Annual administrative report (FY 2016) and work plan (FY 2017) for inventories and Vital Signs monitoring: South Florida / Caribbean Network
National Park Service South Florida/Caribbean Network. 2023. Annual administrative report (FY 2016) and work plan (FY 2017) for inventories and Vital Signs monitoring: South Florida / Caribbean Network. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
The Annual Administrative Report and Workplan summarizes the activities of the National Park Service South Florida / Caribbean Network for FY16 and projected workplan for FY17. The South Florida/Caribbean Network (SFCN) supported 7 parks and utilized a staff of 19 and an annual budget of $1,741,931 for FY16. The seven national parks contain significant and diverse natural resources in south Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands of St. Croix and St. John and include: Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY), Biscayne National Park (BISC), Buck Island Reef National Monument (BUIS), Dry Tortugas National Park (DRTO), Everglades National Park (EVER), Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve (SARI), and Virgin Islands National Park (VIIS). Additionally, Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument (VICR) has requested membership in the network and we are awaiting funding to support this addition. The Network offices in Palmetto Bay offer direct access to 3 Parks in south Florida (EVER/BICY/BISC) and modest travel to the Caribbean Islands (VIIS/BUIS/SARI). The Dry Tortugas are located 75 miles west of Key West and are administratively managed by a Park Manager stationed at EVER. Network staff support the inventory and monitoring needs of the Parks through four essential teams; Marine, Community Ecology, Vegetation Mapping, and Data Management. Administrative support includes an administrative assistant stationed at Palmetto Bay, Florida and a shared Southeast Region I&M Division program support specialist stationed in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2016 we completed annual monitoring for several Vital Signs protocols in our network, including fish, benthic habitats, colonial nesting birds, invasive plants, and soil elevation table (SET). Inventory efforts were focused on a large-scale effort to map vegetation in EVER and BICY. In addition, staff conducted pilot work for monitoring aquatic invertebrates (BICY) and participated in collaborative training with other SER I&M Networks for amphibian, seagrass, and forest vegetation monitoring; these efforts will help staff complete protocols for these vital signs. In FY17 the SFCN plans to accomplish the items summarized within Table 1 and in the more detailed “Planned Activities” section of the FY17 SFCN Work Plan. The focus is on completing SFCN core protocols before the 2017 deadlines. The Network Program manager position is currently vacant, and is being filled initially by Andrea Atkinson via an Acting Program Manager detail assignment. We will be hiring a SFCN Program Manager, an Assistant Data Manager, a Vegetation Map Project Manager, Vegetation Map Lead Photointerpreter, and a Vegetation Map Photointerpreter technician. GS-9 developmental details for four staff will continue through August. Work is continuing on the EVER/BICY Vegetation Inventory products and we are continuing to collaborate with the US Army Corps of Engineers on this project. We plan to bring in an additional Marine Intern in June 2017.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- National Park Service South Florida/Caribbean Network
- Date of Issue
- 2023
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- BISC , BUIS , DRTO , EVER , SARI , SFCN , VIIS
- Keywords
- AARWP, Annual Administrative Report, Annual Report, Big Cypress, Biscayne, Buck Island, Dry Tortugas, everglades, Salt River Bay, SFCN, South Florida / Caribbean Network, South Florida Caribbean Network, Virgin Islands, Work Plan