Monitoring

The goals of CUPN follow those developed as Servicewide Goals for Vital Signs Monitoring for the National park Service.  These are:

• Determine status and trends in selected indicators of the condition of park ecosystems to allow managers to make better-informed decisions and to work more effectively with other agencies and individuals for the benefit of park resources.

Joe Meiman, Hydrogeologist for CUPN, sampling water at the Sinking Springs site at Abraham Licoln Birthplace NHS.
• Provide early warning of abnormal conditions and impairment of selected resources to help develop effective mitigation measures and reduce costs of management.
• Provide data to better understand the dynamic nature and condition of park ecosystems and to provide reference points for comparisons with other, altered environments.
• Provide data to meet certain legal and Congressional mandates related to natural resource protection and visitor enjoyment.
• Provide a means of measuring progress towards performance goals.