The Research Permit and Reporting System goes on-line, streamlining the permitting process for researchers and parks alike. The Internet-based system also facilitates annual reporting required of researchers.

President Clinton signs executive orders establishing Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument and greatly expanding Buck Island Reef National Monument.

The Record of Decision for the Colorado River Surplus Criteria Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is signed, protecting Lake Mead and Lake Powell water supplies and Colorado River resources. The criteria do not allow surplus water to be released from Lake Mead unless certain thresholds are met to protect water supplies. Additionally, the EIS requires recommendations for an experimental flow program for Glen Canyon Dam to protect resources.

February

Managers of national parks and neighboring national marine sanctuaries meet in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, to increase coordination and cooperation in managing marine protected areas and programs. The meeting is prompted by a new general agreement between the National Park Service and NOAA, administrator of the National Marine Sanctuaries Program.

The National Park Service convenes a Colorado River Summit in Salt Lake City. Discussions focus on the effectiveness of NPS participation in Colorado River management decision-making processes in protecting natural and cultural resources of the National Park System. The summit results in recommendations to form NPS Colorado River basin steering and technical
committees comprising park, regional, and Water Resources Division staffs and to hire an NPS Colorado River basin coordinator to be duty-stationed in Salt Lake City.

The National Park Service announces the selection of five additional Exotic Plant Management Teams and expansion of the Florida partnership team. Funded by an FY 2002 budget increase, the expansion follows demonstrated effectiveness in 2001 by the first four teams in identifying, treating, inventorying, and monitoring exotic plants in parklands.

March

A reintroduced California condor lays an egg in Grand Canyon National Park, the first egg laid by a condor in the wilds of Arizona in more than 100 years. Although the egg breaks, biologists involved in the species’ recovery in Arizona are hopeful that successful breeding is imminent.

National Park Service officials testify before the House Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations regarding the role of the Natural Resource Challenge in park natural resource protection. The exchange is positive and illustrates many benefits of the Natural Resource Challenge for parks and Americans.

Park Service staff and partners gather at Point Reyes National Seashore to discuss how newly funded learning centers can best connect the public, scientists, and resources. Throughout the year park staffs focus on refurbishing facilities and developing programs and partnerships to enhance research and education.

"Promoting Conservation through Cooperation" is the theme of a new brochure published by the National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program. The brochure details the program’s successes in partnering with state, federal, and private NNL owners.

April

U.S. Geological Survey Director Chip Groat recognizes Dr. Gary Williams and Dr. Steven Fancy of the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program and Great Smoky Mountains National Park inventory and monitoring coordinator Keith Langdon as "Ambassadors for Science."

May

National Park of American Samoa assembles coral reef experts to identify monitoring strategies that are realistic for a park with limited staff and remote marine protected areas. The process results in a list of vital signs for monitoring that would track changes in the condition of the park’s reefs over time. The meeting also establishes a framework for the NPS coral reef monitoring program in the Pacific West Region.

June

Speaking at Everglades National Park, President Bush nominates Florida State Parks Director Fran Mainella to head the National Park Service as its 16th director.

Air quality experts and resource managers with the National Park Service meet with airborne contaminants scientists from universities and other agencies in Seattle to develop strategies for assessing environmentally toxic airborne pollutants in western U.S. national parks. Monitoring will begin in Spring 2002 and will focus on persistent organic pollutants such as DDT, PCBs, and furans, and metals such as mercury, which tend to accumulate at higher levels of the food chain.

Representatives of the 10 Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs) meet to assess the network’s progress in its first two years. Scientists, scholars, administrators, and procurement specialists from federal, state, university, and partner organizations discuss ways to improve coordination and cooperation among the CESUs.

Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton approves the Dry Tortugas General Management Plan and the record of decision is signed. Upon completion of a rulemaking process to change the park’s fishing regulations, the Dry Tortugas Research Natural Area will be the largest fully protected marine area in the National Park System.

August

President Bush visits Rocky Mountain National Park, participating in trail maintenance and fire fuels reduction projects.

The National Park System Advisory Board publishes its report Rethinking the National Parks for the 21st Century. Among the many recommendations for the future, the report emphasizes the importance of biodiversity preservation, relevance of parks for all Americans, and the expanding roles of education and research focused on the national parks.

National Park Service and USGS staffs meet in Phoenix to plan a unified approach to monitoring park vital signs. The 90 participants, all associated with the recently established monitoring networks, recommend improvements in the organization and development of integrated natural resource monitoring efforts in the National Park System.

September

A Russian scientific delegation visits Yellowstone National Park to view America’s wild bison. The Russians and the National Park Service are collaborating on the development of a safe and effective brucellosis vaccine for possible use in Yellowstone bison. Eventual use of a vaccine would reduce the risk of transmission of the disease from bison to cattle grazing near the park.

October

Associate Director Mike Soukup presents the Director’s Awards for Natural Resource Stewardship to recipients in Jacksonville, Florida. For the first time the awards include a new category: professional excellence in natural resources.

November

The FY 2002 appropriation for the National Park Service provides $20 million for the third year of the Natural Resource Challenge. The funding builds on several functions, adding seven park vital signs monitoring networks, eight learning centers, and five exotic plant management teams, and increasing resource project funding. Expanded air quality monitoring and watershed-based aquatic resource specialists are also funded. The appropriation also provides $350,000 to put the National Cave and Karst Research Institute on a permanent footing and hire a permanent director. The institute has been operating for nearly two years under an interim director.

Grantees of the Park Flight Program gather at Grand Canyon National Park to discuss the international conservation of Neotropical migratory birds, to learn interpretive and educational techniques relating to birds, and to meet program counterparts from the United States and Mesoamerica. Simultaneous translation removes the language barrier and participants return home having had a rich exchange of information, culture, and goodwill.

An NPS vital signs monitoring workshop is held in Fort Collins, Colorado, to initiate the water quality monitoring program that was funded in FY 2001. Monitoring network representatives, presenters, instrumentation specialists, and Water Resource Division staff participate.

December

Director Fran Mainella signs a memorandum of understanding (MOU) promoting partnerships for the conservation of amphibians and reptiles. Under the MOU, the National Park Service will cooperate with other federal agencies in "the identification of species, communities, ecosystems, areas, and other landscape features important to amphibian and reptile conservation."

The last of five stipulations is signed in the Little Colorado River Adjudication in Arizona to resolve water rights issues in six parks (Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest National Parks; Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site; and Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon, and Wupatki National Monuments).