Natural resource condition assessments for national battlefield parks

Battlefield park reportsIAN worked with the National Park Service to develop natural resource condition assessments for three national battlefield parks. Habitats within Antietam, Monocacy, and Manassas National Battlefield Parks were defined as being either managed for natural resource values or managed for agricultural values. Habitat maps were created, and desired/degraded conditions were defined for each habitat. Metrics were then assigned to these habitat types compared to established thresholds, leading to the condition assessment for each habitat. Assessed habitats included forests, deer populations, bird diversity, wetlands and waterways, biological stream diversity, pastures, and grasslands.