Grand Canyon wilderness character narrative and baseline monitoring assessment: Building blocks for wilderness stewardship
Nickel T. 2019. Grand Canyon wilderness character narrative and baseline monitoring assessment: Building blocks for wilderness stewardship. Natural Resource Report. NPS/GRCA/NRR—2019/2003. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
The central legislative mandate of the Wilderness Act of 1964 is to preserve the wilderness character of protected areas included in the National Wilderness Preservation System. This mandate has been affirmed in National Park Service policy, which also extends this level of protection to areas that have been proposed for wilderness designation until the legislative process has been completed. Administrative boundaries alone are insufficient to protect wilderness character. The only way to know whether the wilderness character of an area is preserved is to systematically monitor it. This report is the baseline assessment of wilderness character for the Grand Canyon proposed and proposed potential wilderness. The intent of this assessment is to develop an understanding of the key features of wilderness character at Grand Canyon National Park and to provide a framework to understand how wilderness character changes over time. This assessment contains two principal aspects: 1) a qualitative Wilderness Character Narrative, which describes the unique and often-intangible values of the Grand Canyon wilderness, and 2) a quantitative Baseline Monitoring Assessment, which offers specific data-based measures of wilderness character and establishes a protocol that will be used to monitor change in wilderness character at Grand Canyon National Park far into the future. Together, the Wilderness Character Narrative and Baseline Monitoring Assessment form the Building Blocks for Wilderness Stewardship. They provide a holistic understanding of wilderness character in the Grand Canyon wilderness and demonstrate what sets this special place apart from other public lands and wilderness areas across the nation. This report fulfills two parts of the directive in NPS Director’s Order 41 which states 1) “wilderness parks should develop a wilderness character narrative which describes what is unique and special about a specific wilderness” and 2) “wilderness parks will conduct a wilderness character assessment, which includes identifying what should be measured, establishing baseline data, and conducting ongoing monitoring of trends.” Additionally, this document is intended to fulfill the Keeping It Wild in the National Park Service (2014) recommendation that encourages every park with wilderness resources “to identify any immediate concerns in wilderness, and to inform managers and the public about the current status of wilderness character.” This report is intended to serve as a standalone document that outlines a framework and monitoring protocol for ongoing wilderness character monitoring at Grand Canyon National Park, which should occur every five years. This report is also intended to serve as a foundation document to support the process of developing a Wilderness Stewardship Plan at Grand Canyon National Park. Finally, this report seeks to empower land managers with the knowledge needed to make carefully-weighted wilderness stewardship decisions that respect and preserve the wilderness character of Grand Canyon for generations to come.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Nickel, Tobias
- Date of Issue
- 2019-09
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- GRCA , NRSS
- Keywords
- Adaptive Management, Grand Canyon National Park, Monitoring, Natural, Opportunities for Solitude or Primitive and Unconfined Recreation, Resource Management, Undeveloped, Untrammeled, Wilderness, Wilderness Act of 1964, Wilderness Character, Wilderness Stewardship
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Subsurface Geologic Processes | Cave/Karst Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Invasive Species | Invasive/Exotic plants , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Invasive Species | Invasive/Exotic animals , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Riparian Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Desert Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Vegetation Complex , Ecological Framework: Human Use | Visitor and Recreation Use | Visitor Use , Ecological Framework: Human Use | Cultural Landscapes | Cultural Landscapes , Ecological Framework: Landscapes | Fire and Fuel Dynamics | Fire and Fuel Dynamics , Ecological Framework: Landscapes | Soundscape | Soundscape , Ecological Framework: Landscapes | Viewscape | Viewscape/Dark Night Sky