Invasive animals in U. S. national parks: By a science panel

Redford, Kent; Campbell, Karl; Dayer, Ashley; Dickman, Chris; Epanchin-Niell, Rebecca; Grosholz, Ted; Hallac, Dave; Richardson, Leslie; Schwartz, Mark

The national parks of the United States of America are a national and global treasure. They conserve natural and cultural resources that are an irreplaceable part of the national fabric. Unfortunately, they are also under threat on a variety of fronts including invasive animals. Over half of all U.S. national parks report the presence of invasive animal species from freshwater mussels to feral cats. The National Invasive Species Council (NISC) defines invasive species as those that are: “1) non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and 2) whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.” The threat caused by invasive animals has long been acknowledged by the National Park Service (NPS). There have been park-specific actions taken, some highly effective, but overall there has been no strategic, coordinated servicewide action taken in regards to invasive animals. Of nearly 1,500 reported populations of invasive animals in national parks, only a small percentage can be considered under some form of management, be it eradication, containment, or control. Further, these invasive populations are demonstrably obstructing national parks from fulfilling their mission. This trend is expected to not only continue, but to increase when accelerated by other growing impacts such as fragmentation, climate change, and other environmental changes. Despite wide-ranging impacts from invasive animals that affect almost every NPS unit with land and water to manage, NPS has not yet developed a servicewide organizational approach for their management.i A piecemeal approach needs to be replaced with a strategic approach to effectively manage invasive species within parks or in collaboration with conservation partners on adjacent lands or waters and across the greater landscape. In 2017, commissioned by the NPS Chief of Biological Resources Division (BRD) of the National Park Service, the NPS convened a Science Panel (Panel) to evaluate the extent of the problem of invasive animal species, assess management needs, review best practices, and assess potential organizational models that could serve as a servicewide organizational framework. The Panel (appendix A) was requested to pay particular attention to innovative and creative approaches including, but not limited to, new genomic tools. Meeting through the first half of 2017, the Panel report is based on a variety of inputs including an extensive literature search, the experience of the Panel members, a series of commissioned presentations prior to the 2017 George Wright Society meetings (appendix B), and a report commissioned by BRD, Invasive Animals in the National Park Service: Biodiversity Under Siege Report. The latter report is based on information collected from NPS units under the terms of the Government Performance and Results Act which summarizes data from 327 of the 404 parks queried. Data from this document were supplemented by a set of case studies solicited from individual parks and data provided by BRD. The Panel identified six key findings, each with a set of specific findings. These are listed below and discussed in detail in the body of the report.

Invasive animals in U. S. national parks: By a science panel

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