National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior State of the Park Report Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park Georgia November 2013 National Park Service. 2013. State of the Park Report for Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. State of the Park Series No. 8. National Park Service, Washington, D.C. On the cover: Civil War cannon and field of flags at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. Disclaimer. This State of the Park report summarizes the current condition of park resources, visitor experience, and park infrastructure as assessed by a combination of available factual information and the expert opinion and professional judgment of park staff and subject matter experts. The internet version of this report provides the associated workshop summary report and additional details and sources of information about the findings summarized in the report, including references, accounts on the origin and quality of the data, and the methods and analytic approaches used in data collection and assessments of condition. This report provides evaluations of status and trends based on interpretation by NPS scientists and managers of both quantitative and non- quantitative assessments and observations. Future condition ratings may differ from findings in this report as new data and knowledge become available. The park superintendent approved the publication of this report. Executive Summary The mission of the National Park Service is to preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of national parks for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. NPS Management Policies (2006) state that “The Service will also strive to ensure that park resources and values are passed on to future generations in a condition that is as good as, or better than, the conditions that exist today.” As part of the stewardship of national parks for the American people, the NPS has begun to develop State of the Park reports to assess the overall status and trends of each park’s resources. The NPS will use this information to improve park priority setting and to synthesize and communicate complex park condition information to the public in a clear and simple way. The purpose of this State of the Park report is to: • Provide to visitors and the American public a snapshot of the status and trend in the condition of a park’s priority resources and values; • Summarize and communicate complex scientific, scholarly, and park operations factual information and expert opinion using non-technical language and a visual format; • Highlight park stewardship activities and accomplishments to maintain or improve the State of the Park; • Identify key issues and challenges facing the park to help inform park management planning. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park encompasses approximately 2,923 acres of mostly hardwood forest that preserves a Civil War battleground of the Atlanta Campaign. Between June 19 and July 2, 1864, a series of battles occurred here between Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederate force of 65,000 troops and Gen. William T. Sherman’s Union army of 100,000 men. Eventually, Sherman’s army outflanked the Confederate force and forced them to abandon their lines. The loss of Kennesaw Mountain removed one of the last major geographic obstacles protecting Atlanta, which eventually fell to the Union army in September of 1864. The fall of Atlanta bolstered the Union army’s resolve to continue the conflict and eventually led to the re-election of Abraham Lincoln as president in 1864. The purpose of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park is to preserve, protect, and interpret, for the benefit and inspiration of the people, the historical and natural features of this major battle site in the American Civil War’s 1864 Atlanta Campaign. Significance statements express why the park unit’s resources and values are important enough to warrant national park unit designation. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park is significant because: • It is the only nationally designated battle site that commemorates the 1864 Atlanta Campaign. Union victory in this campaign ensured the re-election of Abraham Lincoln and thereby the eventual preservation of the Union. • Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park preserves 8.9 miles of original Civil War field fortifications, which were decisive elements in later stages of the American Civil War. • The Park is one of the best places to see a diverse community of migratory birds east of the Mississippi River. The park was the first designated Globally Important Bird Area in the state of Georgia and is a focus area for bird conservation in the Southern Piedmont of the United States. • Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park is the site of a major Civil War battle, which also provides one of the largest contiguous federally managed public green spaces in a major metropolitan area serving millions of recreationists each year. The summary table, below, and the supporting information that follows, provides an overall assessment of the condition of priority resources and values at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park based on scientific and scholarly studies and expert opinion. The internet version of this report, available at http://www.nps.gov/stateoftheparks/kemo/, provides additional detail and sources of information about the resources summarized in this report, including references, accounts on the origin and quality of the data, and the methods and analytical approaches used in the assessments. Reference conditions that represent “healthy” ecosystem parameters, and regulatory standards (such as those related to air or water quality) provide the rationale to describe current resource status. In coming years, rapidly evolving information regarding climate change and associated effects will inform our goals for managing park resources, and may alter how we measure the trend in condition of park resources. Thus, reference conditions, regulatory standards, and/or our judgment about resource status or trend may evolve as the rate of climate change accelerates and we respond to novel conditions. In this context, the status and trends documented here provide a useful point-in-time baseline to inform our understanding of emerging change, as well as a synthesis to share as we build broader climate change response strategies with partners. The Status and Trend symbols used in the summary table below and throughout this report are summarized in the following key. The background color represents the current condition status, the direction of the arrow summarizes the trend in condition, and the thickness of the outside line represents the degree of confidence in the assessment. In some cases, the arrow is omitted because data are not sufficient for calculating a trend (e.g., data from a one-time inventory or insufficient sample size). State of the Park Report iii Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park Confidence in Condition Status Trend in Condition Assessment Warrants Condition is Improving High Significant Concern Warrants Condition is Unchanging Medium Moderate Concern Resource is in Good Condition is Deteriorating Low Condition State of the Park Summary Table Condition Priority Resource or Value Rationale Status/Trend Natural Resources web Estimated ozone, average visibility, and nitrogen and sulfur wet deposition levels Air Quality in the park for 2005–2009 warrant significant concern based on NPS Air Resource Division benchmarks. Soils in the park are mostly clay and sandy loam, with moderate to high erodibility. There is evidence of common, severe stream bank erosion, and common, high, and Geology and Soils extremely rapid sedimentation in streams. Sediment cover is 60–80% in many stream locations. The magnitude and timing of flows in the park are typical of streams draining urbanized areas (e.g., flashy flows after rain events and low base flows). Stream temperate, pH, and dissolved oxygen measurements were better than the state Water Quantity and Quality standards for Georgia, but nitrate, phosphorus, aluminum, and fecal coliform bacteria levels all warrant significant concern. Stream health is Fair based on the Macroinvertebrate Index of Biological Integrity. The park has a high species richness and diversity of amphibians and birds, with 23 species of amphibians and 208 species of birds documented to occur in the park. Twelve invasive species identified by the Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council as Flora and Fauna Category I (i.e., species that invade intact systems, displace native vegetation, and alter ecological processes) occur in the park, including Chinese privet, kudzu, and honeysuckle. The modeled Anthropogenic Light Ratio (ALR), a measure of light pollution calculated as the ratio of Average Anthropogenic Sky Glow to Average Natural Dark Night Sky Sky Luminance, was 19.67 which is considered of significant concern. The park is adjacent to the Atlanta metropolitan area with a population of 5.5 Million people and a 28% growth rate in the past decade. State of the Park Report iv Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park Condition Priority Resource or Value Rationale Status/Trend Between 1992 and 2006, the percent of lands surrounding the park that are classified as forest or wetlands decreased from 60% to 30%, whereas the percent of Adjacent Land Cover and land classified as Low/High Intensity Residential or Commercial/Industrial/ Use Transportation increased from 26.6% to 38.5%. From 1992 and 2010, human population increased 70% in the watershed upstream of KEMO and 52% in the area surrounding the park. Cultural Resources web Less than 1% of the park acres deemed appropriate for survey have been adequately surveyed for archeological resources. Documentation for National Archeological Resources Register purposes is incomplete and out of date. Of the 23 known sites, 74% are in Good condition, 13% are in Fair condition, and 13% are of unknown condition No Ethnographic Overview and Assessment exists for the park, but the relationship of the park’s ethnographic resources and historic contexts has been partially Cultural Anthropology documented in various park reports that were primarily developed for other purposes.