IAN eNewsletter

IAN staff hold workshop with Shenandoah National Park Resource Managers
IAN staff Bill Dennison, Joanna Woerner, and Ben Fertig traveled to Shenandoah National Park Headquarters on Feb 25-26 to design a booklet entitled, "A conceptual basis for natural resource monitoring: Shenandoah National Park". The booklet discusses Shenandoah's key features, major threats, and monitoring programs. A central issue that emerged was visibility from mountain vistas of the surrounding valleys along Skyline Drive, as affected by atmospheric haze. In addition, there were effects of atmospheric deposition on mountain streams and hardwood forests. Furthermore, climate change and conversion of adjacent farmland to residential land use affect this National Park.

Booklet summarizing monitoring at Shenandoah National Park released
As a 200,000-acre natural oasis in the densely populated mid-Atlantic region, Shenandoah National Park is a refuge for both wildlife and people. Recently, in a partnership between IAN and Shenandoah National park, a booklet illustrating the unique natural resources in the park and demonstrating the need for natural resource monitoring was released. Understanding the natural processes and disturbances that influence natural resources and assessing the human-caused threats to those resources is the foundation for sound monitoring. This booklet explores how this understanding is gained, and also investigates the selection of vital signs—indicators of natural resource conditions.