Heartland Network
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.
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To carry out its mission, the National Park Service (NPS) serves as a steward for the preservation of America's national parks and their resources. The NPS has initiated a service-wide, network-based natural resource inventory and monitoring (I & M) program to address the lack of credible scientific information available to parks. The purpose of the program is to design and implement long-term ecological monitoring and provide information for park managers to evaluate the integrity of park ecosystems and better understand ecosystem processes.
The goals of Inventory and Monitoring networks are:
- inventory the natural resources and park ecosystems under National Park Service stewardship to determine their nature and status;
- monitor park ecosystems to better understand their dynamic nature and condition, and to provide reference points for comparisons with other, altered environments;
- establish natural resource inventory and monitoring as a standard practice throughout the National Park system;
- integrate natural resource inventory and monitoring information into National Park Service planning, management, and decision making;
- share accomplishments and information with others and form partnerships for reaching common goals and objectives. >> read more