The vital sign selection process of the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program (I&M) identified forest vegetation monitoring as a critical need for the parks of the National Capital Region Network (NCRN). The data collected using this protocol will provide much needed baseline information on the forests in the NCRN, particularly in terms of community structure and composition. The information will also be used to determine long term trends in community composition, and in the abundance and distribution of individual species.

In 2000, the National Capital Region Inventory and Monitoring Network (NCRN) initiated a deer monitoring program to collect information on deer densities. The program is carried out through fall spotlight surveys in Antietam National Battlefield, Catoctin Mountain Park, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park- Gold Mine Tract, George Washington Memorial Parkway - Great Falls Park, Manassas National Battlefield Park, Monocacy National Park, National Capital Parks - East (Greenbelt and Piscataway units), Prince William Forest Park, and Rock Creek Park. Pellet-group counts are used in Harpers Ferry National Historic Park because of the lack of a road network. This report summarizes and analyzes the fall 2008 spotlight surveys and the 2008 fall-winter pellet-group count.

The vital sign selection process of the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program (I&M) identified fish, macroinvertebrates, and physical habitat characteristics as a critical need for the parks of the National Capital Region Network (NCRN). In 2005, the National Capital Region Inventory and Monitoring Network (NCRN) initiated a long-term water quality and quantity monitoring program, funded in part by the National Park Service Water Resources Division. The Biological monitoring portion of the program is carried out every 6 years at 37 sites within 10 of the NCRN parks. The data collected using this protocol will provide much needed baseline information on the stream biological resources in the NCRN, particularly in terms of community structure and composition. The information will also be used to determine long term trends in community composition, as well as trends in the abundance and distribution of individual species.

Fort Clatsop National Memorial was established in 1958 to commemorate the culmination and the 1805 to 1806 winter encampment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition on the Oregon coast. In 2004, Congress authorized the expansion of the Fort Clatsop National Memorial from 51 ha (125 acres) to 1295 ha (3,200 acres) and renamed the National Park Service unit to Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (LEWI). LEWI now encircles the ecologically significant Columbia River estuary.

A wonderfully illustrated book filled with everything you would ever need to know about blue whales.... and Billy of course. This book is designed to make children's eyes light up with interest. Enjoy

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in support of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration s Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (NOAA/MMHSRP) conducts annual interlaboratory comparison exercises for the determination of chlorinated pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyl congeners, and trace elements in marine mammal tissues. These exercises provide one mechanism for laboratories to evaluate their measurement quality and comparability for these constituents in marine mammal tissues. In the 2003 exercise, 24 laboratories participated in determining the concentrations of selected polychlorinated biphenyl congeners (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides in a homogenized blubber control material Marine Mammal Quality Assurance Exercise Homogenate VI (Homogenate VI) and Standard Reference Material (SRM) 1945 Organics in Whale Blubber. This report includes the results reported by the participating laboratories, combined consensus data results, and summary statistics for each analyte in the samples. The numerical indices used to assess laboratory performance are also discussed.