Attachment B_ROMO_Foundation Document.pdf

May 2013

Foundation Document Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Attachment B ROMO Foundation Document

Tra il Ridge Road

ROOSEVELT NATIONAL FOREST

SHADOW

MOUNTAIN

LAKE

LAKE

GRANBY

GRAND

LAKE

ASPENGLEN

LONGS PEAK

TIMBER CREEK

MORAINE PARK

GLACIER BASIN

Alpine Visitor Center

Fall River Visitor Center

Kawuneeche Visitor Center

Beaver Meadows Visitor Center

Moraine Park Visitor Center

ROOSEVELT

NATIONAL FOREST

ARAPAHO

NATIONAL

FOREST

ROUTT NATIONAL FOREST

Longs Peak

Estes Park

Grand Lake

Produced by Denver Service Center Planning Division January 2013

Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado

National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

0 4 Miles

Legend

Campgrounds

Visitor Centers

Continental Divide

Major Roads

Trails

Lakes

National Forest

Park Boundary

Cover photo: NPS photo by John Marino

Rocky Mountain National Park

Contents Mission of the National Park Service

Introduction

Part 1: Core Components Brief Description of Rocky Mountain National Park

Park Purpose

Park Significance

Interpretive Themes

Fundamental Resources and Values (FRVs)

Other Important Resources and Values, Summary

Part 2: Dynamic Components Special Mandates and Administrative Commitments

Assessment of Planning and Data Needs

Analysis of Fundamental Resources and Values

Identification of Key Parkwide or Major Issues, Prioritization of Planning and Data Needs

Part 3: Preparers, Consultants, and Meeting Attendees

Appendix A: Enabling Legislation and Other Acts Rocky Mountain National Park established by Congressional

Act of January 26, 1915 (P.L. 63-238, 38 Stat.798)

The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail is established by

Congressional Act of November 10, 1978 (P.L. 95-625, 92 Stat. 3512)

Cache la Poudre added to the Wild and Scenic Rivers System by

Congressional Act of October 30, 1986 (P.L. 99-590, 100 Stat. 3330)

Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness (249,339 acres) is designated as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation

System by Congressional Act of March 30, 2009

Other acts

Appendix B: Related Federal Legislation, Regulations, Executive Orders and Director’s Orders

Legislation and Acts, Code of Federal Regulations, Executive Orders

NPS Director’s Orders (partial list), NPS Management Policies 2006

Appendix C: Inventory of Key Past Planning Documents

Appendix D: Inventory and Analysis of Special Mandates and Key Administrative Commitments

Special Mandates

Key Administrative Commitments

Appendix E. Excerpts from “Building Blocks for Wilderness Stewardship – Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness”

History of Wilderness Designation

Current Land Status

Relationship to Other Policies and Programs, Rocky

Mountain National Park Wilderness Character Narrative

Appendix F. Cache la Poudre- Wild and Scenic River Values Statements

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, The Cache la Poudre Wild and Scenic River Designation

Wild and Scenic River Values

NPS photo by Sarah Conlin

Mission of the National Park Service The mission of the National Park Service is to preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system, for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.

The National Park Service (NPS) is a bureau within the Department of the Interior. Although numerous National Parks had been created earlier, it was not until August 25, 1916, that President Woodrow Wilson signed the act formally establishing the National Park Service to manage these sites.

The core values are a statement of the framework in which the National Park Service accomplishes its mission. They express the manner in which, both individually and collectively, the National Park Service pursues its mission.

National Park Service core values:

Shared stewardship. We share a commitment to resource stewardship with the global preservation community.

Excellence. We strive continually to learn and improve so that we may achieve the highest ideals of public service.

Integrity. We deal honestly and fairly with the public and one another.

Tradition. We are proud of it; we learn from it; we are not bound by it.

Respect. We embrace each other’s differences so that we may enrich the well-being of everyone.

The national park system continues to grow, and currently comprises 398 park units covering more than 84 million acres in every state (except Delaware), the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. These areas include national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, and the White House. The variety and diversity of nation park units throughout the nation require the same commitment to resource stewardship and management in order to ensure both the protection and enjoyment of these resources for future generations.

Approximately 22,000 diverse professionals work for the National Park Service, and each year approximately 281,303,769 people visit the units of the national park system. To meet the needs of the American people, the National Park Service cooperates with partners and works with dedicated volunteers to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.

The Arrowhead The arrowhead was authorized as the official National Park Service emblem by the Secretary of the Interior on July 20, 1951. The Sequoia tree and bison represent vegetation and wildlife, the mountains and water represent scenic and recreational values, and the arrowhead represents historical and archeological values.

NPS photo

Introduction Every unit of the national park system needs a formal statement of its core mission to provide basic guidance for all planning and management decisions: a foundation for planning and management. Increasing emphasis on government accountability and restrained federal spending make it imperative that all stakeholders understand the park’s purpose, significance, interpretive themes, fundamental resources and values, and special mandates and administrative commitments, as well as legal and policy requirements for administration and resource protection.

The primary advantage of developing and adopting a foundation document is the opportunity to integrate and coordinate all kinds and levels of planning and decision making from a single, shared understanding of what is most important about the park. The process of preparing a foundation document helps park managers, staff, and stakeholders develop or affirm an understanding of what is most important about the park and identify the additional information needed to plan for the future.

The foundation document can be used in all aspects of park management to ensure that the most important management objectives are accomplished before addressing other items that are also important but not directly critical to achieving the park purpose and maintaining its significance. Thus, the development of a foundation document for Rocky Mountain National Park is essential for effectively managing the park over the long term and protecting the park’s resources and values that are integral to the park’s purpose and identity.

This foundation document was developed as a joint effort among park staff, the Denver Service Center Planning Division, and the Intermountain Region. A workshop was held April 10–11, 2012, in Estes Park, Colorado. A full list of attendees and preparers is included at the end of the document.

The park atlas is also a part of the foundation project. It is a geographic information system (GIS) product that can be published as a hard copy paper atlas and as electronic geospatial data in a Web-mapping environment. The purpose of the park atlas is to act as a reference for park projects and to facilitate planning decisions as a GIS-based planning support tool.

The atlas covers various geographic elements that are important for park management such as natural and cultural resources, visitor use patterns, and facilities. It can be developed as part of a planning project (e.g., general management plan, foundation document), although it can also be designed as an independent product.

Part 1: Core Components All foundation documents include the following core elements:

The park purpose is the specific reason(s) for establishing a particular park. A park purpose statement is grounded in a thorough analysis of the park’s legislation (or executive order) and legislative history and may include information from studies that were generated prior to the park’s establishment. The park purpose statement goes beyond a restatement of the law to document shared assumptions about what the law means in terms specific to the park.

The park significance statements express why the park’s resources and values are important enough to warrant national park designation. Statements of the park’s significance describe why an area is important within a global, national, regional, and systemwide context. Significance statements are directly linked to the purpose of the park and are substantiated by data or consensus that reflect the most current scientific or scholarly inquiry and cultural perceptions, which may have changed since the park’s establishment.

Interpretive themes connect park resources to relevant ideas, meanings, concepts, contexts, beliefs, and values. They support the desired interpretive outcome of increasing visitor understanding and appreciation of the significance of the park’s resources. In other words, they are the most important messages to be communicated to the public about the park. Interpretive themes are based on park purpose and significance.

Fundamental resources and values are features, systems, organisms, processes, visitor experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, smells, or other attributes of the park determined to warrant primary consideration during planning and management because they are critical to achieving the park’s purpose and maintaining its significance.

Other important resources and values are resources and values that are determined to be important and integral to park planning and management, although they are not related to the park’s purpose and significance.

NPS photo by John Marino

Brief Description of Rocky Mountain National Park Established by Congress on January 26, 1915, Rocky Mountain National Park encompasses 265,761 acres or 415 square miles of the scenic southern Rocky Mountains. Nearly one-third of the park is above tree line, or higher than 11,400 feet in elevation. Seventy-two named peaks rise above 12,000 feet, with the high point being the expansive summit of Longs Peak at 14,259 feet. The mountains provide Rocky Mountain National Park with its sense of wonder and inspiration. These great peaks contribute mightily to the “wild, fantastic views” that thrilled noted British visitor Isabella Bird more than a century ago.

The park’s mountains support a diversity of ecosystems, including montane, subalpine, and alpine biological communities, ranging in elevation from 7,600 to 14,259 feet. The park also includes lush riparian and aquatic ecosystems based in 147 lakes and 450 miles of streams that speckle and divide the other ecosystems. Stands of ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, lodgepole pine, aspen, subalpine fir, and Engelmann spruce adorn the mountainsides.

The forests are interspersed with mountain meadows.

Rocky Mountain National Park ranks as one of America’s premier wildlife watching destinations, showcasing elk, bighorn sheep, mule deer, moose, black bears, coyotes, cougars, eagles, hawks, ptarmigan, and scores of smaller animals. The park provides refuge for about 60 mammal species and more than 280 recorded bird species, as well as 6 amphibians, 1 reptile, 11 fish, and countless insect species, including a large number of butterflies.

The lands now known as Rocky Mountain National Park have been home to humans for at least 10,000 years. Human evidence surfaces in a wide range of places within the current park boundaries; including the edge of glaciers, across the Continental Divide, and in valleys throughout the park. Aboriginal people, explorers, homesteaders, miners, hunters, and dude ranchers have used the area at one time or another. Archeological sites and both remnants of buildings and structures exist in the park as a record of human activity. (Only about half of the park has been surveyed for archeological sites.) The park’s archeology and historic structures environment illustrates the history of the park from American Indian use, to homesteader ranches, to its growth through the rustic phase that includes work by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and up to the Mission 66 period when parks were being updated to keep up with the burgeoning tourism industry that arrived after World War II ended. Some of these sites are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places or are already on the national register and are protected in the park.

In 1977, UNESCO included Rocky Mountain National Park in the international system of biosphere reserves, in addition to designating three research natural areas in the park as core areas of the reserve. Biosphere reserves are sites that are recognized for their roles in conserving genetic resources; facilitating long-term research and monitoring; and encouraging education, training, and the demonstration of sustainable resource use.

In 1986, 75 miles of the Cache la Poudre River were designated as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The 14 miles of the Poudre within Rocky Mountain National Park are to be protected for their “outstandingly remarkable values,” be preserved in their “free-flowing condition,” and they and their immediate environments are to be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations (Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, October 2, 1968).

In 2009, Congress designated the Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness Area, covering about 252,085 acres, or 95% of the park. Wilderness designation protects the land’s wilderness character, natural, untrammeled, and undeveloped conditions, opportunities for solitude and primitive recreation, and scientific, educational, and historical values.

Rocky Mountain National Park’s wide range of elevations and habitats offer a wide variety of opportunities for visitors. Over 355 miles of trails offer opportunities to hikers and backpackers. Many trails are available to horseback riders, including portions of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. Frontcountry and backcountry campers have hundreds of campsites to choose from. Mountain climbers, anglers, bird-watchers, and photographers have many opportunities to pursue their interests in the park. Visitors can also drive Trail Ridge Road, which topping out at 12,183 feet is the highest, continuous, paved road in the United States. Trail Ridge Road is designated as an All American Road by the U.S. Department of Transportation and one of 10 designated American Byways in Colorado. Although most visitors come in the summer, during the winter snowshoers and cross-country skiers can enjoy the tranquility of snow-clad meadows and forests. In 2011, a total of 3,394,326 recreational visits were recorded in the park, making Rocky Mountain National Park the 23rd most visited park unit, and the 5th most visited national park in the national park system.

The gateway communities of Grand Lake, Estes Park, and Allenspark provide visitors with a variety of services to enhance their enjoyment of the area. A majority of the connected lands are managed by the U.S. Forest Service, including the Roosevelt and Arapaho National Forests, and the Rawah, Neota, Comanche Peak, and Indian Peaks Wilderness areas.

NPS photo by Russell Smith

Park Purpose The park purpose identifies the specific reason for the establishment of a particular park.

Purpose statements are crafted through a careful analysis of the enabling legislation and the legislative history that molded the establishment and development of the park. Rocky Mountain National Park was first established in 1915 when the park’s initial enabling legislation was passed and signed into law (see Appendix A for enabling legislation and subsequent amendments). The purpose statement reinforces the foundation for future park management, administration, and use decisions. The following purpose statement was based on the review of park legislation, previous management documents, and discussions with park staff:

THE PURPOSE OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

is to preserve the high-elevation ecosystems and wilderness character of the southern Rocky Mountains within its borders and to provide the freest recreational use of and access to the park’s scenic beauties, wildlife, natural features and processes, and cultural objects.

Park Significance Significance statements express why the park’s resources and values are important enough to warrant national park designation. Statements of significance describe why an area is important within a global, national, regional, and systemwide context. These statements are linked to the purpose of the park and are substantiated by data, research, and consensus. They describe the park’s distinctive nature and help inform management decisions, focusing efforts on preserving and protecting the park’s most important resources and values.

The following significance statements have been identified for Rocky Mountain National Park (Please note that the statements are in no particular order):

1. Rocky Mountain National Park provides exceptional access to wild places for visitors to recreate and experience solitude and outstanding scenic beauty. Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous paved road in the United States, and the extensive trail system bring visitors to the doorstep of a variety of wilderness-based recreational opportunities.

2. Fragile alpine tundra encompasses one-third of Rocky Mountain National Park, one of the largest examples of alpine tundra ecosystems protected in the contiguous United States.

3. Glaciers and flowing fresh water carved the landscapes of Rocky Mountain National Park. The park is the source of several river systems, including the Colorado River and the Cache la Poudre, Colorado’s first and only designated wild and scenic river.

4. The dramatic elevation range within the park boundary, which spans from 7,600 feet to 14,259 feet and straddles the Continental Divide, allows for diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, varied plant and animal communities and a variety of ecological processes. The park is designated as a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural (UNESCO) international biosphere reserve and globally important bird area, with portions of the park’s montane, subalpine, and alpine ecosystems managed as research natural areas for scientific and educational purposes.

5. The mountainous landscape of Rocky Mountain National Park has drawn people to the area for thousands of years. Visitors can see remnants of the different ways people have used this land over time, ranging from prehistoric big game drives to dude ranching to recreational tourism.

Interpretive Themes Interpretive themes are often described as the key stories or concepts that visitors should understand after visiting a park—they define the most important ideas or concepts communicated to visitors about a park unit. Themes are derived from—and should reflect—park purpose, significance, resources, and values. The set of interpretive themes is complete when it provides the structure necessary for park staff to develop opportunities for visitors to explore and relate to all of the park significances and fundamental resources and values.

Interpretive themes are an organizational tool that reveal and clarify meaning, concepts, contexts, and values represented by park resources. Sound themes are accurate and reflect current scholarship and science. They encourage exploration of the context in which events or natural processes occurred and the effects of those events and processes. They go beyond a mere description of the event or process to foster multiple opportunities to experience and consider the park and its resources. Themes help to explain why a park story is relevant to people who are unconnected to an event, time, or place.

While themes are important as an organizational tool to guide management decisions, they are not intended for public use. The themes offer park staff guidance on focusing on relevant visitor experiences, and what matters to the public is how these themes are represented through park services, media, programming, and facilities.

The following interpretive themes for Rocky Mountain National Park were developed by park interpretation and management staff, with participation by representatives of the Rocky Mountain Nature Association, the park’s primary education partner:

• Diverse natural ecosystems provide opportunities to understand the interconnectedness of the natural world and foster stewardship.

• Rocky Mountain National Park’s spectacular mountain wilderness provides opportunities to connect to the natural world through recreation, enjoyment, learning, and spiritual renewal.

• National parks like Rocky Mountain National Park serve as a resource benchmark and play an important role as an international outdoor laboratory where changes can be monitored and the health of the planet can be assessed.

• Human use of this land has evolved over time and reflects landscape values and use from American Indians to early settlers to today’s visitors.

Fundamental Resources and Values Fundamental resources and values (FRVs) are those features, systems, processes, experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, smells, or other attributes determined to warrant primary consideration during planning and management because they are critical to achieving the park’s purpose and maintaining its significance.

The preeminent responsibility of park managers is to ensure the conservation and public enjoyment of those qualities that are critical (fundamental) to achieving the park’s purpose and maintaining its significance. These qualities are called the park’s fundamental resources and values. Fundamental resources and values are closely related to legislative purpose, and are more specific than significance statements. Fundamental resources and values help focus planning and management on what is truly important about the park. If they are allowed to deteriorate, the park purpose and/or significance could be jeopardized.

This distinction is made to ensure fundamental resources and values receive specific consideration in park planning processes, because of their relationship to the park’s purpose and significance.

The following fundamental resources and values have been identified for Rocky Mountain National Park:

• Access to wild places – The exceptional access to wild places available in Rocky Mountain National Park increases the relevancy of the park and fosters stewardship by providing urban escape, recreational opportunities, and linking visitors back to nature. The park’s high-quality roads, trails, and shuttle systems bring visitors to the doorstep of wilderness and help support a high quality visitor experience.

• High-elevation Ecosystems – The high-elevation ecosystems of Rocky Mountain National Park represent a dynamic interaction of southern Rocky Mountain landscapes. The park’s alpine tundra, a component of this confluence, is iconic throughout the Intermountain West and holds international significance.

• Wilderness character – Ninety-five percent of Rocky Mountain National Park is designated as wilderness, and this vast and steep landscape strongly exemplifies the qualities that comprise wilderness character. The largely pristine and primitive landscape provides opportunities for personal challenge and a natural haven for flora and fauna to thrive.

• Headwaters of the Continental Divide – Headwaters provide a source of clean fresh water to four major river systems, including a 14-mile wild segment of the Cache la Poudre Wild and Scenic River, the Big Thompson River, and the iconic Colorado River. Water has defined the landscapes of the park and is integral to the three major ecosystems (alpine, subalpine, and montane) and some of the park’s rarest habitats (alpine lakes, fens, bogs, riparian willow and aspen communities).

Headwaters lakes and streams support unique communities of aquatic, riparian, and terrestrial species.

• Ability to experience a wide variety of recreational opportunities – Rocky Mountain National Park is a premier Colorado destination that provides an exceptionally wide range of recreational experiences for a diverse group of users.

Diverse visitor opportunities can include high elevation experiences along the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, strolls around Bear Lake, climbs up lofty Longs Peak, and wildlife viewing and scenic driving along Trail Ridge Road.

• Traces of human footprints on the landscape – Rocky Mountain National Park’s landscape has been a magnet for people through time. Visitors can still experience the remnants of these peoples’ diverse uses, ranging from Paleo-Indian big game drives, to extractive activities and dude ranching, to early tourism and recreational activities that led to the popular support for the area’s designation as a national park.

Other Important Resources and Values Rocky Mountain National Park contains other resources and values that may not be fundamental to the purpose and significance of the park, but are important to consider in management and planning decisions. These are referred to as other important resources and values.

Following is the other important resource and value for Rocky Mountain National Park:

• Beaver Meadows Visitor Center – Beaver Meadows is considered one of the four most significant visitor centers produced during the Mission 66 era and was designated a national historic landmark in 2001. The building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s studio, Taliesen Associated Architects, during the critical time following Wright’s death in 1959. The 1967 visitor center expresses Wright’s blending of modern architecture and modern construction materials with the surrounding environment and use of indigenous natural materials.

Summary As one of America’s first national parks, Rocky Mountain National Park is a dynamic unit of the national park system where the multiple goals of natural and cultural resource protection and recreational use and enjoyment must be carefully balanced. By stating the park’s purpose, articulating significance statements, understanding primary interpretive themes, and identifying the fundamental resources and values that need protection, management decisions that fulfill the park’s purpose can be made and understood. This foundation statement serves as the cornerstone for the future direction of Rocky Mountain National Park.

NPS photo by Ann Schonlau

Part 2: Dynamic Components Part 2 consists of two components:

• special mandates and administrative commitments

• assessment of planning and data needs

These components are likely to change after this foundation document is published and will need to be updated periodically.

Special Mandates and Administrative Commitments Many of a park unit’s management decisions are directed or influenced by special mandates and administrative commitments with other federal agencies, state and local governments, utilities, and other partnering organizations. Special mandates are requirements specific to a park that expand on or contradict a park’s legislated purpose.

They are park-specific legislative or judicial requirements that must be fulfilled along with the park’s purpose, even if they do not relate to that purpose. Administrative commitments in general are agreements that have been reached through formal, documented processes, such as memoranda of agreement. These agreements form a network of partnerships designed to better fulfill the objectives of Rocky Mountain National Park and facilitate working relationships with other organizations. All of these mandates and commitments either dictate some form of management action and/or allow particular uses on park lands (e.g., allowed traditional uses, easements or rights-of-way, maintenance needs, use of park facilities or lands, or emergency service responses). Thus, these mandates and commitments are an essential component in the foundation document and in managing and planning for Rocky Mountain National Park.

For more information on the park’s existing commitments, please see the inventory of special mandates and key administrative commitments table in appendix D.

Assessment of Planning and Data Needs To meet the park purpose, maintain park significance, and manage the fundamental resource and values of the park, a rapid assessment of data and planning needs is used to identify and prioritize these needs. This is a vital part of the foundation document process and enables each park unit to evaluate and define its long-range planning needs.

This assessment helps capture the condition of and threats to the various fundamental resources and values and other important resources and values and identifies what additional planning steps, data, and management efforts are necessary to maintain or protect the fundamental resources and values and other important resources and values.

There are three parts that make up the data and planning needs assessment:

1. analysis of fundamental resources and values

2. identification of key or major parkwide issues that need to be addressed by current and future planning

3. identification and prioritization of data and planning needs

Analysis of Fundamental Resources and Values The analysis of fundamental resources and values articulates the importance of each fundamental resource and value, its current condition, potential threats, and the related issues or data that warrant consideration and additional analysis for planning and management decisions. Included in the analysis is the identification of relevant laws and NPS policies related to the management of the resources as well as the recognition of stakeholder interests in these resources. The analysis of fundamental resources and values and identification of major issues leads up to and supports the identification and prioritization of needed plans and studies.

NPS photo

Fundamental Resource or Value

Access to Wild Places

Relationship to Significance Statements

Related directly to the significance statement concerning how Rocky Mountain provides exceptional access to wild places for visitors to recreate and experience solitude. Also indirectly related to all other significance statements.

Current Conditions and Trends

Conditions

• In general, access to wild places within the park is excellent, aided in part by facilities, roadways, and trails.

• Facilities within the park are generally in great condition.

• Roadways have been rehabilitated recently and are in a condition that will not require any major rehabilitation for the next 30 to 50 years.

• Trail Ridge Road is designated an All American Road by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 1996.

• Trail conditions in general are good, but could be improved.

Trends

• Visitation continues to increase, leading to congestion within the park’s most popular areas.

• Generally, access within the park has remained stable or increased.

Threats and Opportunities

Threats

• Pine beetle damage, windthrow, and wildland fire have and continue to cause damaged and hazardous trails, roads, and backcountry campsites.

• Decreased opportunities for access and solitude due to congestion and visitor crowding in many areas of the park.

• Climate change effects could alter conditions that allow for visitor access.

Opportunities

• Live operators at the Information Office improve the visitor experience in the park by responding to around 44,000 inquiries per year by phone, mail, and email.

• Recently improved shuttle bus system and implemented intelligent transportation system (ITS) and four commercial tour operators along Trail Ridge Road improve visitors’ access to wild places.

• Park visitors can even remotely “access” the wild places of the park through park the park website, information, and applications.

Stakeholders

• Commercial tour operators

• Colorado Department of Transportation

• Colorado Tourism Office

• Gateway communities of Estes Park, Grand Lake, and Allenspark

• Front Range residents of Colorado

• Visitors to the park

• Education community who discuss access opportunities in the park

• American Indian tribes

Fundamental Resource or Value

Access to Wild Places

Law and Policy Guidance

• NPS Management Policies 2006

• NPS Transportation Planning Guidebook

• Americans with Disabilities Act

• Architectural Barriers Act

• Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• Director's Order 42, Accessibility for Visitors with Disabilities in NPS Programs, Facilities, and Services

• Secretary of the Interior’s regulation 43 CFR 17, Enforcement on the Basis of Disability in

Interior Programs

• Automobile clause – The enabling legislation for the park states that, “The regulations governing the park shall include provisions for the use of automobiles therein” (38 Stat. 798, Chap. 19).

• Timber removal clause – The enabling legislation for the park states that mature or dead or down timber may be removed as deemed necessary and advisable for the protection and improvement of the park (38 Stat. 798, Chap. 19).

• Specific law about shuttle buses in parks (10 year contracts, retain fee money).

NPS Policy-level Condition

• Visitors have opportunities for forms of enjoyment that are uniquely suited and appropriate to the superlative natural and cultural resources found in Rocky Mountain National Park. All areas of the park—with the exceptions of private inholdings, the MacGregor Ranch, and areas that need special resource protection—continue to be open to visitors.

• Visitors have reasonable access to Rocky Mountain National Park. Transportation facilities inside and outside the park (e.g. roads, parking areas, trails, and shuttles) provide access for the use and enjoyment of park resources.

• To the extent feasible, park programs, services, and facilities are accessible to and usable by all people, including those with disabilities.

Identified Data Needs

• Visitor activity information, including type of activity and use of facilities/trails/etc.

• Day-use visitation statistics, including the Longs Peak trailhead, trails, and summit.

Identified Planning Needs

• Visitor use management plan that would address capacities of several areas of the park and determine where use should be limited, where it could be expanded, and strategies for managing use.

• Backcountry/wilderness management plan.

Fundamental Resource or Value

High-elevation Ecosystems

Relationship to Significance Statements

Related directly to the significance statements concerning the fragile alpine tundra, and the dramatic elevation range in the park and resulting ecosystems. Also indirectly related to all other significance statements.

Current Conditions and Trends

Conditions

• The alpine ecosystem has sustained human disturbance through recreation and development and indirectly through air pollution (chemical deposition, agricultural pesticides and nitrogen).

Climate data suggests the park’s high -elevation ecosystems have not changed relative to the park’s other ecosystems.

• The subalpine ecosystem is functioning, at increased risk due to unprecedented loss of limber pine.

• The montane ecosystem is functioning, but at risk. Risk is being reduced with active restoration (fire frequency, riparian habitat restoration, elk management, exotic species management).

Trends

• The alpine, subalpine, and montane ecosystems are functioning, but at risk from a number of threats. Therefore, the ecosystems are declining slightly.

Threats and Opportunities

Threats

• Although currently stable, the alpine ecosystem may be at risk from increased recreation, documented increases in temperatures, changes in the availability of water, air quality degradation, elevation expansion of exotic plant species, and a reduction in the extent of alpine tundra due to upward elevation shifts in subalpine species.

• The subalpine ecosystem is facing unprecedented magnitude of native pine beetle outbreak across North America, and the introduction of exotic blister rust. When combined with the ongoing drought in the area, these threats may increase the vulnerability of the ecosystem to fire.

• The montane ecosystem is the most impacted and affected by indicators of climate change (as documented through the expansion of exotics), relative small population of beaver, and historic human development, over-population of ungulates (elk and moose), introduced aquatic exotic species due to increased recreation (zebra mussel), and loss of amphibians (90% loss of boreal toads, extirpation of leopard frogs) due to aquatic exotics. Wildland urban interface near park boundary limits ability to actively manage wildland fires for ecological purposes.

Opportunities

• Continue expansion of an adaptive management throughout the park focused on ecosystem resiliency.

• Nitrogen deposition reduction agreement with state of Colorado, leading to reduced airborne contaminants and reduced contaminants from vehicles.

Stakeholders

• Colorado Division of Wildlife

• Gateway communities of Estes Park, Grand Lake, and Allenspark

• Grand, Boulder, and Larimer Counties

• Park visitors

• Scientific researchers and institutions

• Trout Unlimited

• U.S. Forest Service

• Water Supply and Storage Company

Fundamental Resource or Value

High-elevation Ecosystems

Law and Policy Guidance

• NPS Management Policies 2006 (§1.6, 4.1, 4.1.4, 4.4.1) provides general direction for managing park units from an ecosystem perspective

• NPS 77, Natural Resource Management Reference Manual #77

• Superintendent’s Office Order for protection of alpine and no net loss

• Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended

• National Invasive Species Act of 1996

• Federal Noxious Weed Act of 1974, as amended

• Executive Order 13112, “Invasive Species”

NPS Policy-level Condition

• The park is managed holistically, as part of a greater ecological, social, economic, and cultural system.

• Park managers seek to maintain all components and processes of naturally evolving park ecosystems. Natural disturbance and change are recognized as an integral part of the functioning of natural systems.

• Natural abundances, diversities, dynamics, distributions, habitats, and behaviors of native plant and animal populations are preserved and restored.

• Populations of native plant and animal species function in as natural condition as possible except where special considerations are warranted.

• Native species populations that have been severely reduced in or extirpated from the park are restored where feasible and sustainable.

• Potential threats to the park’s native plants and wildlife are identified early and proactively addressed through inventory and monitoring.

• Sources of air, water, and noise pollution and visitor uses adversely affecting plants and animals are limited to the greatest degree possible.

• Visitors and staff recognize and understand the value of the park’s native plants and wildlife.

• NPS staff uses the best available scientific information and technology to manage these resources.

• Federal- and state-listed threatened and endangered species and their habitats are protected and sustained. NPS staff monitors the introduction of nonnative species and provides for their control to minimize the economic, ecological, and human health impacts that these species cause.

Identified Data Needs

• Extent of invasive species within the park, both flora and fauna.

• Maps of migration routes for avian and other species that traverse the park.

• Beaver habitat and needs, including how beavers reoccupy disturbed lands.

• Climate change research to follow monitoring of subalpine and montane ecosystems and species of concern.

• Potential effects of limber pine loss in the park.

Identified Planning Needs

• Updated integrated pest management plan that addresses exotic invasive plants and animals.

• Climate change adaptation strategy, including habitat implications of climate change impacts and basic forecasting of ecological water supply.

NPS photo by Ann Schonlau

NPS photo by Peter Biddle

Fundamental Resource or Value

Wilderness Character

Relationship to Significance Statements

Related directly to the significance statement concerning exceptional access to wild places for visitors and the dramatic elevation range of the park and resulting ecosystems. Also indirectly related to all other significance statements.

Current Conditions and Trends

Conditions

• Low-use areas of the wilderness are still relatively pristine, while others are heavily used and therefore heavily impacted.

• Overall, the diversity of the wilderness still supports functioning ecosystems, contributing to a healthy natural quality.

• While some restoration projects negatively affect the untrammeled quality of the wilderness, the forces of nature still are the primary influence on the landscape.

• Some developments do exist within the wilderness, such as radio repeaters, patrol cabins, corrals, climate and air quality monitoring stations, and other evidence of human activity.

• The park’s proximity to an increasing urban population leads to congestion at access points and certain areas, such as Bear Lake, Wild Basin, Longs Peak, and Trail Ridge Road.

• Despite heavy visitor use in portions of the wilderness, the majority of the wilderness offers vast opportunities for solitude and renewal.

Trends

• The natural quality of the wilderness is much improved since the severe damage from uncontrolled visitor use in the 1950s and 1960s, yet new global and regional activities and threats continue to pose challenges.

• The park is working toward reducing the “hands-on” trammeling activities as ecosystems return to a more natural balance.

• The park removed many nonhistoric structures and high-elevation dams and has implemented a successful cross-cut saw program, supporting the undeveloped quality.

Fundamental Resource or Value

Wilderness Character

Threats and Opportunities

Threats

• Lack of clarity on how the cumulative impacts of park decisions impact wilderness character.

• Increasing Front Range population could lead to congested trails and high-use areas, decreasing the solitude quality.

• High levels of visitor use can disturb sensitive species and contribute to soil erosion and tundra disturbance.

• Growing Front Range urban areas contribute to light pollution in the night sky, as well as increased levels of ozone, nitrogen deposition, and negatively affect air quality.

• Increase in social trails.

• Uncertainty over how the changes in visitor use activities over time will impact wilderness character in the future.

• Climate change will likely negatively impact natural processes and ecological communities.

• Restoration projects to return ecological systems to their natural balance, such as elk culling projects and the Grand Ditch Breach restoration, may have negatively affected the park’s untrammeled quality in the short term, but overall have contributed to long-term improvements of wilderness character.

Opportunities

• Protection of natural sounds, through a partnership with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that has adopted new procedures for aircraft arrivals and departures at the three largest airports in the Denver Metro area.

• The state of Colorado has adopted air quality resources goals for the Rocky Mountain National Park Area to reduce nitrogen deposition in lakes and on the tundra.

• Education about appropriate wilderness uses and activities, such as the Leave No Trace policies.

• Using Minimum Requirements Analysis to determine the least intrusive administrative actions for wilderness management.

• Implementation of growing cross-cut saw program which supports the undeveloped quality.

• Opportunities for wilderness visitors to obtain a higher level of solitude by exploring more remote areas of the park.

• Concurrent research through the science program and data monitoring stations in the park provide a more complete picture of wilderness character.

• The Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division has conducted sound surveys in the park, and future research will document remote areas and establish a baseline for natural sounds in the park.

Stakeholders

• Commercial service operators (e.g., guided tours, horseback riding, fishing, hiking, photography)

• Gateway communities of Estes Park, Grand Lake, and Allenspark

• Scientific researchers and institution.

• State of Colorado

• Park visitors

• Wilderness Watch

• Wilderness Society

NPS photo by Peter Biddle

NPS photo by Russell Smith

NPS photo by Ann Schonlau

Fundamental Resource or Value

Wilderness Character

Law and Policy Guidance

• NPS Management Policies 2006

• Director’s Order 28: Cultural Resource Management Guideline

• Director’s Order 41: Wilderness Stewardship

• Wilderness Act of 1964

• PL 111-11 § 1952 – Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness (noted provisions including

Grand Ditch, East Shore Trail Area, and fire, insect, and disease control as appropriate)

• PL 111-11 § 1952 – Potential wilderness areas to be designated as wilderness upon cessation of uses incompatible with wilderness and publication of a notice in the Federal Register

• The Park Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1998 – Banned the use of low-flying, commercial air tours over Rocky Mountain National Park.

Fundamental Resource or Value

Wilderness Character

NPS Policy-level Condition

• The National Park Service manages wilderness areas, including those proposed for wilderness designation, “for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness” (16 USC 1131 Section 2(a)).

• The National Park Service ensures that the land’s “primeval character and influence” is retained and protected, that visitors continue to find “outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation,” and that the landscape “generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable” (16 USC 1131 Section 2(c)).

• The Wilderness Act of 1964 specifies that “each agency administering any area designated as wilderness shall be responsible for preserving the wilderness character of the area and shall so administer such area for such other purposes for which it may have been established as also to preserve its wilderness character” (16 USC 1131 Section 4(b)).

• The Wilderness Act of 1964 specifies that the designation of any area of the national park system as wilderness “shall in no manner lower the standards evolved for the use and preservation of such park, monument, or other unit of the national park system” under the various laws applicable to that unit (16 USC 1133 Section 4(a)(3)).

• Cultural resources that have been included within wilderness will be protected and maintained according to the pertinent laws and policies governing cultural resources using management methods that are consistent with the preservation of wilderness character and values.

• Natural processes, native components, and the interrelationships among them are protected, maintained, and/or restored to the extent possible, while providing opportunities for their enjoyment as wilderness.

• Present and future visitors enjoy the unique qualities offered in wilderness. These include the experiences of solitude, remoteness, risk, challenge, self-sufficiency, discovery, and observation of an untrammeled ecosystem.

• Wilderness management is based on the minimum requirement concept, allowing only those actions necessary and appropriate for administration of the area as wilderness and that do not cause a significant impact to wilderness resources and character. Implementation of such actions is done using techniques and types of equipment necessary to ensure that impacts on wilderness resources and character are minimized.

• The values of the wilderness in Rocky Mountain National Park are understood by the public and staff through education in wilderness ethics, use, and using management skills and techniques to promote and preserve these values.

• Operations and wilderness functions are coordinated in Rocky Mountain National Park to manage and protect natural and cultural resources in wilderness and preserve wilderness character.

• Ongoing communication about wilderness management policies and projects is maintained with the U.S. Forest Service and work will continue to be done with other local and regional groups, communities, agencies, and tribal governments to preserve wilderness values.

• The primary qualities that define wilderness character (untrammeled, undeveloped, naturalness, solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation, and other) are monitored and are protected and managed as required.

Identified Data Needs

• Day-use visitation statistics, including the Longs Peak trailhead, trails, and summit

• Visitor activity information, including type of activity and use of facilities/trails/etc.

Identified Planning Needs

• Visitor-use management plan that would address capacities of several areas of the park and determine where use should be limited, where it could be expanded, and strategies for managing use.

Fundamental Resource or Value

Headwaters of the Continental Divide

Relationship to Significance Statements

Related directly to the significance statement concerning glaciers, flowing fresh water, and river systems. Also indirectly related to the significance statements concerning exceptional access to wild places, and the remnants of human use of the land.

Current Conditions and Trends

Conditions

• The river systems (hydrologic function) of the park are impacted by water diversions, including the Grand Ditch. Water quality may be deteriorating through the incorporation of heavy metals, nitrogen, pesticides, and increased water…