Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Natural Resource Condition Assessment

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park provides a wealth of natural resource values, including riparian habitats, floodplains, agricultural fields, geologic exposures, rare limestone glades, developed areas, and upland forests. These resources were assessed using the Vital Signs framework. Overall, the natural resoures in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park are in degraded condition and are under threat from surrounding land use, regionally poor air quality, and overpopulation of deer. Climate change is predicted to negatively affect many of the natural resources of the park, including increasing ozone levels and particle pollution, raising the water temperature of these cold-water, trout-supporting streams, changing forest composition, and affecting exotic species and forest pests and diseases.

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