National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior State of the Park Report Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Alaska 2017 National Park Service. 2017. State of the Park Report for Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. State of the Park Series No. 52. National Park Service, Washington, DC. On the cover: Tidewater glacial landscape within Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. NPS Photo. 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 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. The Purpose of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve (GBNPP) is to protect a dynamic tidewater glacial landscape and associated natural successional processes for science and accessible discovery in a wilderness setting. Significance statements express why the park unit’s resources and values are important enough to warrant national park unit designation. GBNPP is significant because: • Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve fosters unique opportunities for scientific studies of tidewater glacial landscapes and associated natural successional processes. • Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve gathers and protects records of exploration, scientific endeavor and human use, and provides for understanding the landscape through the lens of human experience and study. • Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve protects ecological integrity by preserving a diversity of large, contiguous, intact ecosystems (from the highest peaks of the Fairweather Range to the open Pacific Ocean and sheltered inland fjords) that are strongly dominated by natural processes. • Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve protects a natural biophysical landscape that is continually changing through large- scale natural disturbance followed by the biological succession of plants and animals, and accompanied by an evolving physical environment. • Glacier Bay National Park preserves one of the largest units of the national wilderness preservation system, encompassing more than 2.7 million acres of glacially influenced marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems. • Glacier Bay National Park preserves one of the largest (nearly 600,000 acres) areas of federally protected marine ecosystems in Alaska (including submerged lands) against which other less protected marine ecosystems can be compared. • Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve lies within two Tlingit ancestral homelands that are of cultural and spiritual significance to living communities today. • Glacier Bay National Park provides diverse opportunities for visitors to experience a dynamic tidewater glacial landscape. • Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve protects the remote and wild character of the Alsek River as a significant route of discovery and migration through the coastal mountain range to the Pacific Ocean. • Glacier Bay National Preserve protects a productive, evolving, glacial outwash ecosystem at the terminus of the Alsek River and provides a setting for subsistence uses, commercial fishing activities, and hunting as outlined by theAlaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). The summary tables, below, and the supporting information that follows, provide an overall assessment of the condition of priority resources and values at GBNPP based on scientific and scholarly studies and expert opinion. The internet version of this report, available at https://www.nps.gov/stateoftheparks/glba/, 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 State of the Park Report iii Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Executive Summary 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 tables 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). Condition Status Trend in Condition Confidence in Assessment Warrants Significant Condition is Improving High Concern Warrants Moderate Condition is Unchanging Medium Concern Resource is in Good Condition is Deteriorating Low Condition Park Fundamental Resources and Values Synthesis Table The following table is presented before the State of the Park Summary to synthesize the condition of park resources in a way that corresponds to the Fundamental Resources and Values and Other Important Resources and Values in Glacier Bay’s Foundation Statement. The information in the Rationale column is based upon one or more indicators in the State of the Park Report and the tables in Chapter 2. This Synthesis Table highlights those resources specific to the legislative authorizations of Glacier Bay. Condition Priority Resource or Value Rationale Status/Trend Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve fosters unique opportunities for scientific studies of tidewater glacial landscapes and associated natural successional processes� The opportunity for scientific research in the park is in good condition. Scientific Investigation Interesting and important scientific questions with the potential for major contributions to science abound, many are being actively pursued, and the NPS is providing many opportunities for research. Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve gathers and protects records of exploration, scientific endeavor and human use, and provides for understanding the Prehistoric and Historical landscape through the lens of human experience and study� The park’s performance Sites and Records in documenting and preserving prehistoric and historical sites and records and sharing that with the public is good. Significant work is still needed, especially in meeting national standards of record keeping. Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve protects ecological integrity by preserving a diversity of large, contiguous, intact ecosystems (from the highest peaks of the Fairweather Range to the open Pacific Ocean and sheltered inland fjords) that are strongly dominated by natural processes� GBNPP is a park with a dynamic and Ecological Integrity changing landscape. Significant concern related to the park’s ecological integrity is triggered by recent climate change-related reductions