Scientific and management issues relevant to natural resource stewardship in the 11 NETN parks were synthesized in scoping workshops and questionnaires. Land use change surrounding parks, habitat fragmentation, and invasive species were identified as “high priority” management issues for more than 80% of NETN parks. The human population in the New England states was 2.5 times greater in 2000 than it was when the NPS was established in 1916 (US Census data 2000). With the doubling of the human population in New England came increasing pressure on space and natural resources and is the primary cause for natural resource issues in the Northeast. The construction and maintenance of roads is among the most widespread forms of habitat alteration to natural communities and 82% of NETN parks identified car traffic as a management issue. Roads affect terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems through increased mortality caused by collisions with vehicles, modification of animal behavior, spread of exotic species, and changes in soil and water chemistry. Parks and reserves in the northeast exist as islands of habitat in a landscape matrix of developed or agricultural lands with some of the highest road densities in the US. Most NETN parks were established for cultural resources but have now become important to the maintenance of biological diversity and ecological integrity in the urbanizing landscapes where they occur and many of them are threatened by external impacts, especially roads.

Land cover change and the associated threats to natural ecological communities associated with habitat fragmentation are a common theme among NETN parks. Habitats within landscapes are altered at varying levels of intensity as human demand for space and natural resources increases, leaving many landscapes, especially those where human populations are dense, in a fragmented state. Habitat fragmentation can be manifest on the landscape via the direct loss of habitat, reduction in size of remaining patches, increased isolation, and loss of habitat diversity. Most ecosystems in the northeast have experienced some level of habitat fragmentation, which has been implicated as a principal threat to most species in the temperate zone. Parks in the NETN, most of which were established for cultural resources, are relatively small in size and located in increasingly urbanizing landscapes. The role they play to the maintenance of regional biological diversity may, however, be substantial. Falkner and Stohlgren (1997) conducted an analysis of the role of 44 NPS units in the Rocky Mountain region and found small, cultural parks contributed substantially to the conservation of regional biodiversity by acting as biological refugia, migration/dispersal rest stops and corridors, and living outreach programs. They indicated that small units had a disproportionate share of regional biodiversity and an understated role in the conservation of biodiversity in the region.

The ecological effects of invasive plant species were identified by most parks as a primary threat to park ecological communities. We solicited parks for a list of the invasive plants known to occur within park boundaries to begin the process of identifying priorities for monitoring and management. Non-indigenous species spread at the rate of about 700,000 hectares per year in the US with an impact on human economic systems estimated in the billions of dollars. Invasive species alter ecosystem structure, function, and species composition to such an extent that they threaten native flora and fauna. Non-native species are the second highest threat to the threatened and endangered species in the United States behind habitat loss. Of the 958 species listed, about 400 (42%) are threatened by non-native species.

The NETN parks share some common resource management issues, but also have park specific issues and management priorities. Clearly, coastal issues are a concern for Acadia and Boston Harbor Islands and high elevation forests are a primary concern for the Appalachian Trail. Deer browsing, a significant stressor to many ecological communities, was listed as a management priority for 5 parks. Climate change was only identified as a natural resource issue for parks with coastal and high elevation habitats.

Park resource managers were solicited for information regarding current and historical monitoring efforts within the network parks to identify opportunities to continue, modify, or expand existing programs. Air quality monitoring within a park is only occurring at Acadia, a designated Class 1 air quality area. Air quality around other network parks is ongoing and conducted by other programs. Acadia NP has an ongoing water quality monitoring program that includes stream invertebrates and is the only park in the network with this type of program. Morristown and Saratoga NHPs, 2 parks with ecological issues caused by over-abundance of deer, have ongoing deer population monitoring. Acadia, Appalachian Trail, and Morristown have specific threatened and endangered species monitoring programs, and Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller and St. Gaudens are the only parks with ongoing forest monitoring programs.

To help develop partnership opportunities with monitoring efforts being conducted by other federal and state agencies, national, regional, and local monitoring efforts that may be relevant to natural resource monitoring in our network have been reviewed.