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--RestorationChapter 8--Looking Ahead    Search      Archive

  Meeting the Challenge
 
Thumbnail map of Vital Signs Monitoring Networks
The Natural Resource Challenge provided funding for 12 monitoring networks for park vital signs and water quality in FY 2001 (colored areas). Five networks are proposed for funding in FY 2003 (white areas), and an additional 15 remain unfunded (cross-hatching).
   As 2001 came to a close, the National Park Service marked the third year of important milestones under the Natural Resource Challenge, its multiyear plan to advance the management and protection of natural resources in the National Park System. Articulated in 1999, the Challenge outlines numerous improvements needed to maintain and restore the rich natural heritage found in national parks. Congress increased NPS funding by $15.2 million in FY 2001 and $20 million in FY 2002. This funding enabled or enhanced numerous scientific research and resource management projects, many of which are described in articles in this chapter and throughout this report. Resource inventory and monitoring, learning centers, and exotic plant management teams have benefited greatly in 2001. More importantly, the scientific information and knowledge developed as a result of the Challenge are improving the ability of NPS managers to preserve and protect the National Park System’s enormous diversity of landscapes and living things for the American people.
    “The Park Service must have the expertise to … protect park resources in landscapes that are increasingly altered by human activities.”

—National Park System Advisory Board


Articles

A long-term commitment to protecting park natural resources
By Steve Fancy

Natural Resource Challenge has its day before Congress
By Abigail Miller

An American story
Remarks of NPS Deputy Director Deny Galvin on his retirement in December 2001
By Denis Galvin

Learning centers connect the public, scientists, and resources in their first year
By Karen Ballentine

Research permitting system streamlines application process
By Tim Goddard

Mobile strike forces protect our natural heritage
By Linda Drees


Other Developments

Award-winner profile—Ambassadors for science

Air quality—Learning a lot with a little

“NPSpecies” development continues

EXPERIENCE YOUR virtual AMERICA

CESUs progress as network grows

Information Division branches out

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: 1/14/2008