Search

The U.S. National Parks encompass a variety of biophysical and historical resources important for national cultural heritage. Yet how these resources are socially constructed often depends on the beholder. Parks tend to be conceptualized according to their (fixed) geographic context, so our understanding of this system of systems is dominated by this geographic lens. To expose the systemic structure that exists beyond their geographic embedding, we analyze three representations of the National Park System using park–park similarity networks according to their cooccurrence in (1) about 423,000 news media articles; (2) about 11,000 research publications; and (3) about 60,000 species inhabiting parks. We quantify structural variation between network representations by leveraging similarity measures at different scales: park level (park–park correlations) and system level (network communities' consistency). Because parks are governed and experienced at multiple scales, cross-network comparison informs how management should account for the varying objectives and constraints that dominate at each scale. Our results identify an interesting paradox: Whereas park-level correlations depend strongly on the representative lens, the network communities are remarkably robust and consistent with the underlying geographic embedding. Our data-driven methodology is generalizable to other geographically embedded socioenvironmental systems and supports the holistic analysis of systems-level structure that might elude other approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the primary method of accessing the south side of the Alaska Range, aviation plays a critical role in providing visitor access to some of the most spectacular regions of Denali National Park and Preserve. In recent years, flightseeing and glacier-landing tourism in Denali has grown considerably, bringing with it several benefits, impacts, and challenges being felt both within the national park and in the gateway community of Talkeetna, Alaska. This paper seeks to integrate sustainable tourism planning, stakeholder perspectives, and national park management using Talkeetna and Denali as a case study. Specifically, this research uses qualitative methods to document stakeholder-identified impacts of the growth in aviation tourism and considers local perspectives of tourism planning and management challenges. Results indicate that the impacts of growth in aviation tourism are being felt both within and outside the boundaries of the national park, demonstrating the need to consider the broader context of the complex tourism system affected by growth in aviation in the region. Findings also reveal that local stakeholders perceive several administrative challenges affecting the ability of the National Park Service to effectively manage impacts of aviation tourism, offering important insight into regional-scale tourism administration and potential future park management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visitation to National Parks in the United States increased by more than 25% since 2010, rising from roughly 70 to 90 million annual visitors. Anecdotes suggest that this increase was driven by the advent of social media in the early-to-mid 2010s, generating a new form of exposure for parks, and has led to concerns about overcrowding and degradation of environmental quality. However, there is little empirical evidence on the role of social media in influencing recreation decisions. Here, I construct a dataset on social media exposure (SME) for each National Park and relate that exposure to changes in visitation over the last two decades. High SME parks see visitation increase by 16 to 22% relative to parks with less exposure, which comes with a concomitant increase in revenue. Low SME parks have no, or negative, changes in visitation. These estimates account for unobserved park heterogeneity and are based on an instrumental variables strategy that predicts exposure with a park's online popularity prior to the social media era. Additional analysis suggests that recent social media posts that include media attachments increase visitation, while posts with negative sentiment reduce visitation. These results provide insight for the National Park Service--which faces more than $22 billion in deferred maintenance costs and is considering policy options to manage demand--as well as for management of recreation on other public lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outdoor recreation is increasing worldwide, driving recreationists to seek new sites for active leisure pursuits. Recreational use at sites of cultural significance (i.e., historic battlefields) may conflict with their primary legislated purpose, diverting financial and human resources. We documented this process at Monocacy National Battlefield, a U.S. National Park Service site in an urbanizing region of the State of Maryland. A novel mixed-methods approach included a 1) scoping review of relevant peer-reviewed literature; 2) an anonymized, spatiotemporal analysis of visitor trips and place of residence; and 3) cross-sectional, on-site visitor survey of local and destination visitors using an Importance-Performance Analysis. Results illustrate a significant segment of local visitors and recent growth in trips to sites other than the battlefield visitor center. Local visitors were also significantly more likely to identify higher importance to recreation-related facilities, services, and park attributes. While population growth slowed in the recent decade within Frederick County, future increases may yield potential for conflict between recreational and historic uses. Triangulating spatiotemporal and survey-based methods can assist managers in understanding recreation demand in similar units experiencing scope creep to inform iterative outreach, monitoring, planning, and adaptive management to respond to changing demography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air tour management plans for U.S. national park units are developed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Park Service (NPS). The FAA recommends pilots fly higher than 2,000 feet above ground level (AGL) over parks, wildlife refuges, and areas with wilderness characteristics. Management of air tours is important for mitigating visual and noise impacts. Understanding air tour travel patterns has been problematic because objective location data have been difficult to obtain. A newer technology, Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS–B), can be used to accurately track overflights. Prior ADS–B studies of air tours conducted limited analysis with respect to altitude characteristics. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine how overflights spatially vary across altitudes and determine altitude trends for primary flight corridors. Results suggest overflights trend along the east side of the park and 74.59 percent of waypoints within a 0.5-mile buffer around the park boundary had altitudes less than 2,000 feet above ground level (AGL). Results revealed that as altitude increased, overflight density decreased. Using hot spot clustering analysis, overflight lateral pattern differences were determined for altitudes lower than 2,000 feet AGL compared to altitudes higher than 2,000 feet AGL. This study also identified one primary flight corridor with average altitudes mostly below 2,000 feet AGL. Managers can use these results to inform the development of air tour management plans and monitor compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Millions of people visit US national parks annually to engage in recreational wilderness activities, which can occasionally result in traumatic injuries that require timely, high-level care. However, no study to date has specifically examined timely access to trauma centers from national parks. This study aimed to examine the accessibility of trauma care from national parks by calculating the travel time by ground and air from each park to its nearest trauma center. Using these calculations, the percentage of parks by census region with timely access to a trauma center was determined.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study analyzing travel times by ground and air transport between national parks and their closest adult advanced trauma center (ATC) in 2018. A list of parks was compiled from the National Parks Service (NPS) website, and the location of trauma centers from the 2018 National Emergency Department Inventory (NEDI)-USA database. Ground and air transport times were calculated using Google Maps and ArcGIS, with medians and interquartile ranges reported by US census region. Percentage of parks by region with timely trauma center access-defined as access within 60 minutes of travel time-were determined based on these calculated travel times.Results: In 2018, 83% of national parks had access to an adult ATC within 60 minutes of air travel, while only 26% had timely access by ground. Trauma center access varied by region, with median travel times highest in the West for both air and ground transport. At a national level, national parks were unequally distributed, with the West housing the most parks of all regions.Conclusion: While most national parks had timely access to a trauma center by air travel, significant gaps in access remain for ground, the extent of which varies greatly by region. To improve the accessibility of trauma center expertise from national parks, the study highlights the potential that increased implementation of trauma telehealth in emergency departments (EDs) may have in bridging these gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of China Tourism Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Philanthropic partners have always played a critical role in the management and maintenance of national parks in the U.S. Cultivating strong relationships with the communities of color, particularly African Americans, has been a major challenge for the National Park Service (NPS). As ethnic populations increase in share of the U.S. total population, the lack of diversity in NPS partnerships will be increasingly problematic for national parks funding and stewardship. Building philanthropic partnerships with African American audiences will be critical to the long-term sustainability of the NPS. While philanthropy is present and strong in the Black community, further research is needed to ascertain how the NPS can inspire and sustain philanthropic actions among Black donors in support of national parks. This paper presents an overview of the literature on Black philanthropy and the findings from focus group interviews to understand how African Americans perceive their philanthropy and the ways they connect their giving to national parks. The focus group interviews occurred between February and June 2018 in Raleigh, NC; Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; and Washington, DC. Participants included mostly African American donors who were actively involved in community foundations, philanthropic associations, and giving circles. The study found that Black philanthropy is embedded in the community life; measured not only in money, but also in time and talent; and, driven by race and humanity. Participants also noted that a general lack of awareness as an important reason why they had not considered giving in support of national parks in the past. They suggested that making more visible the Black history of national parks would likely increase African American donors' interests and stewardship. We suggest the NPS broaden its lens in forming strategies for connecting to Black donors (and audiences in general). Findings in this report present unique opportunities for the NPS to cultivate enduring and meaningful relationships with African American communities in support of national parks. Specifically, the NPS should leverage Black philanthropy to build partnerships, recognize the importance of social empowerment, expand cultural memory as part of the NPS visitor experience, and build on the concept of giving circles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores the evolving international relationship of the two national park agencies that in 1968 began to offer joint training classes for protectedarea 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An international group of graduate students utilized the 2021 George Wright Society Student Summit to come together and discuss potential practices to bolster socioenvironmental justice implementation within the United States National Park Service (NPS). Focusing on accessibility and co-management perspectives, this group reflected on various definitions of terms, historical contexts of the Park Service nationally and globally, and how partnerships are essential to inclusivity and relevance building. This led to further discourse about potential methods of incorporating socioenvironmental justice aims into specific areas of NPS by reviewing its current practices and global case studies surrounding accessibility and co-management of protected areas. Major conclusions emphasize streamlining definitions surrounding access, accessibility, and co-management; understanding that co-management is not a monolithic framework but one dependent on local communities; continued recognition of historical exclusions of marginalized peoples; and embracing partnerships by providing stakeholders with equal positions of power, authority, and access. This thought piece aims to catalyze discourse surrounding a potential transition toward more inclusive co-management practices within US protected areas, while still remaining true to the missions and goals of their respective organizations. We recognize and do not intend to discredit any of the work that NPS and other organizations have produced towards improving sustainable co-management strategies, but rather suggest that there is always room for improvement. In doing so, we offer some potential strategies and big picture notions to be mindful of when engaging in socially just comanagement practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change effects are evident across the National Park System, and units are encouraged to provide proactive, meaningful interpretation on the issue to cultivate informed partners and encourage collaborative stewardship. But climate change is not currently interpreted across all units of the National Park System. Anecdotal observations suggest some units highly prioritize the topic, while others do not. Thus, we conducted an assessment of current online climate change interpretation across the National Park System as one means of quantifying park engagement. Results suggest that--of the 391 units included in the analysis--37% interpreted climate change in some manner online as of February, 2019. Though our method of analysis does not fully describe park interpretive efforts, our findings provide a baseline measure of online interpretation and help to prioritize future training and support. Furthermore, our work provides a minimally intensive approach for future assessment of online climate change interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National parks can be dangerous places. Lulled by often ill-informed notions that national parks are cleansed of any hazards and monitored by a ubiquitous staff of rangers, many visitors take unnecessary risks to their personal safety. The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) is tasked with the often-difficult challenge of protecting and preserving the 419 units of the national park system while providing for the comfort and safety of visitors. This article examines the spatial and thematic patterns of danger in national parks through a visual and textual content analysis of park signage and brochures combined with a landscape evaluation. Based on this work, I present examples of park signage and a typology of danger in national parks that is both geographic and thematic. Findings indicate that 1) a more informed understanding of the geographic range and environmental diversity of hazards can help park managers develop signage and increase visitors' geographic literacy of the NPS system. 2) We gain a better sense of the environmental use and management contexts of national parks by focusing on danger signs, their imagery, and site-specific information. This information provides texture to our understanding of changing park service management strategies, prepares visitors to be active participants in their personal risk responsibility, and helps us better understand changing environmental perceptions of U.S. national parks. 3) A spatial, cultural, and social perspective is important as it moves national parks toward a more inclusive experience that welcomes the growing ethnic, social, and cultural diversity of park visitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The racial and ethnic profile of the United States population is shifting rapidly; in particular, the Latinx/Hispanic population is expected to increase by 115% between 2014 and 2060 (Colby & Ortman, 2014). Racial and ethnic minorities have traditionally been underrepresented and underserved in outdoor recreation areas. The National Park Service (NPS) has recently recognized the importance of engaging a diverse range of visitors to ensure that national park units are welcoming places that are available and relevant to all. While leisure scholars have examined minority preferences and barriers to visiting outdoor recreation areas, few have focused on gathering feedback from a minority community about their relationship with a local, culturally significant national park. Furthermore, despite evidence that focus groups are an effective method for engaging minority populations, this field includes little information on how to design and conduct focus groups in a manner that builds rapport with minority communities. The dual focus of this paper contributes to these crucial gaps in the outdoor recreation field. First, it explores the perceptions and understandings of the Latinx/Hispanic community regarding their connection and relationship to Castillo de San Marcos National Monument (CASA). Second, it gives more specific attention to how culturally competent focus groups can be used to engage and gather feedback from Latinx/Hispanic individuals. Participants shared feedback that CASA's role in the Latinx/Hispanic community is limited by perceived exclusion and a lack of outreach from the park, contributing to a lack of knowledge and lack of connection with the Latinx/Hispanic community. Suggestions for improvement included increased representation and engagement at the park, as well as increased outreach and a presence in the community through partnership with organizations, including schools. Throughout the study, key methodological strategies were implemented with a focus on cultural competence, including a combination of flyer and snowball recruitment methods, coordination with respected Latinx/Hispanic community members, and partnership with a local, bilingual Latinx/Hispanic facilitator. As a result, the project fostered respeto (respect), confianza (support and trust), simpatia (positive, respectful interaction), and personalismo (personal engagement) between participants and researchers, ultimately ensuring that participants felt comfortable sharing their impressions of CASA. In order to welcome everyone in our growing and diversifying nation, national park managers should consider using focus groups to gather feedback from their local minority communities. By incorporating elements of cultural competence through focus group design, recruitment and retention, and conduct, and by making genuine attempts to incorporate community representation into park planning and decision-making, park managers can better engage and build long-term relationships with underrepresented communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National parks in the United States experience a significant number of annual visits, and with increasing popularity, injuries are expected to rise. This study aims to assess fatal injuries in the top ten most visited U.S. national parks from 2013 to 2022 to improve current policies and develop effective prevention strategies. A cross-sectional study was conducted using public National Park Service data. Data including visitor demographics, injury cause, and location, were collected. Fatal injuries were categorized by season, age group, and gender. Summer had the highest total number of fatal injuries. The winter season had the highest rate of fatal injuries per 10 million visitors. The number of fatal injuries per 10 million visitors decreased from 2013 to 2022 for most parks. The South Region reported the highest total number of fatalities. The West Region demonstrated higher rates when adjusted for visitor volume. Fatal injuries were most prevalent in the 35–44 age group, followed by the 15–24 and 25–34 age groups, with the least incidents in the 0–14 age group, and were more common among males (71.5 % of total injuries). This study found the highest number of total injuries occurring in summer; however, winter presented a higher risk per visitor. Slips and falls were the most common cause of injuries, requiring targeted safety measures. Males in the 35–44 age group reported the highest fatality rates. These findings highlight the necessity for improved monitoring and reporting to better understand injury causes and formulate specific, evidence-based policies for prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US National Park Service (NPS), which manages over 85 million acres and over 400 units, contends with myriad external drivers of ecosystem change that threaten parks. Stressors such as invasive species, habitat fragmentation, warming climates and rising sea level, raise the potential that parks will not attain or sustain their congressionally designated missions. Using invasive animals as a focal example of such changes, we suggest the NPS consider increasing active management of resources, participating in cooperative ecoregional management, increasing the use of public participation, and using formal decision support tools. We illustrate how these management approaches are currently underused. Acknowledging that invasive species are but one of a suite of problems that are threatening to overwhelm park management capacity we believe that the approaches we outline generalize to myriad problems facing the NPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind Cave National Park (NP) in South Dakota has a long and complex history with local indigenous peoples, including the Lakotas. Wind Cave is the location of the Lakotas' traditional origin story, and is now protected by a park representing a federal government that many indigenous peoples view negatively. The purpose of this exploratory study was to understand the attitudes of Lakotas toward Wind Cave NP and the interpretive stories it shares with visitors. Seventeen in-person interviews were conducted with Lakota people to understand their thoughts and feelings. Content analysis was used to uncover positive and negative themes about the park and various forms of interpretation. Findings indicate that park interpretation should include more Native perspectives, and recommendations are noted. The park should attempt to work more closely with Lakota and other local tribes, and can follow the examples of other National Park Service sites to accomplish these changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017, the US National Park Service faced a nearly $12 billion maintenance backlog. To address this backlog, they announced plans to increase entrance fees in 17 of the most visited parks. As fees are a component of the travel cost, we consider price change effects on demand for park entry. Demand for the 17 parks is shown to be inelastic. Recognizing that spending in gateway communities is complementary to national park visitation, we use Yellowstone National Park as a case study on entrance fee increase effects on gateway communities. We estimate a $3.4 million annual loss in gateway community spending by visitors as a result of reduced visitation by those visitors who choose not to purchase a 7-day pass. Acknowledging the diminishing effect of the fee increase on travel costs, we further explore alternative means of structuring fees based on examples of other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iconic Mount Fuji has symbolized the fragmented state of Japan's 'multi-purpose' national park administration. Although the Ministry of Environment (MOE) is the legal administrator, the national parkland is predominantly owned by the Forestry Agency, with many services provided by local governments. This complex combination can result in stakeholders pitted against each other, but listing as a World Heritage Site (WHS) offers an external incentive toward holistic management. This paper reviews Fuji's 2013 WHS inscription process, analyzing official documents and a series of stakeholder interviews to substantiate claims that it helped catalyze stakeholder collaboration, as demonstrated by a new system of trail signs. A cross-cutting council formed in 2009 issued a set of guidelines aimed at standardization of place names, and the removal of unnecessary or low-quality signs. Subsequently, a simplified system of color-coded signs was introduced along the four climbing trails, epitomizing the new spirit of cooperation. However, more research is needed to verify if the new partnership can extend the collaboration from trail signs to incorporate broader provision of visitor services, and now that the 'carrot' of inscription has been achieved, the multi-stakeholder momentum may be difficult to maintain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since their first appearance in the United States at the end of Nineteenth Century the national parks' rangers have been charged mainly with the task of monitoring the protected areas and preventing environmental crimes. However, over time their functions have expanded under the impact of major changes in socio-cultural context and in protected areas' goals. Among these new functions nature management and monitoring, assistance to scientific research, environmental interpretation and visitors' assistance have gained special importance. Through the oral testimonies of Abruzzo National Park rangers belonging to three generations, the article explores seventy years of ranger's profession changes in an area densely settled and affected by dramatic socio-economic transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National parks include environmentally and historically important areas of America that are to be both preserved and enjoyed by the public. Moreover, national parks are a manifestation of American democracy and should be accessible to all Americans. Transportation is an important component of national park planning and management; transportation serves as a means of access to national parks, and also provides a range of transportation settings that offer diverse recreational opportunities. This study adapts the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS), a longstanding conceptual framework in parks and outdoor recreation, to management of transportation in national parks in the form of a Transportation Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (T-ROS). On-site visitor surveys were conducted in five National Park Service units ranging from urban to rural recreation settings to identify transportation-related indicators of quality, a vital component of the ROS and proposed T-ROS frameworks. Indicators are measurable, manageable variables that are proxies for management objectives. Indicators were identified for three important contexts of transportation in national parks. The first context was mode of transportation; national parks offer a wide variety of modes of transportation, and indicators are likely to vary across these types of transportation. Driving through national parks is supported by a system of iconic roads that connect many of the parks' scenic features. However, visitors increasingly experience national parks on public transit and along bikeways. The second context was type of park. There are more than 400 units of the national park system, and these areas vary across a spectrum from rural to urban; transportation-related indicators may vary across this spectrum of parks. The third context was race/ethnicity of visitors. Visitors to national parks vary in many ways, including their race and ethnicity. Minority racial/ethnic groups have been historically underrepresented in the national parks. This suggests that it is important to explore how transportation-related indicators might vary across racial/ethnic groups as a way to encourage more diverse visitors to the national parks and advance the democratic ideal of the national park system. Study findings identify a number of transportation-related indicators that can be used to build a T-ROS system. Findings also suggest that these indicators often vary across mode of transportation, type of park, and race/ethnicity of park visitors. Based on these findings, a T-ROS conceptual framework is proposed. Study results extend the ROS framework to transportation-related recreation opportunities, provide quantitative measures of the diversity of transportation-related recreation experiences, and strengthen the linkage between transportation and recreation for racial/ethnic minority groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following its 2013 Green Park Plan, the US National Park Service (NPS) has sought to achieve more sustainable operations at park level. However, a history of top-down governance, research aversion, contentious community relationships, and a move towards neoliberal governance has created numerous challenges to operationalising the sustainability agenda. Using comparative case study methodology, this paper approaches sustainability through a five-pillar framework that incorporates the economy, environment, society, good governance and sound science. Data from three very different parks, and from the newly formed Division of Climate Change and Sustainability at Park Headquarters, is presented. Using the National Mall in Washington, DC, Shenandoah in Virginia, and Big Bend in Texas, the paper highlights many successful sustainability initiatives. A number of serious problems remain, however, including lack of funding, the slow working budget cycle, the need for inter-park knowledge sharing, the need for behavioural change at both national and local management levels, issues surrounding the “whiteness” of the visitor mix, and the nature of park visitation, where driving remains the primary transportation mode. Overall, neo-liberalism is placing increased emphasis on concessionaires to encourage sustainable operations, distancing NPS from its core visitor base and encouraging rising visitation levels with their associated impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article uses Catoctin Mountain Park as a case study to chart the evolution of social policy on a national park landscape. It places these changes in the larger context of economic, social, and land use policies throughout the twentieth century. These policies and programs often created complicated relationships between the park and certain groups. It is essential for the National Park Service to understand these complexities in order for it to be a good steward of the agency's own history and provide new opportunities for visitor engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this Special Feature, we celebrate 100 years of National Park Service science by highlighting contributions from the agency's Inventory and Monitoring Division. This broad body of work coalesces into several themes, including the role of protected areas in understanding rapid global change and the growing interest in place-based ecological insights that contextualize scientific information from protected areas across broader scales. Finally, we illustrate progress on the long-sought integration of science into the resource management strategies implemented within "America's Best Idea," now more important than ever given the many challenges our nation's parks face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If the White majority becomes a minority population in the United States by 2050, as predicted, this shift might result in a dilemma for the National Park Service (NPS) because Caucasians have provided the mainstay of agency support over the past century. According to published reports, recommendations to improve park awareness and relevance for underserved groups are being addressed by the National Parks Conservation Association. Although Asians are one of the fastest growing minorities in the U.S., they are infrequent NPS visitors. One possible explanation is language barriers, compounded by English-only websites and printed material. A service-quality test using a Chinese confederate was designed to examine some performance measures. Of the 370 national parks queried, less than 18% had any information for Chinese visitors. Some managerial implications for Asian inclusiveness are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. National Park Service has embarked on a new campaign to address climate change. This directive includes new programs to encourage visitors to change their behaviors once they return home. By becoming involved in issues that go beyond park boundaries, these changes mark a shift in how the National Park Service fulfills its mission. This article explores how these efforts evolved and the possible implications to the visitors being exposed to a new message. Visitors were surveyed in Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. The results revealed that the majority of those surveyed support these new efforts by the National Park Service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The controversial elk reduction program (elk hunt) in Grand Teton National Park, WY, has been a source of conflict since it was legislated in 1950. The hunt is jointly managed by the National Park Service and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. This forced organizational partnership and the conflicting mandates of these two agencies have led to persistent conflict that seems irresolvable under the current decision-making process. To better understand the decision-making process and participant perspectives, we reviewed management documents, technical literature, and newspaper articles, and interviewed 35 key participants in this case. We used these data to analyze and appraise the adequacy of the decision-making process for the park elk hunt and to ask whether it reflects the common interest. We found deficiencies in all functions of the decision-making process. Neither the decisions made nor the process itself include diverse perspectives, nor do they attend to valid and appropriate participant concerns. Agency officials focus their attention on technical rather than procedural concerns, which largely obfuscates the underlying tension in the joint inter-jurisdictional management arrangement and ultimately contributes to the hunt's annual implementation to the detriment of the common interest. We offer specific yet widely applicable recommendations to better approximate an inclusive and democratic decision-making process that serves the community's common interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Alternative transportation affects environmental, social, and economic conditions. • We document known effects reported within the peer-reviewed and grey literature. • We identify and describe secondary consequences and trade-offs. • The review yields a thorough understanding of alternative transportation in parks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public agencies sometimes seek outside guidance when capacity to achieve their mission is limited. Through a cooperative agreement and collaborations with the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), we developed recommendations for a conservation program for migratory species. Although NPS manages ∼36 million hectares of land and water in 401 units, there is no centralized program to conserve wild animals reliant on NPS units that also migrate hundreds to thousands of kilometers beyond parks. Migrations are imperiled by habitat destruction, unsustainable harvest, climate change, and other impediments. A successful program to counter these challenges requires public support, national and international outreach, and flourishing migrant populations. We recommended two initial steps. First, in the short term, launch or build on a suite of projects for high-profile migratory species that can serve as proof to demonstrate the centrality of NPS units to conservation at different scales. Second, over the longer term, build new capacity to conserve migratory species. Capacity building will entail increasing the limited knowledge among park staff about how and where species or populations migrate, conditions that enable migration, and identifying species' needs and resolving them both within and beyond parks. Building capacity will also require ensuring that park superintendents and staff at all levels support conservation beyond statutory borders. Until additional diverse stakeholders and a broader American public realize what can be lost and do more to protect it and engage more with land management agencies to implement actions that facilitate conservation, long distance migrations are increasingly likely to become phenomena of the past. Optimismo y Retos para la Conservación Científicamente Basada de Especies Migratorias Dentro y Fuera de Parques Nacionales de E.U.A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Outdoor recreation is growing in the United States, with more than 279 million annual visitors to areas controlled by the National Park Service (NPS). Emergency medical needs in these parks are overseen by the National Park's rangers within the NPS Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system. This study examines medical and traumatic emergencies throughout the NPS over a 5-year period to better understand the types of events and fatalities rangers encounter, both regionally and on a national scale. Methods: This is a retrospective review of the annual EMS reports published by the 7 NPS regions from 2007 to 2011. The following were compared and examined at a regional and national level: medical versus traumatic versus first aid events, cardiac events and outcomes, use of automated external defibrillators, and medical versus traumatic fatalities. Results: The national incidence of EMS events was 45.9 events per 1 million visitors. Medical, traumatic, and first aid events composed 29%, 28%, and 43% of reports, respectively. Of medical episodes, 1.8% were cardiac arrests, of which 64.2% received automated external defibrillator treatment; 29.1% of cardiac arrests survived to hospital discharge. Of fatalities, 61.4% were traumatic in nature and the remaining 38.5% were nontraumatic (medical). Regional differences were found for all variables. Conclusions: On a national level, the NPS experiences an equal number of medical and traumatic EMS events. This differs from past observed trends that reported a higher incidence of traumatic events than medical events in wilderness settings. Cardiac events and automated external defibrillator usage are relatively infrequent. Traumatic fatalities are more common than medical fatalities in the NPS. Regional variations in events likely reflect differences in terrain, common activities, proximity to urban areas, and access to definitive care between regions. These data can assist the NPS in targeting the regions with the greatest number of incidents and fatalities for prevention, ranger training, and visitor education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Park Service (NPS) and other land management agencies have interest in managing bison herds under "natural" conditions; yet demographic features of natural populations are not well described. One solution to this issue involves the analysis of historical bison (Bison spp.) jump data. We conducted a literature search of archeological data associated with bison jump sites in North America with the goal of analyzing the data and summarizing historical bison demographics. We identified six locations with adequate information to conduct vertical life-table analyses. Two of the six were Bison antiques, two were Bison occidentalis, and the final two were Bison bison. In five of six analyses, a common annual survival parameter was estimated across all age classes. The most robust data set came from Wardell, Wyoming, where age-class-specific survival parameters best described the data. Average annual survival for the same age classes across all six sites was 5 = 0.7344. These estimates are substantially lower than annual survival estimates of contemporary bison herds. The lower survival estimates produced an estimated finite rate of population change for Pre-Columbian B. bison of t = 1 075 compared to contemporary populations that are about 9% higher. Natural Pre-Columbian B. bison populations had a much lower growth potential than contemporary populations due to pressures from apex predators, which are no longer present in current populations. Managers of natural areas interested in maintaining natural bison populations can use our results to help guide culling and other management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assessed American black bear (Ursus americanus) harvest trends, generally, and black bear harvest over bait, specifically, in Alaska from 1992 to 2010 at 3 spatial scales: statewide, on drainages adjacent to and including National Park Service (NPS) units, and on NPS lands. Statewide, black bear reported harvest increased by an average of 93 bears/year, and harvest over bait increased by an average of 21 bears/year over this period. Harvest over bait increased by 4.3% (SE = 4.3) annually, and harvest by other methods increased by 3.9%/year (SE = 3.1). The proportion of females harvested over bait was 30.9% compared to 26.4% by other methods. Harvest increased around Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, while other units and adjacent lands had stable or decreasing harvest rates. Few bears were harvested using bait on NPS units (≤37 bears; <2 bears/year) with ≤34 (91.9%) of these bears harvested in Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Only 3 bears were harvested over bait by rural Alaska residents from NPS lands from 1992 to 2010. Thus, little to no population-level effects arose from the practice of bear baiting on NPS lands. Rather, the complexity surrounding the practice of bear baiting is centered on the management goals of minimizing food-conditioning of bears, fostering public safety, preventing defense of life and property killing of individual bears, and maintaining natural processes and behaviors. We recommend application of the formal field of conservation ethics and argument analysis as one path forward in assessing policy on bear baiting on Alaskan NPS units and recommend that the issue of harvesting bears over bait on NPS lands not be falsely characterized as a conservation or population management issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a vascular plant inventory of six National Park Service units in southwestern and south-central Alaska to establish baseline floristic information and identify species of conservation concern. Between 1998 and 2005, we collected 815 taxa, the majority of which were new records for one or more park units. We present descriptions of the rare taxa (Alaska Natural Heritage Program S1-S3 ranks) collected as part of the National Park Service inventories, as well as new collections that represent significant range extensions. Of the 45 taxa reported here, all but one are considered globally rare or rare within Alaska. Collections of six taxa, including the common species, represent range extensions of greater than 450 km, and collections of an additional 16 taxa were minor range extensions (> 150 km, < 450 km). We include brief synopses of the vouchers, including general notes on the biogeography and rarity of these taxa. These and previous collections support the demarcation of southwestern Alaska as an important zone of floristic convergence. The central Alaska Range also represents a unique assemblage of boreal and maritime-associated taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The National Park Service (NPS) in the United States of America (USA) is looking to alternative transportation systems to provide visitors access to the national parks in a manner that potentially reduces traffic congestion, enhances visitors’ experiences, and more effectively protects park resources. However, shuttle bus systems without adequate planning and management may lead to unintended consequences such as eliminating the constraint to visitor use levels associated with parking lot capacities. As a consequence, the demand for recreation use in the area increases the potential impacts to the visitor experience and park resources. This study examined the trade-offs Rocky Mountain National Park visitors were willing to make about transportation mode choice using a stated choice survey to inform park managers about visitor acceptance of potential transportation related management actions. Results indicate that visitors prefer to use their private vehicles over the parks transit system but are willing to make trade-offs to ride the shuttle bus in order to avoid crowding along the trail at Bear Lake and vehicle traffic along the Bear Lake Road. In addition, there were statistically significant differences among choices of transportation mode trade-offs among different age groups (i.e., less than 40years of age, 40–60years of age, and more than 60years of age) Specifically, results suggest that visitors less than 40years are more willing than the older age groups to make trade-offs among transportation options to enhance their chances of being on the trail system at Bear Lake with fewer other people. The significant and interacted relationships with shuttle bus use, visitor use, and vehicle traffic levels found in this study provide RMNP managers opportunities to influence visitors’ transportation mode choices. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The release of Ken Bums's documentary on the national parks is to be celebrated for bringing national attention to the field of environmental history. Yet for all the movie's strengths, Burns only partially engaged two concepts central to contemporary environmental history: social difference and the cultural construction of nature. As a result, the series devoted less attention than it might have to such important issues as the removal of Native Americans from the national parks and to the ways nature in the parks has changed over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We take for granted many of the programs and activities that have become a part of the national park experience, both for visitors and for employees. But what are the legal authorities for carrying out these park management operations? What permission do we have to protect natural or cultural resources; or to insist that visitors behave in certain ways; or to provide interpretation and education programs; or to provide and maintain facilities? In truth, the answer is a complex bundle of authorities, some of which are ambiguous and some are obscure. Fortunately, the guidance needed for carrying out most of the traditional, routine responsibilities that we've become accustomed to has been condensed into a relatively straight-forward set of policies and guidelines. Even so, we are seeing a disturbing trend of decisions being made at the park level that are inconsistent with law or policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 1980 to 2000, Page Putnam Miller headed the National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History (NCC) and served as the liaison between the federal government and the NCC's member associations. Beginning in 1995, her electronic newsletter, NCC Washington Update, kept historians informed about developments in the legislative, judicial, and executive branches and rallied their support behind such pressing issues as freedom of information, an independent National Archives, and the preservation of historical sites in the national parks. She reflected on the personal experiences that she brought to the job, and the challenges that she faced, in an interview with Donald A. Ritchie on December 22, 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although previous research has documented differences between local and non-local visitors, the differences in the information sources referenced when planning trips have not been assessed in published studies. Differences in the sources used by local and non-local visitors to National Park Service Civil War conflict sites were examined, as were differences in ages and visitation characteristics. Although the vast majority of respondents had gathered information about the sites prior to visiting, differences existed in the type of sources used in general, sources used by locals as opposed to non-locals and sources used by visitors of different ages. Locals were more likely to be younger and to use past experience and the advice of acquaintances, whereas non-locals were more likely to be older and use impersonal sources. The results from this study can be used to target certain geographic or demographic populations with site information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the way in which the National Park Service (NPS) resisted demands for the consumptive use of park resources during World War 11 primarily through the use of carefully crafted arguments and powerful rhetoric, but also by enlisting the support of conservation groups and adopting compromise measures. These compromise measures allowed the military to use the parks for recreation, rehabilitation, training, and maneuvers, and in a few instances authorize some exploitive use of parks by timber, mining, and farming interests when necessary. Faced with wartime demands, the NPS was forced to articulate its purpose and mission as never before. As NPS leaders articulated their arguments, they developed and publicized several major themes: that park values were a valuable resource; that the NPS had a trust responsibility to protect the parks; and that the parks represented the restorative mad inspirational power of nature. Its vigorous campaign in defense of park values and resources, along with the willingness to compromise, played an important role in ensuring the preservation of irreplaceable park resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Park Service (NPS) established Exotic Plant Management Teams (EPMT) in 2000 to provide a ‘first response’ program for dealing with exotic plant invasions in the National Parks. Three teams work at NPS units in the southeastern United States and the Caribbean, with a total of 16 operating in the nation. These three EPMTs serve 37 park units that cover a total of 1.5 million hectares. The EPMTs augment existing exotic plant control efforts with inventory and monitoring, control, education, and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Park Service (NPS) is increasingly focusing on alternative transportation systems in national parks to address environmental and social problems arising from a historical reliance on personal automobiles as the primary means of visitor access. Despite the potential advantages, alternative transportation may require a reorientation in the way that Americans have experienced national parks since the advent of auto-tourism in the early twentieth century. Little research exists, however, on visitor perspectives towards alternative transportation or the rationale underlying their perspectives. It remains unclear how transportation systems affect visitors’ experiences of the park landscape or the factors influencing their travel behavior in the parks. This report presents an interpretive study of visitor perspectives toward transportation management in the Yosemite Valley area of Yosemite National Park, California. Qualitative analysis of 160 semi-structured interviews identified individual psychological factors as well as situational influences that affect visitors’ behavior and perspectives. Individual psychological factors include perceived freedom, environmental values and beliefs, prior experience with Yosemite National Park and other national parks, prior experience with alternative transportation in national parks, and sensitivity to subjective perceptions of crowding. Situational factors included convenience, access, and flexibility of travel modes, as well as type of visit, type of group, and park use level. Interpretive communication designed to encourage voluntary visitor use of alternative transportation should focus on these psychological and situational factors. Although challenges remain, the results of this study suggest approaches for shaping the way Americans visit and experience their national parks to encourage environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]