National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Denali National Park and Preserve Denali National Park and Preserve Center for Resources, Science, and Learning Summary of Current Resource Projects 2011 All photos courtesy of National Park Service, unless otherwise indicated. Table of Contents Natural Resources ................................................................................................................... 3 Integrated Programs and Findings ............................................................................................. 3 Reporting about the Resource Stewardship Strategy ......................................................... 3 Natural Resource Condition Assessment ........................................................................... 3 Digitizing Research Files ................................................................................................... 4 Denali Park Road Capacity Study ...................................................................................... 4 Central Alaska Network ..................................................................................................... 9 Plants/Vegetation ..................................................................................................................... 11 Long-term Vegetation Monitoring ................................................................................... 11 Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) Impacts ................................................................................... 12 Bryophyte and Lichen Inventory ..................................................................................... 13 Web-based Ecological Atlas of Central Alaska’s Flora ................................................... 13 Virtual Tour of Landscape Change in Denali .................................................................. 13 Tons of Exotic (Non-native) Plants Removed ................................................................. 14 Revegetation of Construction/Disturbed Sites ................................................................. 14 Monitoring Dust Palliatives on the Park Road ................................................................. 15 Wildland Fire ........................................................................................................................... 16 Fire Highlights for 2010 ................................................................................................... 16 Monitoring Wildland Fires ............................................................................................... 16 Creating Defensible Space Around Structures ................................................................. 17 Fire Education .................................................................................................................. 21 Wildlife .................................................................................................................................... 22 Keep Wildlife Wild .......................................................................................................... 22 Bears ................................................................................................................................. 22 Bear Management ............................................................................................................ 23 Wildlife Observations along the Park Road ..................................................................... 24 Wolves.............................................................................................................................. 26 Caribou ............................................................................................................................. 27 Moose ............................................................................................................................... 30 Dall’s Sheep ..................................................................................................................... 30 Small Mammal Monitoring .............................................................................................. 31 Snowshoe Hare and Willow Ptarmigan ........................................................................... 32 Birds ................................................................................................................................. 32 Wood Frog Surveys ......................................................................................................... 36 Physical Resources ................................................................................................................... 37 Parkwide Climate Monitoring .......................................................................................... 37 Weather Monitoring at Park Headquarters ...................................................................... 39 Snow Surveys ................................................................................................................... 41 Air Quality Monitoring .................................................................................................... 42 Visibility Web Camera ..................................................................................................... 42 Monitoring Landslide at Mile 45 ..................................................................................... 43 Paleontological Survey of the Lower Cantwell Formation .............................................. 43 Taking Photos at Cabin Peak for 3-D Dino-Footprints .................................................... 44 Soundscape Inventory and Monitoring Program ............................................................. 45 Overflights Committee ..................................................................................................... 46 i Glacier Monitoring ........................................................................................................... 46 Shallow Lakes Monitoring ............................................................................................... 50 Long-term Stream Monitoring ......................................................................................... 50 Post-mining Creek Restoration ........................................................................................ 52 Permafrost Monitoring ..................................................................................................... 53 Toklat River Dynamics and Gravel Acquisition .............................................................. 53 Social Science ........................................................................................................................ 54 Park Visitation .................................................................................................................. 54 Improving Visitor Estimates and Understanding Segments ............................................ 54 Improving Visitor Data at Savage Check Station ............................................................ 55 Counting Visitors Who Use Trails ................................................................................... 55 Social Norms about Soundscapes .................................................................................... 57 Subsistence ............................................................................................................................ 58 Denali Subsistence Resource Commission ...................................................................... 58 Other Advisory Councils and Board Participation .......................................................... 58 Federal Subsistence Registration Permit Hunts ............................................................... 58 Updating the Denali Subsistence Management Plan ....................................................... 59 Subsistence Projects ......................................................................................................... 59 Cultural Resources ............................................................................................................... 60 Research Support ................................................................................................................. 62 Geographic Information System ...................................................................................... 62 Research and Resource Communications ........................................................................ 63 Brief Synopsis of Research Findings in 2010 .................................................................. 66 Murie Science and Learning Center ................................................................................. 79 Background ...................................................................................................................... 79 Programs .......................................................................................................................... 80 E-Resources ............................................................................................................................ 85 Links to Information ........................................................................................................ 85 In Memorium ........................................................................................................................ 87 ii Natural Resources Integrated Programs and Findings Reporting about the Resource Stewardship Strategy In 2010,