Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument: Natural resource condition assessment

Baril, Lisa; Struthers, Kimberly; Hubbard, Andy; Mateljak, Anna; Angell, Deborah; Brunson, Mark

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 Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (NM) began with an initial project scoping in 2010 as a collaborative effort between the national monument staff, the NPS Sonoran Desert Inventory and Monitoring Network (SODN) staff, NPS Intermountain Region, and the Sonoran Institute. Nine focal resources were selected for condition assessment reporting, and in 2017, Utah State University was added as a partner to complete the monument’s NRCA report. Gila Cliff Dwellings was established as a national monument in 1907 because of the cliff dwellings “. . . exceptional scientific and educational interest, and being the best representative of the Cliff-Dwellers’ remains of that region.” In addition to the cultural resources, the monument’s natural resources, including a portion of the Gila River, and diverse assemblages of vegetation, mammals birds, amphibians, and reptiles, offer outstanding opportunities for scientific inquiry and interpreting the relationship between the long history of human habitation and the area’s environment. The monument’s nine natural resources evaluated for current conditions were grouped into three broad categories: landscapes (i.e., air quality), supporting environment (i.e., hydrology and water quality), and biological integrity (i.e., vegetation and wildlife topics). The majority of resources were found to be in good condition except for air quality, herpetofauna, and fish, which were evaluated as of moderate concern. Like many national parks throughout the United States, the resource conditions at Gila Cliff Dwellings are vulnerable to stressors far beyond its borders, such as warming temperatures and variable and intense precipitation events. But overall, the monument’s natural resources are well protected due to its isolation and proximity to the U.S. Forest Service’s Gila National Forest. The forest surrounds the monument and offers outstanding partnership opportunities for managing resources in ways that can help achieve shared conservation goals.

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument: Natural resource condition assessment

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