Fire Island National Seashore (FIIS) is scheduled to begin preparation of a new General Management Plan (GMP) in the near future. A GMP outlines how natural and cultural resources, public uses, and park operations should be managed over the next several decades. The GMP addresses significant issues or challenges that are facing the park, proposes management solutions, and establishes management priorities. The Fire Island GMP will be prepared by a team of planners, with input from the park, technical subject matter experts, and with substantial public involvement.

The authors detail why monitoring the current status and population trends of fish communities and their habitats is an important tool for preserving and conserving aquatic resources in the national parks. The framework for monitoring small streams located in HTLN parks is directed towards maintaining their ecological integrity, which will be assessed through periodic monitoring of fish communities, physical habitat, and water quality. The authors describe the protocol which has been designed to incorporate the spatial relationship of biotic indicators with chemical constituents and physical habitat.

Birds are an important component of park ecosystems, as their high body temperature, rapid metabolism, and high ecological position in most food webs make them good indicators of the effects of local and regional changes in ecosystems. It has been suggested that management activities aimed at preserving habitat for bird populations, such as for neotropical migrants, can have the added benefit of preserving entire ecosystems and their attendant ecosystem services. Moreover, birds have a tremendous following among the public and many parks provide information on the status and trends of birds through their interpretive programs. The authors detail their findings via the use of trends in the composition and abundance of bird populations as long-term indicators of ecosystem integrity in the habitat of Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Kansas (TAPR).