Natural resource condition assessments for George Washington Birthplace National Monument and Thomas Stone National Historic Site

Nelson, Stacey; Devine, Hugh; Hartis, Brett; Hain, Earnie; Slocumb, William

The goal of this project was to develop a customized, GIS-based, natural resource condition assessment models for George Washington Birthplace National Monument (GEWA) and Thomas Stone National Historic Site (THST). This report explains the development of the natural resource condition assessment models, the spatial analysis approach, ecological criteria, and plans for continued development. The assessment models for both parks focus on utilizing existing data, as well as the data relationship to sub-basins or catchment areas located entirely or partially within each park. The intent is to thoroughly examine the watersheds which drain within and across the boundaries of each park. Currently, the smallest watershed cataloguing units available from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for both parks are 14-digit hydrologic unit codes (HUCs). However, finer sub-catchment scales would increase the potential for the parks to work with cooperators, decision-makers, and the local community on issues of mutual concern to protect within-park watershed resources. For the greatest utility to the park, natural resource condition assessments should help define the decision-making framework that affects the small watersheds within each park as this provides an environmentally manageable level in which the parks can be most effective in addressing resource stressors. Data for GEWA and THST were compiled and organized into an ESRI enterprise geodatabase. The existing digital spatial data for GEWA were originally compiled as part of the synthesis of natural resource information for the park (Blank et.al. 2007). This database included spatial datasets developed for the National Park Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring Program’s Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network, NPS Northeast Region geographic information system (GIS) files, data from the Conservation Fund’s GEWA Community Profile, current demographic information, and datasets developed by the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP). Existing digital spatial data for THST were compiled from the GEWA database, which includes several THST data layers, as well as data from the Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network website. Additional elevation and land use/land cover data for both parks were collected from the United States Geological Survey, as well as from additional local, state, federal, and private agencies. The natural resource condition assessment models for GEWA and THST were designed to evaluate resource conditions based on data-supported landscape, biotic, and chemical/physical characteristics. The assessment models were additionally designed as an ESRI ArcGIS extension, with a user-friendly interface that provides the ability to handle new inputs and variations of parameters. Furthermore, the models were designed with the capacity to be applied to other parks or datasets if necessary.

Natural resource condition assessments for George Washington Birthplace National Monument and Thomas Stone National Historic Site

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