Resource Stewardship Strategy Summary Bandelier National Monument New Mexico

National Park Service

A resource stewardship strategy (RSS) is a strategic plan, intended to help park managers achieve and maintain desired resource conditions over time (see NPS Management Policies 2006 [§2.3.2]). As part of a park’s planning portfolio, a resource stewardship strategy serves as a bridge between the park’s foundation document, other plans, and everyday management of its natural and cultural resources. More specifically, a resource stewardship strategy is a dynamic planning tool used to set stewardship goals and track progress in achieving and maintaining desired natural and cultural resource conditions. All resource stewardship goals and activities should be based on science, law, NPS management policies, and the long-term public interest. Essentially, a resource stewardship strategy establishes a framework and a coordinated process for 1. evaluating and summarizing existing information about priority park resources (including key issues, stressors, and threats), 2. using science and scholarship to establish stewardship goals for priority resources, 3. integrating natural and cultural resource management to achieve stewardship goals, and 4. determining what stewardship activities are needed to get us “from where we are to where we want to be.” This information provides a basis for making informed resource management decisions for specific project proposals and for developing and revising annual work plans over time. A resource stewardship strategy is not a static document or one-time effort. Rather, it is a dynamic framework that should be routinely updated as conditions change; new issues, stressors, or threats are identified; and activities are accomplished. A resource stewardship strategy is reviewed by NPS subject-matter experts and decision makers; however, it is not a publicly reviewed decision document. The RSS process also provides an opportunity for a park to take an integrated approach to resource management by capitalizing on overlapping opportunities among and within disciplines, identifying stewardship activities that benefit multiple resources, or addressing larger parkwide issues. Taking an integrated approach can result in more effective stewardship for resources through the use of science, scholarship, research, policy, interpretation, and direct management. INTENT OF THIS SUMMARY DOCUMENT This summary document is intended to provide readers with a snapshot of the resource stewardship strategy for Bandelier National Monument. For the sake of simplification and abbreviation, this unit of the national park system will also be referred to as “the park” or BAND in this document. The document serves as a communication tool that complements the dynamic and evolving RSS desktop application that is actively used for resource management. This summary is not intended to describe all of the elements in the resource stewardship strategy, but instead focuses on those components of the strategy that are essential for communicating information about the park’s plan to address key management issues and seize opportunities for those resources identified as priority natural and cultural resources. This document includes a summary of key issues, stressors, and threats affecting park resources; brief descriptions of the park’s priority resources and their components; stewardship goals for priority resources and stewardship activities determined to be high priorities for the next 3 to 5 years. The document concludes with a brief description of future RSS implementation. It is important to remember that implementation of the resource stewardship strategy is an ongoing process, with necessary updates and revisions occurring as resource and management conditions change and stewardship activities are carried out.

Resource Stewardship Strategy Summary Bandelier National Monument New Mexico

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