Digitization of ORV tracks in five Arctic parklands and photo assessment of status in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve: 2017 summary report
Hampton-Miller CJ and Neitlich P. 2022. Digitization of ORV tracks in five Arctic parklands and photo assessment of status in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve: 2017 summary report. Natural Resource Report. NPS/BELA/NRR—2022/2487. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2295367
No off-road vehicle (ORV) use except snowmachine travel over adequate snow cover is currently permitted in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve. However, ORV tracks pre-dating the establishment of the preserve exist in many locations. and snowmachine tracks exist throughout the five Arctic National Park Service units; Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (BELA), Cape Krusenstern National Monument (CAKR), Kobuk Valley National Park (KOVA), Noatak National Preserve (NOAT) and Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve (GAAR). The word ‘track’ in this document describes detectable evidence, such as a wheel ruts, that something has passed or was driven through an area. To document the extent of such tracks, linear features in each park were digitized and categorized when visible from high-resolution satellite imagery. This effort found the most extensive tracks in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (BELA). A ground-truthing effort was undertaken to assess the condition of these tracks. Outside of the active Deering to Taylor and Serpentine winter routes, which are permitted for snowmachine use under the BELA General Management Plan, most of the tracks in BELA are inactive historic tracks associated with mining. Extensive fanning is present along the Deering to Taylor winter route, but it is unclear when this damage occurred, and whether it was cause by ORV use, or snowmachine use in inadequate snow. We recommend repeat digitization of track extent from satellite imagery in the future to monitor the status of snowmachine and ORV tracks in the parks.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Hampton-Miller, Celia; Neitlich, Peter
- Date of Issue
- 2022-12
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/2295367
- Units
- ARCN , BELA , NRSS
- Keywords
- digitization, ORV, snowmachine, snowmobile