Natural Resource Year in Review--2001National Park Service; U.S. Department of the Interior; arrowhead logo
HomeYear at a GlanceForewordIntroductionChapterChapter 1--Meeting the ChallengeChapter 2--Science-Based ManagementChapter 3--National Parks as LaboratoriesChapter 4--Marine and Coastal Resource ProtectionChapter 5--Managing RisksChapter 6--RestorationChapter 7--Collaboration and Public ParticipationChapter 8--Looking Ahead    Search      Archive  

  Managing Risks
 
Photo record of night sky brightness over Death Valley National Park, California
The Night Sky Team tested various methods for evaluating night sky darkness including the “all-sky” CCD photometric method shown here. This image combines 114 precise brightness measurements above Death Valley National Park, ranging from the darkest (purple) to the lightest (red). Ninety miles to the east, Las Vegas completely drowns out a portion of the sky. The glow of Los Angeles is visible on the southern horizon.


   Preserving the grandeur and unimpaired natural function of national parks for the enjoyment of future generations is the fundamental purpose of the National Park Service. In 2001 the Park Service advanced risk management strategies to protect park resources from a number of hazards, including poaching, exotic plants and animals, light pollution, diseases in wildlife, and air and water pollution. Some of the risks facing park resources in 2001, including exotic species eradication and foot-and-mouth disease, were issues of national and international concern. The articles in this chapter demonstrate the role of NPS professional staff and science in managing potential risks to the air, water, landscapes, and living things found in our national parks. The articles in many instances explore the management activities park managers are using to successfully meet the challenges facing the natural resources in their care.
    “We are a species whose influence on natural systems is profound, yet the consequences of this influence remain only dimly understood.”

—National Park System Advisory Board


Articles

Preserving endangered night skies
By Dan Duriscoe and Chadwick A. Moore

Protecting American ginseng
By Janet Rock

Incident management team develops foot-and-mouth disease plans
By Peter Dratch and Kris Fister

An overview of invasive exotic plant management strategies in the Northeast
By Kathleen Kodish Reeder

Eradicating rats from Anacapa Island
By Kate Faulkner, Gregg Howald, and Steve Ortega


Other Developments

Focus on toxic airborne pollutants

Mosquito surveillance in the National Capital Region

Battling alien fish in Yellowstone Lake

Award-winner Profile - Hawaii Volcanoes resource manager honored

This material is from Natural Resource Year in Review--2001, published by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, in May 2001 (publication D-2255)
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Last Updated: 7/4/2002