What We Inventory

Carolina mountain dusky salamander (Desmognathus carolinensis)

Photo by Evan Raskin

Effective long-term management and stewardship of natural resources in the Appalachian Highlands Network begins with baseline knowledge of these resources. To acquire this knowledge, an inventory program was established by the National Park Service with the goals of acquiring baseline information for a variety of resources, from bibliographic information to species occurrence and distribution.

The twelve (12) basic inventories are defined in Appendix A of the Natural Resources Inventory and Monitoring Guidelines. The inventories consist of a group of resource related baseline information that has been found to be of greatest value in the initiation of a Vital Signs Monitoring Program.

Baseline inventories are administered by the National Inventory and Monitoring Division for twelve core areas which are listed below. For more information, see the Natural Resources Inventories page. See Inventories and Assessments for more information about the Appalachians Highlands Network.

12 Basic Inventories

Inventory	Completion Status
Natural Resource Bibliography	Completed
Species List	Completed
Species Status and Abundance	Completed
Vegetation Inventory	In Progress
Base Cartography	Completed
Geologic Resources	Completed
Soils Resources	Completed
Water Body Location and Classification	Completed
Baseline Water Quality	Completed
Air Quality	Completed
Air Quality Related Values	Completed
Climate	Completed

For a list of species in each park within the Appalachian Highlands Network, go to the Species List page.