Catoctin Mountain Park Natural Resource Condition Assessment

Catoctin Mountain Park provides a wealth of natural resource values, largely resulting from the maintenance of forest and wetland habitats. These resources were assessed using the Vital Signs framework. Overall, the natural resoures in Catoctin Mountain Park are in moderate condition but 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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