PARENT SESSION
Symposium #17: Science in national parks: Basic research and application.
Sponsored by ESA Sustainable Biosphere Initiative
Organized by: S.T.A. Pickett and W. Robertson.
Wednesday, August 8, 2001. 1:00 PM to 4:25 PM. Madison Ballroom A

Supporting basic research in national parks.

Parsons, David¹, ¹

ABSTRACT- The long-term preservation of park ecosystems requires scientific knowledge about populations, communities, and the ecological processes upon which sustainable ecosystems depend. Unfortunately, national parks in the United States have a well documented history of indifference, if not hostility, to the support of basic research. Numerous external reviews have criticized the lack of institutional support for science, blaming it in large part on the agencies traditional emphasis on scenery and tourism management. The challenge of improving support for science in the national parks was further tested by the 1993 transfer of the National Park Services fledgling research program to the National Biological Survey (more recently incorporated into the U.S. Geological Survey). Despite such challenges, recent efforts to improve support for science in the U. S. national parks have been most encouraging. These include a long sought after Congressional mandate to support research, a major budget initiative to support scientific understanding and management of park resources as well as improve research facilities, leadership in the establishment of a network of university based interagency Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units, and the successful partnering with private companies and foundations to support innovative programs to fund Ph.D. students, post docs, and sabbaticals in national parks. The long term success of our national parks in preserving natural ecosystems depends, in large part, on the agencies ability to provide support for the science that is necessary to understand the basic ecological processes on which sustainable ecosystems depend.

KEY WORDS: national parks, science support, research