Evolution of management policy and research in the national parks

Stottlemyer, Robert

This paper traces the changes in management policies for National Parks since their establishment in 1872. A paucity of research and a lack of overall policy has made park management inconsistent in the past. Enactment of legislation such as the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969 has helped to make policies more uniform. The present aim in park management is to return the ecosystems to the condition prevailing before European settlers arrived. Many ecological problems originate outside park boundaries. An example of this is in the Everglades National Park, Florida, where national park research prevented the construction of the Miami Jetport in 1971 and authorized the Big Cypress Preserve in 1975 to protect the park's watershed. A 2-year ecological survey, begun in 1973, showed that the 15-year old Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River upstream from Grand Canyon National Park will have effects far greater than present visitor use, with possibly 13 species of fish being lost. In this case, no acceptable solution seems possible. The author suggests that management policies should be based on good research and that there is a need for considerable upgrading in quality and quantity of scientific research in the national parks

Evolution of management policy and research in the national parks

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