Golden Spike National Historic Site: Natural resource condition assessment
Baril L, Struthers K, Brunson M. 2018. Golden Spike National Historic Site: Natural resource condition assessment. Natural Resource Report. NPS/NCPN/NRR—2018/1777. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
The Natural Resource Condition Assessment (NRCA) Program, administered by the National Park Service’s (NPS) Water Resources Division, provides a multidisciplinary synthesis of existing scientific data and knowledge about current conditions of important national park natural resources through the development of a park-specific report. The NRCA process for Golden Spike National Historic Site (NHS) began with two conference calls with staff from the historic site, NPS Intermountain Region Office, and Utah State University. Golden Spike was established as a national historic site (NHS) in 1965 to “serve as a national memorial commemorating the completion of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States” through the joining of the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad (NPS 2017a). Ten of the NHS’s natural resources, grouped into three broad categories, were selected for current condition assessment reporting. The categories included landscapes, air and climate, and biological integrity, (i.e., wildlife and vegetation resources). The historic site’s viewsheds were evaluated and found to be in good condition. The condition of night sky was of moderate concern, and the conditions of the remaining natural resources evaluated were either of significant concern or unknown due to lack of current data.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Baril, Lisa; Struthers, Kimberly; Brunson, Mark
- Date of Issue
- 2018-10
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- GOSP , NRSS , WRD
- Keywords
- air quality, birds, herpetofauna, mammals, natural resource condition assessment, night sky, non-native invasive plants, NRCA, Passey’s onion, soundscape, vegetation communities, viewshed