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 2006 Table of Contents Natural Resources ............................................................................................................... 1 Integrated Programs and Findings....................................................................................... 1 Central Alaska Network Inventory and Monitoring at Denali................................ 1 Effects of Global Climate Change at Denali ............................................................... 3 Integrated Study of Park Road Capacity..................................................................... 4 Plants/Vegetation ................................................................................................................... 4 Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) Impacts................................................................................ 4 Long-term Vegetation Monitoring.............................................................................. 5 Removal of Exotic (Non-native) Plants ...................................................................... 6 Revegetation of Construction/Disturbed Sites .......................................................... 7 Revegetation ............................................................................................................ 7 Monitoring Dust Palliatives on the Park Road........................................................... 8 Wildland Fire .......................................................................................................................... 8 Monitoring Wildland Fires ........................................................................................... 8 Creating Defensible Space Around Structures......................................................... 10 Utilizing Satellite Imagery to Estimate Burn Severity.............................................. 11 Videography Landcover Reclassification and Moose Browse Utilization .......... 11 Fire Education............................................................................................................... 12 Wildlife................................................................................................................................... 13 Keep Wildlife Wild....................................................................................................... 13 Bears ............................................................................................................................... 14 Bear Management......................................................................................................... 15 Aerial Moose Survey .................................................................................................... 16 Road Wildlife Study ..................................................................................................... 16 Wolves............................................................................................................................ 17 Caribou........................................................................................................................... 18 Small Mammal Inventory............................................................................................ 21 Small Mammal Monitoring......................................................................................... 22 Birds................................................................................................................................ 23 Wood Frog Surveys...................................................................................................... 30 Freshwater Fish Inventory .......................................................................................... 30 Physical Resources ............................................................................................................... 31 Seismic Monitoring ...................................................................................................... 31 Long-term Glacier Monitoring .................................................................................. 32 Muldrow Glacier Monitoring..................................................................................... 33 Historic Photos of Glaciers......................................................................................... 33 Water Resource Management Plan Development .................................................. 33 Permafrost Monitoring................................................................................................ 34 Water Resource Investigation of the Toklat Basin .................................................. 35 Evaluation of Impacts to Water Resources from Proposed North Access Route ......................................................................................................................................... 36 i Wonder Lake Water Quality and Limnology Study................................................ 38 Weather Monitoring at Park Headquarters ............................................................. 40 Parkwide Climate Monitoring.................................................................................... 41 Weather Station on Mt. McKinley............................................................................. 43 Snow Surveys................................................................................................................. 44 Snowpack Characterization........................................................................................ 44 Air Quality Monitoring................................................................................................ 45 Toxic Airborne Contaminant Assessment................................................................ 45 Toklat River Floodplain Monitoring......................................................................... 46 Monitoring Landslide at Mile Post 45....................................................................... 46 Paleontological Survey of the Lower Cantwell Formation .................................... 47 Field Class for Geologic Mapping.............................................................................. 47 McKinley Quad Mapping............................................................................................ 48 Mining Issues ................................................................................................................ 48 Reclamation of Disturbed Areas—Glen Creek ........................................................ 48 Soundscape Inventory and Monitoring Program.................................................... 49 Social Sciences ................................................................................................................... 51 Visitor-related Projects................................................................................................ 51 Subsistence ......................................................................................................................... 51 Changes in Staff ............................................................................................................ 51 Traditional Subsistence Access Review for the Cantwell Area.............................. 52 Kantishna River Fall Chum Salmon Stock Assessment .......................................... 52 Aerial Fisheries Salmon Surveys................................................................................. 53 Cultural Resources ............................................................................................................ 53 Denali’s Historic Resources and National Register ................................................ 53 Eielson Visitor Center and the National Register of Historic Places.................... 54 Historical Research and Oral History ....................................................................... 55 Archeology..................................................................................................................... 56 Research Support .............................................................................................................. 56 Geographic Information System ................................................................................ 56 Research Administration............................................................................................. 57 Fact Sheets about Denali Research and Resources ................................................. 58 Brief Synopsis of Research Findings in 2005 ................................................................. 59 Murie Science and Learning Center ............................................................................... 66 Background ................................................................................................................... 66 Programs........................................................................................................................ 67 ii Natural Resources Integrated Programs and Findings Central Alaska Network Inventory and Monitoring at Denali The Central Alaska Network (CAKN) includes three national parks that encompass 21.7 million acres of land: Denali National Park and Preserve, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, and Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. CAKN’s Vital Signs