Preserving fossils in the national parks: A history

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent L. Santucci
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Historical Aspect ◽  
Park Service ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Rich

ABSTRACT The fossil record preserved throughout the National Park Service spans more than a billion years and is documented in at least 267 park units. The discovery, collection, study, and resource management of fossils from localities which are currently within parks sometimes predate the establishment of the National Park Service and many of the parks. Public education and interpretation at parks such as Agate Fossil Beds and Tule Springs Fossil Beds national monuments and many other designated areas include information on the rich history of paleontological field work by notable paleontologists undertaken prior to the areas being preserved as national park areas. Another important historical aspect for several dozen parks involves the conservation efforts undertaken by the public and interest groups to preserve and protect these important fossil localities. The evolution of the science and methodologies in paleontology is reflected in the resource management undertaken by the National Park Service and documented in park resource management records and archives, scientific publications, and agency policy. Today the National Park Service celebrates fossils by coordinating the National Fossil Day partnership which helps to promote the scientific and educational value of fossils.

A Public's Awareness of Regional Parks and Park Management Agencies with Implications for Management-oriented Interpretation

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-64
Author(s):  
Carin E. Vadala ◽  
Robert D. Bixler ◽  
William E. Hammitt
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
South Florida ◽  
Park Management ◽  
Evaluation Strategies ◽  
Park Service ◽  
Management Issues

South Florida summer residents (n=1806) from five counties (Broward, Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade, and Monroe Counties) were asked to recall the names of two units of the National Park Service and, when prompted, to recognize each of the four national park units located in south Florida. Only 8.4% of respondents could name two units of the National Park Service, yet when prompted many more stated that they had at least heard of the national parks in south Florida. Interpreters may be able to help raise visitor awareness of resource management issues by including information about the role of the agency in their talks or as part of their interpretive theme. Suggestions for further research and evaluation strategies are provided.

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.

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.

Geologic resource management in the National Park Service: A historical overview

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-189
Author(s):  
Ken Mabery
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Amusement Park ◽  
Good Management ◽  
Park Service ◽  
Laissez Faire ◽  
Resource Division

ABSTRACT Burning embers are pushed over a 3,000 feet granite cliff to create a ‘firefall’ visitor spectacular. Sounds like an amusement park attraction? Actually, this and other actions have taken place in National Parks that were not conducive to good management of geologic resources. This article will explore the evolution of geologic resource management from its laissez-faire inception, to an era when landscape architects largely drove management of geologic resources, to today's policy-driven Geologic Resource Division that professionally provides comprehensive and project-specific assistance to parks.

scholarly journals Amphibian and Reptile Inventory and Monitoring Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, 2001

2001 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 3-27
Author(s):  
Debra Patla
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Park Service ◽  
Inventory And Monitoring

This is a report of field work conducted in Yellowstone (YELL) and Grand Teton (GRTE) national parks, including the J.D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway (JODR), in the summer of 2001. This project was supported by the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program and the USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative.

scholarly journals Spiders Revisited: Retracing the Steps of Herbert and Lorna Levi's Historic Invertebrate Surveys of the Jackson Hole Region of Wyoming

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 48-53
Author(s):  
Sarah Kariko ◽  
Daniel Rossman
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
National Park ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Jackson Hole ◽  
Park Service ◽  
History Of ◽  
Invertebrate Surveys

In 1950, Herbert and Lorna Levi collected invertebrates in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and other localities in the region. Sixty-five years later and looking towards the centennial of the National Park Service, a preliminary reassessment of the biodiversity of spiders was conducted in a subset of localities that were collected by the Levis. Specimens have been collected and are in the process of being identified. Comparison of this new collection with the historical records is currently underway. As the arts have played a crucial role in the history of national parks, we are exploring how to partner art and science to share the beauty and wonder of spiders based on our fieldwork in celebration of the upcoming National Park Service centennial.

From Competition to Cooperation: A History of Canada–US National Park Relations

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence Young ◽  
Alan MacEachern ◽  
Lary Dilsaver
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Us ◽  
Park Service ◽  
Settler Societies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Flow Of Information ◽  
The Relationship

This essay explores the evolving international relationship of the two national park agencies that in 1968 began to offer joint training classes for protected-area managers from around the world. Within the British settler societies that dominated nineteenth century park-making, the United States’ National Park Service (NPS) and Canada’s National Parks Branch were the most closely linked and most frequently cooperative. Contrary to campfire myths and nationalist narratives, however, the relationship was not a one-way flow of information and motivation from the US to Canada. Indeed, the latter boasted a park bureaucracy before the NPS was established. The relationship of the two nations’ park leaders in the half century leading up to 1968 demonstrates the complexity of defining the influences on park management and its diffusion from one country to another.

scholarly journals “Making Alcatraz Amazing”: The Alcatraz Cellhouse Tour

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Boling
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
Golden Gate ◽  
Federal Prison ◽  
Park Service ◽  
Multiple Languages

In 1987 the National Park Service and Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy launched the Alcatraz Cellhouse Tour as part of the interpretive program educating visitors about the island and its history. Using an existing format made possible several years previously by Sony Walkman™ technology, the designers framed this individual, and innovative, audio tour as a means for visitors to experience the cellhouse through the voices of people incarcerated there, or living and working there, during the years when it served as an active federal prison. Such a design called for different decisions about content, scripting and moving people through space than had been required for ranger-led tours or the lecture-type audio tours prevalent at the time. The original tour has been updated continuously since its launch, and experienced by millions of visitors in multiple languages. The author of this case experienced the tour in 1988 and interviewed key designers in 2014.

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.

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