abby_miller@nps.gov
Deputy Associate Director, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science; Washington, D.C.

douglas k._morris@nps.gov
Superintendent, Shenandoah National Park; Luray, Virginia

Back to Chapter 1: New Horizons

Thrusts of the Natural Resource Challenge

Resources Careers implemented
by Kathy M. Davis

Natural resources law and policy course revived for superintendents
by Carol McCoy, Bob Karotko, and Sharon Kliwinski

SUWA case has ramifications for NPS management policies
by Chick Fagan

NPS establishes environmental leadership program
by Shawn Norton and Dan Kimball

From local to regional: A new focus for air resources protection
by Bruce Polkowsky

Award-Winner Profile--Kathy Davis

Award-Winner Profile--Joe Dunstan

New Horizons--News Briefs

Home

by Abigail Miller and Douglas K. Morris

On 12 August 1999, NPS Director Robert Stanton made a major announcement on the occasion of Mount Rainier National Park's 100th birthday. From the majestic mountain at Paradise, he proclaimed the National Park Service's strong new commitment to improving its preservation of the national park system's natural heritage through a five-year action plan called the "Natural Resource Challenge."

The efforts leading up to the August announcement have been termed an "internal conversation," and reflect the involvement of many participants. From the outset, there has been little difficulty in naming the natural resource preservation issues and outcomes desired. The difficulty was how best to achieve the outcomes.

The endeavor had its genesis in the ideas presented in Richard Sellars' 1997 book, Preserving Nature in the National Parks: A History (Yale University Press). Sellars observed that, throughout its history, the National Park Service has focused on visitor accommodation to the detriment of natural resources. His carefully researched and documented case became a catalyst for action. In addition, many other evaluations, including Starker Leopold's 1963 report and National Research Council reports in 1963 and 1992, chaired respectively by William Robbins and Paul Risser, confirm that park resources are being compromised in ways both understood and still unknown. The Director and the NPS National Leadership Council seized the moment and made a substantial response.

Developing an action plan has taken some time. Beginning in January 1998, a task force appointed by the regional directors developed the first report, outlining a wide range of issues, problems, and possible solutions. After much discussion, the report was revised and a plan assembled to develop the report's themes into actions that could be implemented. Twelve work groups led by superintendents and specialists developed draft action plans. The results were consolidated into the Natural Resource Challenge, a single action plan that combines related and overlapping actions and, of necessity, omits some to meet a budget target deemed reasonable to request. The additional budget for the five-year action plan totals about $100 million above the FY 1999 natural resource budget of $107 million—a doubling of budget capability. The Challenge, as it is called, is posted on the Web at www.nature.nps.gov/challengedoc.

The FY 2000 budget was formulated partway through the evolution of the Challenge. As a result, the FY 2000 request included actions about which there was broad agreement and little question about implementation. First, the FY 2000 request proposed funding to complete all of the Park Service–funded basic natural resource inventories. Another major request provided for a national biological resource management program, including a substantial commitment to field-based teams to combat exotic species. Smaller requests were made for increased project funding for natural resource management, broader expertise in geologic resource disciplines other than minerals management, California desert restoration, and Resource Protection Act implementation capability. All except the last two were successful—they were funded at 88% of the requested level—bringing the total funding for the Challenge to $14.329 million in FY 2000.

Although all participants in the process sent a clear message about the need for additional fiscal and personnel resources, the action plan was carefully constructed to be more than a budget initiative and therefore not entirely budget-dependent. The Challenge is a set of goals that collectively assert improved management of national parks through a greater reliance on scientific knowledge and expanded sharing of knowledge. Sustaining the early success of the FY 2000 budget, however, depends also on energy and commitment in the day-to-day work of the parks. Toward that end, the director has appointed a council of park superintendents to lead the way.

To fully implement the Challenge requires a different image of NPS employees—by themselves and by others. It requires that superintendents be viewed by their partners, congressional delegation, and others as much for their advocacy of resources as they are for seeking funding to repair or build new infrastructure. For interpretive rangers and others who serve visitors, it means persuasive and constructive information relayed to visitors about threats to resource values and what can be done to address them. It means park law enforcement programs that emphasize resource preservation and that are based on an understanding of which resources are threatened and effective means to address such threats. Likewise, it means facilities that are developed and maintained in a manner that is gentle to park resources. Finally, it means a full commitment to environmental leadership.

See the related sidebar detailing the thrusts of the Natural Resource Challenge.

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Last Updated: 09/26/00
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