. Wilson, Harvard Professor and author who has
championed preservation of the nation's biodiversity, will kick off
the daylong emphasis on natural resources on Tuesday, September 12. Current operations applications, trends, policies, and arguments will be highlighted in these workshops, such as the impact of the fire program, off road vehicle use, jetski and snowmobile bans, overflights, carrying capacities, invasive plant control, and endangered species programs upon natural resources. All across the National Park System, scientists and resource managers are taking a fresh look at the nation's natural resource programs and finding ways to revitalize them. Planned workshops and sessions within the Natural Resources track will involve participants finding solutions to many issues that the Park Service must focus on to be successful in preserving natural systems for future generations. A recent inventory in Great Smoky Mountains National Park revealed two species of amphibians new to the park: the eastern spadefoot toad and the mole salamander. In addition, the park's All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory has added 67 species-mostly invertebrates-new to science prior to this summer, when more are anticipated. Also, this year the Park Service will put new emphasis on exotic plant management. Invasive exotic plants have gained a foothold and are now infesting large areas in many parks. The Service has established four Exotic Plant Management Teams that will begin to control or, when possible, eradicate non-native plant species. The first four teams will work in the Hawaiian Islands, Florida, the National Capital Region and the Chihuahuan Desert/Short-Grass Prairie. In Mojave National Park, scientists are studying the density and distribution of desert tortoise populations. An NPS team is systematically searching for the tortoises over a pre-established series of grid patterns that cover wide areas of the Mojave Desert. They are keeping count, and a number of the tortoises are being fitted with transmitters so scientists can track their movements. The research is furthering the Park Service's knowledge about this threatened species. And, at the Buffalo National River in the Ozark Highlands of Arkansas, the National Park Service is working to restore the Buffalo River bands to a more natural pattern. After surveying the river channel, crews anchor revetments of cut cedar trees to halt erosion and help heal the scarred banks. Native hardwoods will be planted along five miles of the River to help bind the soil and restore natural stability to the riparian area. Discovery 2000 will play host to nearly 1,500 people from across the country--scholars, superintendents, environmentalists, CEO's, resource rangers, members of the media, scientists, etc--with many thought-provoking ideas about natural resources in the national parks and the issues surrounding them. The Natural Resources track promises to be captivating, reflective, forward thinking, and engaging. Discovery 2000, the logistics and the workshops, are detailed at www.nps.gov/discovery2000. Most workshop events and all of the keynote speakers will be at the Conference hotel, Regal Riverfront, 200 S. 4th Street, St. Louis, Monday through Friday, September 11 - 15, 2000. - NPS - |
