MANAGING RESEARCH IN PROPOSED WILDERNESS: THE GRAND CANYON EXPERIENCE

According to Director's Order and Resource Manual #41, Wilderness Preservation and Management, parks with wilderness must manage Suitable, Study Area, Proposed, Recommended, and Potential wilderness to preserve their wilderness character and values undiminished, and make decisions in expectation of eventual wilderness designations. The Wilderness Act of 1964 states in section 4(c) that "…except as necessary to meet the minimum requirements for the administration of the area for the purpose of this Act…there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation…" within a Wilderness area. These are referred to as "prohibited uses" as defined by the Act and NPS Wilderness Management Policy.

Ninety percent of Grand Canyon National Park is Proposed wilderness. Approximately 85 research projects take place each year, mostly within the Proposed wilderness. About half of these studies are implemented by the U.S. Geological Survey under the mandate of the Grand Canyon Protection Act, and have strong support from the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group, a committee of 25 federal, state, tribal, and non-government organizations. Although the importance of Wilderness areas for scientific study has long been recognized, many issues connected with wilderness and technology remain unresolved.

Since 1996 the park has reviewed new research proposals under an evolving wilderness minimum requirement decision process (MRP). The minimum requirement concept enables managers to examine and document whether a generally prohibited activity or use is necessary in wilderness, and if it is, what is the least intrusive equipment or practice that will achieve wilderness management objectives. This presentation examines a broad multidisciplinary research program in Grand Canyon National Park and how the minimum requirement process can be applied to mitigate potential research impacts on wilderness resources.