Exotic Plant Management Team (EPMT) at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

Park Ecologist; Park EPMT Lead Technician

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve (WRST) is the largest U.S. National Park encompassing 13 million acres (a bit bigger then Switzerland). In conjunction with Kluane National Park and Provincial Park Tatshenshini-Alsek in Canada, and Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in the U.S. it forms a World Heritage Site containing one of the largest protected ecosystems on the planet. Two roads, numerous off-road vehicle trails, and 16 maintained backcountry landing strips provide access to the Park/Preserve but the majority of it remains inaccessible to all but foot traffic. Existing roads, trails, and airstrips are the primary vectors for invasive plants in the park. Human disturbed areas such as landing strips and abandoned home and mining sites offer a welcome home to invasive plants. In-holders in the Park/Preserve grow non-native plants for food and ornamental value, and sometimes these plants escape cultivation and move onto public lands. Although the majority of these escapees lack the characteristics that define an invasive plant, a few are true menaces, outcompeting native vegetation. Some of these in-holders graze pack animals that survive the winter via supplemental feed flown in from park borderlands. Weed free forage is not widely available and these animals spread weeds through their feces as they wander freely on park lands. These weeds take advantage of non-human disturbances, such as changing streambeds, de-glaciation, mudslides, and other natural events and there are likely pockets of weeds that go undiscovered in the vast lands that are Wrangell-St. Elias. 1nvasive plant species are a concern to resource managers because they threaten the genetic integrity of native flora through hybridization, can out-compete resident plant species for limited resources, can change the structure and function of ecosystems through alterations of geochemical and geophysical processes, and can impact fish and wildlife habitat. From 2000-2004 baseline surveys were conducted for exotic plants on Alaska NPS lands. In 2003 the Alaska EPMT was established and WRST first obtained funding for a seasonal specific to the EPMT program in 2005. As of 2011 a term position was co-funded by the park and the regional office to lead the park EPMT and help with regional data management .

Exotic Plant Management Team (EPMT) at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

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