Inventory and Monitoring Program

The Inventory and Monitoring Program is a major component of the National Park Service’s strategy to improve park management through greater reliance on scientific information. 

Beginning in 1992, with additional support by the 1999 Natural Resource Challenge, the National Park Service implemented a strategy to institutionalize natural resource inventory and monitoring. The effort was undertaken to ensure that the more than 270 park units with significant natural resources possess the information needed for effective, science-based resource management decision-making.

This is the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network.

The national strategy consists of a framework having three major components: 1) completion of basic resource inventories upon which monitoring efforts can be based; 2) creation of experimental prototype monitoring programs to evaluate alternative monitoring designs and strategies; and 3) implementation of ecological monitoring in all parks with significant natural resources. Read more >>

Vital Signs Monitoring Program Goals:

1. Inventory the natural resources and park ecosystems under National Park Service stewardship to determine their nature and status;
2. Monitor park ecosystems to better understand their dynamic nature and condition, and to provide reference points for comparisons with other, altered environments;
3. Establish natural resource inventory and monitoring as a standard practice throughout the National Park system;
4. Integrate natural resource inventory and monitoring information into National Park Service planning, management, and decision making; and,
5. Share accomplishments and information with others and form partnerships for reaching common goals and objectives.