Federal Partner: National Park Service

Document and Evaluate the Cultural Landscape of Wilderness Battlefield, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park

Project Description: This project supports the documentation and evaluation of the historic landscape of the Wilderness Battlefield, a unit of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park (FRSP) that encompasses 2,774 acres in Spotsylvania and Orange counties, Virginia. This project supports the documentation and evaluation of the historic Wilderness Battlefield landscape as phase 1 of research for a Cultural Landscape Report (CLR). The SUNY project team will work in close partnership with the NPS Olmsted Center and FRSP staff throughout this project. The scope of the project includes research, writing, and graphics for completion of the Site History, Existing Conditions, and Analysis & Evaluation components of CLR Part I, comprising Component A of PMIS statement 208243A. Research will incorporate or refer to findings from the Ellwood CLR completed under a prior task agreement. Recommendations for treatment of the cultural landscape (CLR Part II), which will be based on the research findings of phase 1, will be addressed in a second phase and separate task agreement (Component B of PMIS statement 208234).

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

Co-Principal Investigator: George Curry, 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

Federal Involvement: John Auwaerter worked with James Mealey, NPS Historical Landscape Architect, in completing the analysis and evaluation of the Wilderness Battlefield cultural landscape. NPS Olmsted Center Director Bob and James Mealey assisted with project oversight, meetings with park staff, and in editing, layout, and printing of the final report.

Project Type: Research

Project Discipline: Cultural Resources

Project Sub-Discipline(s): Cultural and Historic

Start Year: 2016

End Year: 2018

Initial Funding Amount: $60,000.00

Federal Grant Number: P16AC01225

Location: Wilderness Battlefield, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park

State(s): Virginia

Virginia Counties: Orange

Student and Other Involvement:

  • Masters Students: 1
  • Interns: 1
  • Staff: 1

Summary of Student Involvement: Master of Landscape Architecture student Kyle Stillwell was the research project assistant full-time for summer 2017 and 10/hr week for AY 2017-2018. Kyle assisted with field work, inventory landscape characteristics and features, and preparation of existing conditions maps.

Summary of Other Involvement: John Auwaerter, PI, researched and wrote the site history, Co-PI George Curry assisted with field work and the landscape feature inventory, and both advised graduate assistant Kyle Stillwell.

Assessing the benthic community in a partially restored lagoon to improve management decision-making

Project Description: East Harbor is a back barrier marsh system/lagoon with an artificial tidal restriction that led to water quality degradation, algal blooms, insect outbreaks, and fish kills. To improve conditions, tidal flow was partially restored in 2002. Since that time, salinity increased, water quality improved, and the system was re-colonized by a variety of estuarine flora and fauna, in particular shellfish (e.g. quahog, soft shell clam, and oyster) and horseshoe crabs. Managers need scientific information to make sound decisions for East Harbor about further tidal restoration, culvert maintenance, and the initiation of shell fishing activities. This project will: 1) survey benthic invertebrates, including shellfish and other macro infauna, 2) assess population dynamics of selected shellfish including larval flux out of the lagoon into adjacent, unprotected waters, 3) identify significant fisheries habitat and 4) use surveys and mesocosms to evaluate impacts of a non-indigenous predator on shellfish. The baseline water quality and habitat data developed through these studies are critical for design and monitoring of the adaptive management approach to implementing restoration projects.

Data developed through this study plan will be integrated into and will be used to assess the suitability of habitats in East Harbor for different management scenarios. This data collection will provide the management team with an enhanced tool to aid science-based decision-making, thereby optimizing the public’s understanding of the response of the East Harbor system to tidal restoration and increased salinity for recolonization by salt marsh halophytes and fauna.

The primary purpose of this study is not the acquisition of property or services for the direct benefit or use by the Federal Government, but rather to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation.

Lead Principal Investigator: Owen Nichols, Center for Coastal Studies

Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Mark Borelli, Center for Coastal Studies

Partner Institution: Center for Coastal Studies

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Geoffrey Sanders

Federal Involvement: – Assign Dr. Sophia Fox (Aquatic Ecologist, CACO) as technical expert to collaborate on
all aspects of this project, including sample design, methodologies, and field and lab
work.

– Assign CACO staff or interns to support the project.

– Share lab equipment and supplies, as necessary to maintain efficiency and cost
effectiveness.

-Contribute to developing protocols for work related to invertebrate and sediment sample
collection and processing.

-Dr. Sophia Fox will collaborate with Dr. Mark Borrelli and Owen Nichols of Center for
Coastal Studies to share and interpret biological, chemical, and physical data from East
Harbor waters.

-Dr. Sophia Fox will collaborate with Dr. Mark Borrelli and Owen Nichols of Center for
Coastal Studies and other CACO staff and cooperators to develop publications from the
work laid out herein.

-Dr. Sophia Fox will collaborate with Dr. Mark Borrelli and Owen Nichols of Center for
Coastal Studies and other CACO staff and cooperators to develop outreach products from
the work laid out herein.

Project Type: Research

Project Discipline: Natural Resources

Project Sub-Discipline(s): Natural Hazards & Environmental Quality (NRDA)

Start Year: 2017

End Year: 2023

Initial Funding Amount: $96,195.00

Federal Grant Number: P17AC01525

Amendments

  • Amendment Number: 01, Year: 2018, Amount: $14,040.75
  • Amendment Number: 02, Year: 2020, Amount: $0.00

Location: East Harbor, Truro

National Park or Protected Area: Cape Cod (NPS)

State(s): Massachusetts

Massachusetts Counties: Barnstable

Student and Other Involvement:

  • Staff: 4

Summary of Other Involvement: AmeriCorps Cape Cod service members assisted with sample collection and processing

Building seagrass resilience through implementation of resilient genotype-driven seagrass restoration

Project Description: This task agreement under the MCA has been developed and funded under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which became law on August 16, 2022. IRA funds provide the National Park Service with a historic opportunity to address critical ecosystem resilience, restoration, and environmental planning needs. Guided by the Department’s Restoration and Resilience Framework, the IRA Restoration and Resilience projects in national parks represent broad-scale and impactful resource investments from Alaska to Florida to Maine. This restoration and resilience project, entails building resilience in seagrass
meadows across five national seashores along the Atlantic coast (Cape Cod, Fire Island, Assateague Island, Cape Hatteras, and Cape Lookout).

The objectives of this project are to develop an understanding through data analysis and spatial modeling of the current and projected distribution of
seagrass under different climate scenarios in order to aid in site selection for seagrass meadow restoration in five seashore parks from North Carolina to Massachusetts. Seed source meadows will also be identified for seed harvest and restoration planting. The project team from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science will also conduct post assessment monitoring of restored sites, along with other project participants from other Universities.

Lead Principal Investigator: Dr. Johnathan Lefcheck, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

Partner Institution: University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Holly Plaisted

Start Year: 2023

End Year: 2027

Initial Funding Amount: $85,131.00

Federal Grant Number: P24AC02360

IRA-Seagrass habitat suitability modeling and pilot restoration at CACO

Project Description: This project entails three specific objectives related to mapping,
modeling, and restoration of seagrass meadows. Objective one entails the development of a GIS-based habitat suitability model that identifies factors preventing the recovery of eelgrass into previously suitable habitat at CACO and identifying potential areas for large-scale restoration of seagrass at the park. The second objective involves the application of habitat suitability models for CACO, FIIS and ASIS to identify specific optimal areas for restoration activities due to occur in 2025. Objective three, involves implementing pilot restoration at CACO through the collection of local seed across known resilient populations and field plantings with both local and outsourced seeds,followed up with genotype performance monitoring and evaluation post pilot restoration.

Lead Principal Investigator: Dr. Alyssa Novak, Boston University

Partner Institution: Boston University

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Holly Plaisted

Start Year: 2024

End Year: 2027

Initial Funding Amount: $235,048.00

Federal Grant Number: P24AC02302

Marsh Restoration in Assateague Island National Seashore

Project Description: The overall goal of this effort is to provide adaptive planning tools and enhance landscape-level partnerships to meet coastal marsh restoration and adaptation goals across the NPS- Northeast Region. The work proposed at ASIS is one component of a collaborative effort across the northeastern coast focused on coastal marsh resilience. Coastal marsh habitat will be restored using specific techniques. Monitoring data will be collected and analyzed to assess restoration success and adaptive management needs. Results and lessons learned will be shared broadly across the region to inform future restoration strategies for climate mitigation.

Project Objectives:
1. ASIS will collaborate with the Maryland Coastal Bays Foundation to restore
hydrology to approximately 500 acres of ditched marsh using low impact restoration techniques.
2. Document restoration techniques and ecosystem response to restoration treatments.
3. Compile and share results that will support the development of a coastal marsh adaptation “toolbox” to inform marsh restoration and adaptation strategies at parks across the region, based on collaborative workshops, lessons learned, and relevant research.

Lead Principal Investigator: Dr. Roman Jesien, Maryland Coastal Bays Program

Partner Institution: Maryland Coastal Bays Program

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Bill Hulsander

Start Year: 2024

End Year: 2029

Initial Funding Amount: $700,000.00

Federal Grant Number: P24AC02520

Developing Nature-based Solutions to Prevent Widespread Flooding at GATE’s Jamaica Bay

Project Description: Parks provide storm protection and as such are part of planned adaptation strategies. USACE Coastal Storm Risk Management (CSRM) plans in New York City are aimed at benefiting the flood-vulnerable coastal neighborhoods that
surround and rely upon Gateway National Recreation Area and adjoining New York City Parks. Scientific evaluation of nature-based solutions (NBS) for CSRM is needed to understand alternatives to avoid, reduce and, when unavoidable, mitigate for CSRM impacts on park resources. Stevens Institute of Technology will support modeling and evaluation of NBS for Jamaica Bay. Modeling of a novel sediment restoration NBS(shallowing and narrowing shipping channels through sand replenishment) will serve as an alternative to the proposed storm surge barriers that can reduce flooding without causing induced flooding. This project will also evaluate NBS options to mitigate
flooding induced by the proposed storm surge barrier system.

The objectives of this project are:
1. Evaluate nature based solutions for Jamaica Bay as alternatives to the proposed Jamaica Bay Storm Surge Barrier, seawalls, buried seawalls and levees for reduction of storm risks.
2. Evaluate risks of induced flooding from nature based soutions and the proposed storm surge barrier.
3. Publish research in peer-reviewed journals.
4. To develop a community of practice to facilitate information sharing and disseminate project results.

Lead Principal Investigator: Dr. Philip Orton, Stevens Institute of Technology

Partner Institution: Stevens Institute of Technology

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Karen Edelman

Start Year: 2024

End Year: 2026

Initial Funding Amount: $129,999.00

Federal Grant Number: P24AC02485

IRA Funded-Building seagrass resilience at Assateague Island National Seashore through implementation of resilient genotype-driven seagrass restoration

Project Description: This project aims to reduce climate vulnerability of seagrass
meadows across multiple Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network (NCBN) parks through the application of innovative assisted gene flow approaches. The Objectives associated with the implementation of this project at ASIS include: Collection and storage of viable eelgrass seeds from local populations for field studies across multiple parks that will test the site/temperature compatibilities of local and outsourced eelgrass genotypes that showed evidence of strong adaptive capacity. In addition seeds from local and outsourced populations at two sites along a temperature gradient will be planted and monitored for the performance of each genotype along with abiotic conditions at each site to evaluate genotype performance – a necessary step towards future temperature-resilient eelgrass restoration

Lead Principal Investigator: Stephen Tomasetti, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore

Partner Institution: University of Maryland, Eastern Shore

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Holly Plaisted

Start Year: 2024

End Year: 2027

Initial Funding Amount: $139,994.00

Federal Grant Number: P24AC02422

Northeast Temperate Network acoustic analyses in support of wildlife community monitoring

Project Description: Eastern forests face a range of interacting stressors:novel pests and pathogens, invasive plant dominance, over-abundant white-tailed deer populations, development of surrounding non-NPS lands, altered disturbance regimes, increasingly frequent extreme weather events, and changing climate conditions. Meanwhile, there is a diversity of wildlife inhabiting these forests that are also being impacted. The impacts of these stressors on wildlife may be negative, neutral, or positive depending on the specific
habitat requirements of these organisms. Collectively, these threats and stressors can result in changes to park biodiversity over time that may result in increased operational costs for parks to protect park habitats and wildlife populations

This project will support a postdoctoral research associate at Cornell
University’s bioacoustics lab to conduct analyses to improve acoustic monitoring of landbirds, which is being conducted to supplement Northeast Temperate Inventory and Monitoring Network’s (NETN) long-term monitoring forest bird monitoring program. The postdoc will process and analyze recordings from NETNís long term sites to assess and improve the accuracy of the classifiers (e.g., BirdNET) for detecting forest breeding species. The postdoc will also lead and contribute to the development of scientific
manuscripts and reports resulting from the work to improve our evaluation of the status and trends of breeding forest birds in NETN parks. The resulting analyses and products from this project will increase public and the scientific community’s knowledge of how avariety of local and regional stressors affect the condition of park wildlife and will provide
practical outcomes that parks and supporting programs can utilize in their planning and management of forest and wildlife resources.

Lead Principal Investigator: Dr. Laurel Symes, Cornell University

Partner Institution: Cornell University

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Jim Comiskey

Start Year: 2024

End Year: 2026

Initial Funding Amount: $129,383.95

Federal Grant Number: P24AC02415

A manager-friendly model for sound propagation in air and underwater in Glacier Bay

Project Description: Motor vessels, such as those that bring 99% of visitors to Glacier Bay National Park, introduce noise pollution into the air and underwater. Vessel noise can interfere with visitor enjoyment of wilderness, disturb wildlife, and inhibit underwater communication among whales and other marine life. Park managers need to be able to predict where and when vessel noise may reach
levels that are of concern in either the above-water or underwater domain. Our goal is to create a manager-friendly model for the evaluation of vessel noise scenarios in coastal parks. The need for a dual-domain model was originally raised in the 2018 Glacier Bay Acoustic Resource Management Framework.

The first objective toward achieving this goal is to gather data on in-air and underwater vessel noise emissions and how they change with operational factors such as speed and orientation with respect to a listener. Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve (GBNPP) first needs to quantify above- and below-water sound levels of commercial and recreational vessels. This requires
measurement of terrestrial and aquatic absolute sound pressure levels of particular vessels and other sound sources at various locations throughout the park on calibrated or well-characterized recording devices. This objective will require a focused field effort to document noise emissions
for a variety of predominant vessel types, ranging from cruise ships to ‘six-pack’ charter boats. This would be done by conducting controlled noise-measurement trials, and by leveraging existing airborne and underwater sound datasets and vessel tracks with acoustic propagation models to estimate each vessel’s noise emissions.

The second objective is to develop sophisticated sound propagation models relating the characteristics of various sound sources to the resultant sound field throughout the park.

The third objective is to create a manager-friendly desktop application that allows Park staff to create scenarios with different vessels, locations, and other characteristics, and see in-air and underwater sound propagation models with user-friendly displays of the results.

Lead Principal Investigator: Dr. Aaron Rice, Cornell University

Partner Institution: Cornell University

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Alexandra Gulick

Start Year: 2024

End Year: 2027

Initial Funding Amount: $440,537.00

Federal Grant Number: P24AC00464

Implementation of pilot seagrass restoration (FIIS), and NCBN Water Quality Monitoring

Project Description: This project aims to reduce climate vulnerability of seagrass meadows across
Fire Island National Seashore (FIIS) through the application of innovative assisted gene flow approaches. Collection and storage of viable seagrass seeds from local populations for field studies across multiple parks will test the site/temperature compatibilities of local and outsourced eelgrass genotypes that showed evidence of strong adaptive capacity. In addition, seeds from local and outsourced populations at three sites along a temperature gradient will be planted and monitored for the performance of each genotype along with abiotic conditions at each site to evaluate genotype performance – a necessary step towards future temperature-resilient eelgrass restoration.

The objectives of this task are to implement the Inventory and Monitoring
Program (I&M) estuarine water quality and seagrass monitoring protocols at Gateway National Recreation Area (GATE) and Fire Island National Seashore (FIIS) in alternate years. Monitoring of long term seagrass sites, established more than a decade ago, will also be included at FIIS. Monitoring will follow the standard methods described in the Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network (NCBN)Vital Signs protocols for monitoring estuarine nutrient enrichment. Seagrass condition indicators will be measured and the sampling approach is consistent with the global seagrass monitoring protocol described at http://www.SeagrassNet.org

Lead Principal Investigator: Bradley Peterson, SUNY, Stony Brook University

Partner Institution: SUNY, Stony Brook University

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Federal Agency Technical Contact: Holly Plaisted

Start Year: 2024

End Year: 2027

Initial Funding Amount: $210,476.00

Federal Grant Number: P24AC02248