Inflation Reduction Act
Resilience | FY23-26 USD 3,417,400

The National Park Service (NPS) will address the decline in long-term forest resilience in the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Rock Creek Park, Monocacy National Battlefields, and Catoctin Mountain Park. Chronic stressors such as excessive deer, invasive plants, forest pests, and habitat fragmentation have led to reduced forest regeneration and increased vulnerability. As climate change exacerbates these challenges, the project focuses on building resilience and preventing forest loss through integrated management actions, including removing invasive plants, planting native trees, protecting endangered species, and targeted thinning.

Why? Forests play a critical role in providing ecosystem services and supporting local communities. The Resilient Forest Initiative prioritizes the management of the forests of the eastern national parks, including the impacted parks. These protected forests are home to older trees compared to surrounding areas and provide important habitat for diverse species, including rare and endangered taxa. The urgency arises from the impending or likely failure of forest regeneration in these parks due to worsening stressors, which will result in forest loss. Invasive pests such as the Asian ash jewel beetle have already caused significant damage, transforming closed-canopy forests into invasive shrub thickets, impacting ecosystem services and visitor experiences.

What else? The project is timely and serves as a model for other parks implementing wildlife management and addressing the new threat of beech leaf blight. The rapid loss of beech, an essential component of these forests, highlights the urgency of building resilient forests to ensure recovery from future pest infestations and respond to the long-term challenges of climate change.