Exotic Plant Monitoring for Exit Glacier Area Nature Trails 2007 Results

Wetherbee, Heather; US National Park Service, Kenai Fjords National Park and Preserve

Trail improvement work, detailed in the 2006 Improvement to Trails and Overlook Areas in the Exit Glacier Area Environmental Assessment (EA), is in progress. In accordance with the EA, the KEFJ Exotic Plant Management Team is carefully monitoring progress of the project for impacts and changes to exotic plant infestations along the trails. The 2006 FONSI report states, “Park exotic plant personnel will pay particular attention to the project areas during routine survey efforts for at least three years following completion of the projects to ensure that any weeds inadvertently transported to the site are promptly detected and treated. Since trucks will be driven up the paved trail and to/from the off-site brush disposal site, intensive survey attention will be paid to areas along the paved trail. (NPS 2006)” The report also mentions the importance of monitoring the trails for exotic plants: “With the addition of new trails and overlooks, exotic plants may find avenues for invasion of new areas (KEFJ 2006) and gives direction for surveying the area: “Efforts will be utilized to control exotic species. The park’s exotic plants inventory and monitoring program currently surveys all trails and developed areas in the park for the purpose of early detection and rapid removal of non-native invasive plant species; this survey effort will continue under the selected alternative.” This report summarizes our survey and control efforts during the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

Exotic Plant Monitoring for Exit Glacier Area Nature Trails 2007 Results

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