Environmental dynamics and resource management in the U.S. National Parks

Conclusion

To conclude, these basic generalizations are submitted for consideration:

• Management actions designed to control and stabilize the natural landscape usually result in unexpected side effects that in turn require additional management action.

• Management actions to control the landscape are mostly site-specific. Therefore, procedures that were successful in one location may not be successful when applied elsewhere.

• The policy of managing the national parks should be to preserve and wherever possible to permit the evolution of the dominance of natural forces and the resulting landscapes and ecological scenes. This view should not be construed as a policy of neglect, but understood as a position of living with nature as opposed to one of man attempting to control nature. Any concession to this philosophy should be viewed as major departure in principle, merited only when irreplaceable features of national significance are in question.

• Interpretive programs administered by informed personnel are essential to successful application of this type of resource management policy. Application of the philosophy of adjusting to and living with the forces of nature will require new efforts to inform the public of the constructive nature of an everchanging landscape where the“Eddy State” and“Trend State” play significant roles in maintaining the environmental health of the National Parks.