Providing Anthropological Planning and Resource Management Assistance about Ethnographic Resources of Yosemite National Park

Project ID: P13AC01152

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Partner Institution: Portland State University

Fiscal Year: 2013

Initial Funding: $63,870

Total Funding: $246,673

Project Type: Research

Project Disciplines: Cultural

National Park: Yosemite National Park

Principal Investigator: Deur, Doug

Agreement Technical Representative: Hardin, Jennifer

Abstract: This project is a collaborative effort by the National Park Service (NPS) and Portland State University (PSU) to address a number of planning and resource management tasks that require information about American Indian ethnographic resources in Yosemite National Park. These efforts are associated with multiple, large-scale environmental planning projects in the park – current and pending. This collaborative effort is currently envisioned as having four phases. This Task Agreement funds Phase I and II, which includes review and assessment of the ethnographic outstandingly remarkable value (ORV) standards, indicators, and proposed monitoring protocols set forth in the draft Merced River Plan and an inventory and condition assessment of traditional use plants in Yosemite Valley. PSU and NPS will collaborate in a review of the proposed management program for the ethnographic ORV (including indicators to be used, the definitions of thresholds for “management standards,” “adverse effect,” and “degradation,” and the proposed monitoring protocols) to assess the efficiency and meaningfulness of the proposed program in addressing the traditional cultural values that are at the heart of the ethnographic ORV. PSU and NPS will also collaborate in the development of reliable baseline information about the locations and conditions of traditional use plant populations that will facilitate the monitoring required for the preservation and protection of the ORVs associated with these ethnographic resources.