What are examples of 'good management practice' in relation to national park management plans??

Question

Ideally, i would like for answers refering to the argument of what = good...??

Got a conservation exam for my finals on thrusday and can't find any literature pointing me in the right direction... Any help ... pls :-).

Answer 1

in Ca there is one park that do not fight fires, they have found out that fire has a purpose in the forest.  if we fight every fire it never cleans out old leaves and dead branches, which is more of a fire hazard.  the giant sequoia trees need extreme heat to open the new seed pods so that new trees can grow.  they will fight the fire if it threatens homes or businesses.

Answer 2

Hi,

Look into the Inventory and Management (I&M) program, its a great example of adaptive management.  One specific example would be the "vital signs monitoring" program at Channel Islands National Park.  There are some good papers written by Gary Davis, particularly as it relates to the kelp forest monitoring program they have there (http://www1.nature.nps.gov/im/units/chis...  I would argue that what = good is an ecologically based (ecological theories and processes) adaptive (data is collected and analyzed throughout the process and actions can be changed based on the new data) management process.   Hope this helps.

Answer 3

The Adirondack Park (northern NY) has some very strict regulations regarding building permits, access roads, and the like.  During a recent forest fire, the Department of Conservation refused to let the fire department cut the chain lock on an access gate to get them closer to the fire site.  :(    (You do need to understand there are private lands inside the park, so that decision was risky if the fire had shifted).  Sometimes regulations can get in the way of good management.

Sometimes they don't.  The state has resisted all efforts to completely allow handicapped access to many of the mountains in the area, due to the effects  the building and increased traffic would have on the wildlife population.  Wolf packs, endangered species and unique wildlife thrive because the park is protected from human encroachment.

Answer 4

they idea of management i feel is not the correct one. I feel that allowing nature take its its own course is the best one.For example in Yellowstone where they introduced more animals ruined the eco-system (non-native trout)

Answer 5

What equals good?  Well it depends on who's answering.  Some will say that good = what will make or save money.  Others (including me) will say that good = practices that conserve habitat and protect/restore the natural ecology of the park.

You won't have time to read it all before Thursday but there's a great book that talks about some park management practices and it's called "Saving Nature's Legacy." I can't remember who it's by but it was required reading for my conservation biogeography course in college.

There's the SLOSS debate too: Single Large or Several Small.  The question is that should you save a large area that encompasses large quantities of land or should you save a number of smaller spaces that cover more ecosystems?  The answer is debatable of course but in our class we said Single Large because small areas act like isolated islands of habitat and can't support a healthy ecosystem for the long term.  If you protect a large area then at least it's viable and everything in it will be conserved inevitably.  

Yellowstone is a good example of sound park management.  They reintroduced animals that had been locally extirpated (wolves) and have allowed the ecosystem to function on it's own without too much interference.  The govt did just decide to delist the Grizzly though, but you could look at that as proof that the animals are surviving enough that they don't need protection anymore.  

Well anyway I hope some of that helps.  I love this subject.  Good luck, and be sure to at least look at that book.

Answer 6

A good conservationist learns the most from observing good ol mother nature.  Unfortunately man has let things get out of balance for far too long.  Reverting back to basics like "controlled burning" to periodically clear underbrush, help seeds germinate, create fetile new growth for browsing animals, and preventing the build up of dead debris that can cause a major conflagration and destroy an entire forest.  This is one part of restoring a natural balance.  Another is controlling out of balace animal populations.  Since man has killed so many large predators, many areas experience an overpopulation of game that can lead to disease, starvation and unnatural migration, as well as take a toll on the natural vegitation.  "Re-introducing large predators" to restore balance is an option as well as "regulated hunting" to keep populations in check.  More wildlife is not always better.  Diversity and a healthy predator/prey interaction is, even when humans are the predator.