Invasive and exotic species management for Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve: 2009 Summary report
Dates
Year
2010
Citation
Terwilliger, Miranda N., Donohue, Joseph M., Gilmore, Lilian M., Harper, Tamara E., and Laushman, Katie M., 2010, Invasive and exotic species management for Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve: 2009 Summary report: National Park Service: Fort Collins, Colorado, v. NPS/WRST/NRDS—2010/023, 61 Pages.
Summary
This report describes the work performed by the Exotic Plant Management Team (EPMT) at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST) during the 2009 season. Four EPMT members were stationed at three locations in the park: Copper Center, Slana, and McCarthy-Kennecott. Invasive plant inventories and weeding occurred around these three locations, along the McCarthy and Nabesna Roads, along the Copper River, at other locations in the Copper Basin, and at seven backcountry destinations within the park. Invasive plant populations were mapped using GeoXT Trimble units and manual weeding was performed with the help of volunteers, a Southeast Alaska Guidance Association (SAGA) crew, and seasonal National Park Service (NPS) employees. [...]
Summary
This report describes the work performed by the Exotic Plant Management Team (EPMT) at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST) during the 2009 season. Four EPMT members were stationed at three locations in the park: Copper Center, Slana, and McCarthy-Kennecott. Invasive plant inventories and weeding occurred around these three locations, along the McCarthy and Nabesna Roads, along the Copper River, at other locations in the Copper Basin, and at seven backcountry destinations within the park. Invasive plant populations were mapped using GeoXT Trimble units and manual weeding was performed with the help of volunteers, a Southeast Alaska Guidance Association (SAGA) crew, and seasonal National Park Service (NPS) employees. Data was edited and analyzed using Pathfinder Office and ArcGIS. A total of 187 bags were filled with pulled weeds, an increase of over a hundred bags from 2008. Weed bags were burned in the gravel pit south of the Administration Building at WRST Headquarters. Three new eradications were recorded this year. Total canopy acres controlled (0.151) were slightly larger than in 2008 (0.1), while gross park acres treated increased to 7.205 acres in 2009, from 1 acre in 2008. A total of 215.4 park acres and 60.2 acres of non-park lands were surveyed in 2009. These results indicate that the expansion of the WRST EPMT program to include two workers stationed in McCarthy-Kennecott and one in Slana is having positive effects on the program. As of the end of the 2009 field season WRST has documented 261.6 acres of invasive weeds on park land.
