Program center takes on geologic inventories--National Park Service--WASO-INFO





					by Bruce Heise and Joe Gregson
					In 1998 the Natural Resource Program Center completed the first phase of a pilot project ultimately intended to inventory the geologic resources of the national parks. Preliminary findings of the pilot Geologic Resources Inventory suggest several applications for overall park resource management from an enhanced understanding of the parks' geology. Examples include the use of geologic data to construct fire histories, identify habitat for rare and endangered plant species, identify areas with cultural resources and potential for paleontological resources, and locate potential hazards for park roads, facilities, and visitors. Digital geologic maps will enhance the ability of managers to develop precise hazard and resource models in conjunction with other digital data. The inventory, conducted jointly by the national Inventory and Monitoring Program and the Geologic Resources Division, stems from the 1997 NPS Strategic Plan, which recognized a geologic map as one of 12 essential data sets for parks. National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and state geologists subsequently identified a park systemwide inventory as a critical first step for managing, interpreting, and understanding the geologic resources in the parks. The group determined that an inventory should consist of these four components: a bibliography of geologic literature and maps, an evaluation of park geologic resources and issues, an assessment of geologic map coverage and production of digital products, and a report describing the park's geology. Because of their proximity to the offices of the Natural Resource Program Center and the U.S. Geological Survey, the Colorado parks were selected for the first series of scoping sessions necessary to assess the quality and extent of geologic information available for each park. Each session included a field trip led by an authority on park geology, followed by an on-site meeting dedicated to reviewing the four inventory items listed. Each meeting ended with a summary session to determine inventory needs and deliverables and to tentatively assign cooperator responsibilities. These sessions have been successful in evaluating the issues and resources at each park, gaining program understanding and cooperation, and maximizing returns from existing projects and knowledge. The Geologic Resources Inventory team plans to complete production of products for Colorado parks and to move on to additional pilot work in Utah in FY 1999.

		The pilot geologic inventory of Colorado parks identified park needs for geologic products and facilitated their development, including this digital geologic map (1:24,000) of a portion of Curecanti National Recreation Area. To develop the map, an NPS technician digitized the 1971 Geologic Map of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River and Vicinity by the U.S. Geological Survey. The map is now available in a Geographic Information Systems format that can easily be used in management applications. Click on the map to view close-up. bruce_heise@nps.gov Geologist, Geologic Resources Division; Natural Resource Program Center, Lakewood, Colorado joe_gregson@nps.gov Physical Scientist, Natural Resources Information Division; Natural Resource Program Center, Fort Collins, Colorado Back to Chapter 2: NPS Science Shoreline studies at Padre Island point to trash sources by John Miller White abalone: Going, going, gone? by Gary E. Davis Riparian monitoring focused on stream recovery in Canyonlands by Charlie Schelz Science-based planning at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve by John Neal and George Oviatt Recurrent themes of water resources management plans by David L. Vana-Miller Bats surveyed at Grand Canyon by Elaine Leslie Survey research provides management information by Jean E. McKendry Home

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Last Updated: 07/22/99
Direct comments on this website to jeff_selleck@nps.gov
This article is from Natural Resource Year in Review--1998, published by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, in June 1999 (publication D-1346)