| Natural Notes |
National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior 2002-2003 North Cascades National Park Service Complex |
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The Natural Resource Challenge
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The popularity of National Parks has continued to grow since the U.S. Congress established Yellowstone, the first national park, in 1872. The 385 parks in the National Park System draw millions every year who come to experience the outdoors in spectacular settings or to learn about historic events where they happened. In the great scenic parks such as North Cascades people can recover from the stress of face-paced lives and reconnect with nature through camping, hiking, climbing, studying natural history and other activities.
From the moment of Yellowstone's establishment, there have also been people who saw national parks as important for science. As world population and related development increases, the scientific value of protected areas such as North Cascades National Park becomes increasingly evident. This fact combined with the great gaps in the National Park Service's knowledge of just what natural resources are in the parks has led in recent years to a significant change of direction for the agency. Without much more complete knowledge of the plants and animals in the national parks, the geology of these special places, and the ecological processes tying all these natural elements together, park managers cannot be certain that they are adequately protecting the parks. The National Park Service calls the new direction toward obtaining this knowledge the "Natural Resource Challenge". It extends to learning more about the cultural resources, such as archeological sites and historic structures, preserved in the national parks. In support of the Natural Resource Challenge, the U.S. Congress is providing funding to help the Park Service:
This newspaper describes some of what is happening and what is being learned in North Cascades National Park because of the Natural Resource Challenge. North Cascades is part of the North Coast and Cascades Network of national parks and historic sites working together to implement the challenge: North Cascades, Olympic, and Mount Rainier National Parks, Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, San Juan Island National Historic Park, Fort Clatsop National Memorial, and Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. Learn more about North Cascades resource management at http://www.nps.gov/noca/nat.htm. | ||||
Research is an important activity in the national park. Many projects researching natural and cultural resources are happening throughout the park complex. Below is a short list of such projects in 2001, many of which are still ongoing. For more information go to http://www.nps.gov/noca/rescat.htm 1 Lower Chilliwack ValleyEvaluation of scat-detecting dogs and DNA analysis from bear scats. 2 HozomeenPropertius duskwing butterfly study. 3 Forested AreasSurvey for macrofungi. 4 Multiple Sites Complex-wideGenetic variation of Ursus americanus (black bear). 5 Hannegan CalderaStructure and petrology of Hannegan Caldera (geology). 6 Upper Baker Lake Sub-basinBaker River tributary habitat surveys. 7 Major Ross Lake TributariesUpper Skagit native char (fish) project. 8 Ross DamDevil's Mountain GPS strain network. 9 North Cascades Highway CorridorOccurrence of Lynx. 10 Goodell PitGoodell gravel mine restoration research. 11 Thunder Creek WatershedRestoration of off-channel habitats. 12 Forested AreasForest inventory. 13 Thunder CreekFire and forest succession. 14 Complex-wideAvian distributions and habitat relationships. 15 Thunder and Fisher CreeksRare carnivore camera study. 16 Black Peak BatholithBlack Peak Batholith emplacement and deformation (geology). 17 Stehekin and Thunder Creek WatershedsClimatic variability, ecosystem dynamics and disturbance. 18 Thunder Creek, Cascade Pass and Panther PassBird distributions and habitat relationships. 19 Mt. Formidable, Magic Mountain and Cascade PassTectonics of Magic Mountain gneiss. 20 Agnes, Bridge, Flat and Park CreeksBull trout snorkeling surveys. 21 Stehekin River DrainageCutthroat/Rainbow trout hybridization. 22 StehekinPrescribed fire effects. 23 StehekinWomen's sense of place (social geography). 24 StehekinRare plant population monitoring. 25 Lake Juanita and McAlester Mountain AreasDecline of white bark pine. | ||||
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Nature and Culture: partners in preservation With all this talk of mountains and glaciers, plants and animals it would be easy to assume that natural resources are all that makes North Cascades National Park the place it is. Not to be forgotten, however, are the vast cultural resources of the park. Often times natural and cultural resources are intrinsically linked, often so much so that the line between the two can be difficult to distinguish. Park Archaeologist Bob Mierendorf was one of the first to take a keen interest in the relationship early peoples of the region had with the mountains. His exploration has uncovered that early peoples used the mountains extensively for trade routes and hunting grounds, showing us that the link between natural and cultural resources is not an invention of modern times. The park's Cultural Resources branch is a critical partner in all research activities in North Cascades through the museum management program. Resource Managers examine park archives and other collections before beginning inventory and monitoring programs. In finalizing projects, field observations are entered into databases and reports that are curated and documented into the museum collection. These activities ensure that the information that results from park research will be preserved and made available to other researchers. The park recently completed a 950 square foot addition to the Marblemount Curation Facility more than doubling the size of the original building. A multi-park repository for NPS museum collections, the facility stores over 1.5 million museum objects for NOCA (including Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas) and San Juan Island National Historic Park. Museum collections housed at the facility include all natural history specimensbotanical, zoological, geological, paleontological and cultural resourcesprehistoric and historic artifacts and archival documents. National Park Service (NPS) museum collections serve a variety of purposes:
For more information, Contact Museum Curator Deborah Wood (360) 873-4590 ext. 19. | ||||
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Natural Resource Challenge http://www.nature.nps.gov/challenge/NRC.htm National Park Service North Cascades National Park Air & Water Quality Birds Fire Fungi Geology Glaciers Leave No Trace Natural & Cultural History Research Catalog Restoration/Revegetation |
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