Why Administrative Histories Matter

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 236-263
Author(s):  
Joan M. Zenzen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
National Park ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
Management Decisions ◽  
Park Service ◽  
History Of ◽  
Intellectual Integrity ◽  
A Site ◽  
Inform Decision Making

This article chronicles the history of administrative histories within the National Park Service. Administrative histories describe the history of a site or a group of parks. They can be important resources for management decisions. Managers, however, often do not know about or pay attention to these documents. Some managers have even threatened the intellectual integrity of these histories. Despite these issues, administrative histories matter: they fill an acute need by park superintendents and others to inform decision making and help with reporting and preservation.

scholarly journals A Brief History of the Trails of Grand Teton National Park

2009 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 55-62
Author(s):  
James Pritchard
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
Service System ◽  
Cultural Resources ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Grand Teton National Park ◽  
Park Service ◽  
History Of ◽  
Practical Development ◽  
Trail System

This project investigated the history of the backcountry trail system in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). In cooperation with GTNP Cultural Resources and the Western Center for Historic Preservation in GTNP, we located records describing the early development of the trail system. Only a few historical records describe or map the exact location of early trails, which prove useful when relocating trails today. The paper trail becomes quite rich, however, in revealing the story behind the practical development of Grand Teton National Park as it joined the National Park Service system.

scholarly journals Visualizing When, Where, and How Fires Happen in U.S. Parks and Protected Areas

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 333
Author(s):  
Nicole C. Inglis ◽  
Jelena Vukomanovic
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Park ◽  
Fire History ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Park Service

Fire management in protected areas faces mounting obstacles as climate change alters disturbance regimes, resources are diverted to fighting wildfires, and more people live along the boundaries of parks. Evidence-based prescribed fire management and improved communication with stakeholders is vital to reducing fire risk while maintaining public trust. Numerous national fire databases document when and where natural, prescribed, and human-caused fires have occurred on public lands in the United States. However, these databases are incongruous and non-standardized, making it difficult to visualize spatiotemporal patterns of fire and engage stakeholders in decision-making. We created interactive decision analytics (“VISTAFiRe”) that transform fire history data into clear visualizations of the spatial and temporal dimensions of fire and its management. We demonstrate the utility of our approach using Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park as examples of protected areas experiencing fire regime change between 1980 and 2017. Our open source visualizations may be applied to any data from the National Park Service Wildland Fire Events Geodatabase, with flexibility to communicate shifts in fire regimes over time, such as the type of ignition, duration and magnitude, and changes in seasonal occurrence. Application of the tool to Everglades and Big Cypress revealed that natural wildfires are occurring earlier in the wildfire season, while human-caused and prescribed wildfires are becoming less and more common, respectively. These new avenues of stakeholder communication are allowing the National Park Service to devise research plans to prepare for environmental change, guide resource allocation, and support decision-making in a clear and timely manner.

Born of fire: In search of volcanoes in U.S. national parks, four striking examples

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura C. Walkup ◽  
Thomas J. Casadevall ◽  
Vincent L. Santucci
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Volcanic Hazards ◽  
Volcanic Complex ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
The World ◽  
Park Service ◽  
History Of

ABSTRACT Geologic features, particularly volcanic features, have been protected by the National Park Service since its inception. Some volcanic areas were nationally protected even before the National Park Service was established. The first national park, Yellowstone National Park, is one of the most widely known geothermal and volcanic areas in the world. It contains the largest volcanic complex in North America and has experienced three eruptions which rate among the largest eruptions known to have occurred on Earth. Half of the twelve areas established as national parks before the 1916 Organic Act which created the National Park Service are centered on volcanic features. The National Park Service now manages lands that contain nearly every conceivable volcanic resource, with at least seventy-six managed lands that contain volcanoes or volcanic rocks. Given that so many lands managed by the National Park Service contain volcanoes and volcanic rocks, we cannot give an overview of the history of each one; rather we highlight four notable examples of parks that were established on account of their volcanic landscapes. These parks all helped to encourage the creation and success of the National Park Service by inspiring the imagination of the public. In addition to preserving and providing access to the nation's volcanic heritage, volcanic national parks are magnificent places to study and understand volcanoes and volcanic landscapes in general. Scientists from around the world study volcanic hazards, volcanic history, and the inner working of the Earth within U.S. national parks. Volcanic landscapes and associated biomes that have been relatively unchanged by human and economic activities provide unique natural laboratories for understanding how volcanoes work, how we might predict eruptions and hazards, and how these volcanoes affect surrounding watersheds, flora, fauna, atmosphere, and populated areas.

Mapping Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

2010 ◽  
pp. 29-42
Author(s):  
Tom Patterson
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
Cruise Ship ◽  
Careful Planning ◽  
Glacier Bay ◽  
Braided Rivers ◽  
Glacier Bay National Park ◽  
Park Service ◽  
A Site ◽  
Shaded Relief

Making a National Park Service (NPS) visitor map of a large, famous park such as Glacier Bay involves careful planning and many people. Preliminary work on the Glacier Bay map required a site visit to Alaska, consultations with park staff, and observing visitors using maps on board a cruise ship. The paper examines various mountain-mapping challenges, including shaded relief, landcover, glaciers, fjord bathymetry, braided rivers, and place names. The paper then ties these strands together by discussing the design of the final brochure map.

Island Time

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-112
Author(s):  
Peter S. Alagona
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
Santa Cruz Island ◽  
Nature Conservancy ◽  
Ecological History ◽  
Natural Reserve ◽  
Park Service ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University ◽  
Reserve System

This essay looks at the history of Santa Cruz Island and preservation and conservation efforts there through the work of the National Park Service, the Nature Conservancy, and the University of California Natural Reserve System. Alagona argues that these efforts are sometimes counterproductive because they rely on incomplete or outmoded understanding of the island’s human and ecological history. A better understanding of how history, culture, and nature shaped each other would lead to more complete conversation and better land management decisions.

The Power of the Llano Estacado: Jerry Rogers, Historian, Museum Director,and Federal CRM Leader

2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-141
Author(s):  
Robert L. Spude ◽  
Jerry L. Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
National Park ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Early Attachment ◽  
The World ◽  
Governmental Support ◽  
Park Service

This biographical interview with Jerry Rogers begins with his background in Vega, Texas, his early attachment to historical landscapes there, and his education. The bulk of the interview then focuses on his career of over thirty years with the National Park Service (NPS). Major topics include changing policies and organizational structures under the Nixon, Carter, Reagan, and Clinton administrations; the politics and strategies involved in gaining popular and governmental support for NPS programs; steps taken to more efficiently process historical nominations and decentralize decision-making; NPS's struggle to acquire the Manassas battlefield; the development of standards for historic landscapes; and the sobering ecological trends facing the park service and the world in the coming years.

Miki Crespi and the Origin of the National Park Service Ethnography Program

2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-11
Author(s):  
Jerry Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
National Park ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Cultural Resource Management ◽  
Cultural Resources ◽  
Cultural Resource ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Park Service ◽  
History Of

Dr. Muriel (Miki) Crespi made extraordinary contributions to the development of the field of cultural resource management, especially in conceiving, launching, and developing an Ethnography Program in the National Park Service. As Associate Director for Cultural Resources of the Service, I had the pleasure of sharing part of that experience with her. This paper is not a researched history of that experience, but is rather my personal recollection, containing all of the advantages and disadvantages of that perspective. The Ethnography Program has now been around long enough and made enough demonstrable differences in the field of cultural resource management that it ought to be the subject of a thorough administrative history. To the scholar who undertakes that history, I especially recommend a detailed examination of the planning, execution, and follow-up of the First World Conference on Cultural Parks, which I would describe as the seminal event behind the Ethnography Program.

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