Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)

Natural Resource Condition Assessments for Selected Park Units within the Southwest Alaska Network

Project ID: J8W07100043

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Partner Institution: Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota

Fiscal Year: 2010

Initial Funding: $149,505

Total Funding: $400,505

Project Type: Research

Project Disciplines: Biological

National Park: Southwest Alaska Network Inventory & Monitoring

Principal Investigator: Drazkowski, Barry

Agreement Technical Representative: Wesser, Sara

Abstract: The project provides an assessment of natural resource conditions for selected National Park Service (NPS) units of the Southwest Alaska Network (SWAN). This project is intended to assist SWAN in assessing specific park-based resource priorities and needs. Through compilation and synthesis of existing scientific information from multiple sources, and expert judgment from an interdisciplinary team of specialists, the project will assist NPS in defining specific park priorities. The project objectives include: selecting and prioritizing specific SWAN units for incremental resource condition assessments; characterize park biological and physical resource conditions at appropriate scales; define threat and stress factors and their relationship to identified resources; identify critical data gaps; and suggest data collection or resource investigations to address those gaps. The project will incrementally assess SWAN parks, starting with defining resource conditions, threats, and stressors for Lake Clark National Park & Preserve. These factors are evaluated and depicted spatially (as possible) to facilitate use of project findings in a wide variety of park decision and planning processes, and for use in park reporting to the Department of Interior’s Strategic Plan land health goals.

Deliverables: