National Park Service – Page 12 – North Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

Assessing the factors affecting the condition of vegetation in eastern NPS Parks (2018 – 2023)

Project Description: This is a two-part project collecting vegetation community data at 1) the Northeast Temperate Network’ s long-term freshwater wetland monitoring plots located in Acadia National Park, and 2) long-term forest vegetation monitoring plots located within
NPS parks from Maine to Virginia. Both of these ecosystems are important to park operations, visitors’ experience, and are valuable resources that are constantly affected by environmental change and stressors. Monitoring data collected under this agreement will be used by NPS Inventory and Monitoring staff and Dr. Nicholas Fisichelli of Schoodic Institute to assess the overall condition of and factors affecting NPS vegetation communities and provide recommendations to park managers. For example, annual assessments of the condition of park vegetation can help park’s prioritize invasive species management, identify and adapt to newly emerging threats, and alter management practices as needed to promote healthy ecosystems. Schoodic Institute in cooperation with NPS IMD staff will perform analyses of the vegetation communities and environmental data to evaluate the roles of climate change, invasive exotic species, forest pests, and other stressors on vegetation health within eastern parks.

The resulting analyses will increase the public and scientific community’s knowledge of how a variety of local (e.g., deer browse, culverts) and regional (e.g., invasive species, climate change) stressors affect the condition of vegetation resources. This information is critical for evaluating current and future threats to regional vegetation structure, biodiversity, and other linked natural and cultural resources so that strategies can be developed to mitigate their impacts in the future. For example, scientific data is needed to understand and manage how the arrival of invasive forest pests, high deer browse, and invasive plant species are affecting the forests within our parks and local communities that not only provide refuge for species and are important to high water quality, but also contribute to the visitor experience as an integral component of many park’s cultural landscape.

Lead Principal Investigator: Nick Fisichelli, Schoodic Institute

Partner Institution: Schoodic Institute

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Dr. Jim Comiskey

Project Type: Research

Project Discipline: Natural Resources

Project Sub-Discipline(s): Biological (Ecology, Fish, Wildlife, Vegetation, T&E)

Start Year: 2018

End Year: 2023

Initial Funding Amount: $85,134.64

Federal Grant Number: P18AC01230

Amendments

Amendment Number: 1, Year: 2019, Amount: $114,462.37
Amendment Number: 2, Year: 2020, Amount: $203,374.13
Amendment Number: 3, Year: 2020, Amount: $71,253.43
Amendment Number: 5, Year: 2022, Amount: $61,752.18

National Parks or Protected Areas:

Acadia National Park (NPS)
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (NPS)
Booker T. Washington National Monument (NPS)
Colonial National Historical Park (NPS)
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (NPS)
Gettysburg National Military (NPS)
George Washington Birthplace (NPS)
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site (NPS)
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park (NPS)

State(s): Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia

Integrating Geospatial Capacity with Management and Operations in NPS Interior Region 1

Project Description: Develop core geospatial functionality and content for National Park Service (NPS) Interior Region 1 (IR1) parks and programs to support park operations & management, federal geospatial mandates, and contributions to Servicewide datasets for wide, public access.
Project Objectives:
1) Develop a) authoritative geospatial data for National Parks of IR1, b) web tools to create and steward the data, and c) related web applications for use in park operations, management, resource protection, and interpretation.
2) Enable NPS IR1 contributions to Servicewide datasets that, in turn, roll up to the Department of the Interior (DOI) geospatial datasets made widely accessible across the NPS, DOI, and distributed for public use.
3) Provide guidance and technical support of NPS IR1 staff in joint pursuit of objectives 1 and 2.

Lead Principal Investigator: Yeqiao Wang, University of Rhode Island

Partner Institution: University of Rhode Island

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: David Gadsby

Project Type: Technical Assistance

Project Discipline: Other: Multi-disciplinary

Start Year: 2020

End Year: 2024

Initial Funding Amount: $94,080.00

Federal Grant Number: P20AC00952

Amendments

Amendment Number: 01, Year: 2021, Amount: $101,080.00
Amendment Number: 02, Year: 2022, Amount: $121,080.00
Amendment Number: 03, Year: 2023, Amount: $136,080.00

Location: Northeastern national park units

Engage youth in climate resilience education and employment

Project Description: The goal of the agreement is to develop and run a graduate course and summer research fellowship program that provide the opportunity for City University of New York (CUNY) students to apply their skills gained in academic programs in sustainability and resilience to Gateway National Recreation Area’s (GATE) real-world research needs. Students will complete the course and a summer research project to gain work experience in urban natural and cultural resource management that helps GATE advance its public engagement and research goals. The agreement establishes a more formal link between CUNY academic programs, CUNY research institutes (Center for the Study of Brooklyn at Brooklyn College and the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay), and the NPS to help train the next generation of CUNY students to understand, engage with, and develop solutions to urban public resource management issues.

Students will complete a unique graduate course in research methods that focuses specifically on urban parks prior to a full-time, 8-week summer research internship at GATE. The internship will primarily consist of individual or team research projects chosen and supervised by CUNY faculty in partnership with GATE. Students will also engage in additional professional development such as specific trainings and networking opportunities with NYC-based researchers, city agencies, and public institutions. They will produce an appropriate research product and present it widely, providing a strong foundation for careers in publicly-engaged sustainability and resilience research and planning.

Lead Principal Investigator: Brett Branco, City University of New York

Partner Institution: City University of New York

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Suzanne McCarthy

Project Type: Research

Project Discipline: Natural Resources

Project Sub-Discipline(s): Biological (Ecology, Fish, Wildlife, Vegetation, T&E), Cultural and Historic, Urban and Built Environment

Start Year: 2021

End Year: 2022

Initial Funding Amount: $74,060.00

Federal Grant Number: P21AC11538

Location: Gateway National Recreation Area

National Park or Protected Area: Gateway (NPS)

State(s): New York

Landscape Preservation Student Training and Technical Assistance

Project Description: This project will allow the SUNY ESF Center for Cultural Landscape Preservation to provide technical landscape preservation planning assistance to National Park Service Region 1 parks, and to use that assistance to train future park planners and conservationists. This project will support SUNY ESF (Recipient) to maintain its cooperative relationship with the NPS Olmsted Center and support student participation in Olmsted Center work; to support development of digital modeling as a research tool; to manage a summer 2021 internship program; to provide technical assistance to Gettysburg National Military Park for management of its commemorative landscape and Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park for management of its historic landscape resources; to respond to parks’ requests for Section 106 review; to scope a project to create a methodology for inventorying landscape resources in the Erie Canalway NHC; to provide technical assistance at other Northeast Region parks where SUNY ESF has done research; and to disseminate findings.

Lead Principal Investigator: John Auwaerter, SUNY, College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Partner Institution: SUNY, College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Robert Page

Project Type: Technical Assistance

Project Discipline: Cultural Resources

Project Sub-Discipline: Cultural and Historic

Start Year: 2020

End Year: 2022

Initial Funding Amount: $80,000.00

Federal Grant Number: P20AC00968

Location: Northeastern national park units

Develop Landscape Treatment Recommendations for the Memorial Amphitheater Grounds, Arlington National Cemetery

Project Description: This agreement will provide Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) with a comprehensive management plan for the historic landscape of the Memorial Amphitheater grounds, building on work being completed under P19AC01010. This agreement will develop recommendations to guide rehabilitation of the historic landscape of the Memorial Amphitheater grounds.

Lead Principal Investigator: John Auwaerter, SUNY, College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Partner Institution: SUNY, College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Robert Page

Project Type: Technical Assistance

Project Discipline: Cultural Resources

Project Sub-Discipline: Cultural and Historic

Start Year: 2021

End Year: 2023

Initial Funding Amount: $77,745.00

Federal Grant Number: P21AC10241

Location: Arlington National Cemetery

National Park or Protected Area: Arlington National Cemetary (DOD)

State(s): Virginia

Support NPS Region One Cultural Landscape Inventory, Technical Assistance, and Training

Project Description: This agreement will provide Region 1 parks with technical landscape preservation assistance and train students in cultural landscape preservation planning. It will: 1. Assist the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor (ERIE) by developing pilot cultural landscape and visual assessment inventories for the New York State Barge Canal system to assist in planning for the National Historic Landmark district; and 2. Provide Section 106 advising and other landscape preservation technical support to NPS Region 1 parks. Under #2, the project will a. Maintain the long-standing partnership with the NPS Olmsted Center in providing technical landscape preservation expertise to parks in NPS Region 1 and allow students to participate in that support; b. Support development of digital modeling as a research tool for preservation planning; c. Provide ongoing technical assistance to Gettysburg National Military Park for management of its commemorative park landscape; d. Provide technical assistance to Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park for management of its historic landscape resources at Fredericksburg National Cemetery, Wilderness Battlefield, and Chancellorsville Battlefield; e. Respond to requests by Region 1 parks for Section 106 review; f. Provide assistance to parks based on prior research completed by the Recipient; and g. Disseminate research findings.

Lead Principal Investigator: John Auwaerter, SUNY, College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Partner Institution: SUNY, College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Robert Page

Project Type: Technical Assistance

Project Discipline: Cultural Resources

Project Sub-Discipline: Cultural and Historic

Start Year: 2021

End Year: 2023

Initial Funding Amount: $130,000.00

Federal Grant Number: P21AC10283

Location: Northeastern national park units

Resurvey vegetation plots in large exclosure to provide findings concerning deer herbivory and invasive plant spread

Project Description: The goal of this project is to continue a vegetation monitoring program within a 5 hectare deer exclosure and adjacent control area that was established in 2007 to evaluate the species composition of the forest in the Jockey Hollow Area at Morristown Historical Park (MORR) between areas that are affected by deer browse and areas where deer have been excluded.

This project will resample vegetation monitoring plots established in 2007 to better understand the effects of deer browsing and invasive plants as a forest health demonstration project. Data analysis will determine whether vegetation protected from deer browsing allow for greater numbers of native seedling growth as well as less invasive species coverage. Analyzing the changes in the exclosure over the past fourteen years will lead to a greater understanding of native plant regeneration and growth in the park and will inform native plant management.

The outcome of this project will be a final peer-reviewed report that will provide park managers with science-based, quantitative data regarding the condition of forest regeneration and the spread of invasive exotics plant species. The findings will greatly inform implementation strategies for the 2018 Vegetation and Deer Management Plan where much of the focus is on encouraging native tree and plant regeneration. This exclosure survey, located in an oak-beech forest, will help to provide insight pertaining to oak regeneration potential and strategies the current range of the northeast interior dry-mesic oak-hickory forest (West Virginia to Rhode Island).

Lead Principal Investigator: Steven Handel, Rutgers University

Partner Institution: Rutgers University

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Robert Masson

Project Type: Research

Project Discipline: Natural Resources

Project Sub-Discipline: Biological (Ecology, Fish, Wildlife, Vegetation, T&E)

Start Year: 2021

End Year: 2023

Initial Funding Amount: $14,000.00

Federal Grant Number: P21AC11296

Amendments

Amendment Number: 01, Year: 2022, Amount: $11,000.00
Amendment Number: , Year: , Amount: $

Location: Morristown National Historical Park

National Park or Protected Area: Morristown (NPS)

State(s): New Jersey

Catalog and Curate Archaeological Collections for Region 1 Parks

Project Description: University of Massachusetts-Boston students will complete the following tasks as Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) participants. Work will be performed at the Northeast Regional Museum Services Center in Charlestown, Massachusetts, with few excepted activities (i.e., processing soil flotation samples) to be completed at University of Massachusetts-Boston, Boston, Massachusetts.
1) Preparing artifacts prior to cataloging (to include washing, sorting, and any necessary verification of missing or extraneous artifacts).
2) Cataloging artifacts using project or National Park Service methods, and subsequent housing of artifacts using National Park Service collections standards for long-term storage.
3) Rehousing National Park Service Collections, to include relevant field documentation according to National Park Service Standards
4) Digitizing and organizing relevant documentation.
5) Entering or updating artifact catalog information in the National Park Service System.
6) Traveling to parks throughout National Park Service Region 1 to provide location-based services and support to park curation staff.

Lead Principal Investigator: Dr. David Landon, University of Massachusetts Boston

Partner Institution: University of Massachusetts Boston

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Teri DeYoung

Project Type: Technical Assistance

Project Discipline: Cultural Resources

Project Sub-Discipline: Cultural and Historic

Start Year: 2023

End Year: 2024

Initial Funding Amount: $222,357.00

Federal Grant Number: P23AC00339

Location: National Park Service Region 1 (Northeast) parks

Student and Other Involvement:

Masters Students: 6

Summary of Student Involvement: Masters students have been working under the direction of NPS collections’ experts to inventory, catalog, document, and reorganize archaeological collections from multiple NPS sites in Region 1.

Enhance Understanding of Federal Collections from NPS Lands in Northwest Alaska

Project Description: Enhance Understanding of Federal Collections from NPS Lands in Northwest Alaska

Lead Principal Investigator: Robert Preucel, Brown University

Partner Institution: Brown University

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Kelsey Lutz

Project Discipline: Cultural Resources

Project Sub-Discipline: Cultural and Historic

Start Year: 2021

End Year: 2023

Initial Funding Amount: $232,013.00

Federal Grant Number: P21AC12244