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:
- Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve Natural Resource Condition Assessment (Natural Resource Report)
- Katmai National Park and Preserve and Alagnak Wild River (Natural Resource Report)
- Kenai Fjords National Park Natural Resource Condition Assessment (Natural Resource Report)