The I&M Program's Heartland Network (HTLN) recently completed inventories of vertebrate species and vascular plants at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield (WICR). In doing so, all existing data were cataloged, targeted field investigations were conducted, and species lists were certified by taxonomic experts. The primary goal of these efforts was to document at least 90% of the vertebrate and vascular plant species believed to occur in the park. This report provides a summary of results.

The first wagons to cross the plains from Missouri to New Mexico were part of William Becknell's 1822 Santa Fe trading expedition. The year previous, Becknell and five companions had been the first American traders to penetrate the newly independent Mexican nation. The handsome profits realized on that venture were the driving force behind the considerably more ambitious second expedition, which set out for Santa Fe within nine months of the first. According to Becknell's now-famous "journal," first published in the pages of the Missouri lntelligencer in 1823, his 1822 company consisted of...

The Southern Appalachian Mountains include the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, and Blue Ridge Parkway, several National Forests, and numerous State and privately owned parks and recreation areas. The region is known worldwide for its great beauty and biological diversity. Why does this are have such beautiful scenery and a diversity of plants and animals that is greater than in all of Northern Europe? How do the Mountains, and the rocks and minerals of which they are made, affect the lives of people? How do people affect the mountains? To address these questions, we need to understand...

"Moonshining as a trade, required only a few materials. Like other forms of alcohol distillation, it is quite simple in theory, yet difficult in practice. The four main ingredients include grain (usually corn meal, but sometimes wheat or rye), sugar, yeast, and water. Many recipes for moonshine exist but the essentials are to mix one quart of corn meal and one quart of corn malt (sprouted corn) with five gallons of water. Allow this to ferment for seven days. One of the more colorful moonshiners in this area for many years was Le Roy Slaven (1916-1987). Le Roy learned to make shine from his...

Increasingly, national parks are purchasing and operating buses and other alternative transportation vehicles to transport visitors to and from or within park boundaries. Selecting alternative transportation vehicles is a complex, multi-faceted process that involves the careful analysis of numerous factors. This material in this report originally was developed as a primer to orient park superintendents and transportation managers who participated in an Alternative Transportation Vehicle Workshop held March, 2002 in Estes Park, CO. It provides useful information and supplements Volume 1...

In 1999 the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) required Federal Lands Management Agencies, including the National Park Service (NPS), to have a comprehensive Traffic Safety Management System (TSMS). The NPS recognizes that improved safety data and analysis capabilities could improve crash record keeping and consideration of safety in NPS transportation investment decisions. With a TSMS NPS could become proactive, rather than reactive, in addressing traffic safety by identifying crash risks at their earliest manifestation. It is conservatively estimated that a TSMS could result in a net...

This project includes a traffic data needs assessment, creation of a network-based travel demand model, and preparation for multi-modal traffic simulation. The network model presents data of daily traffic flows seasonally throughout the park, providing park administrators with a source to consult when assessing the impact of road closure, tour bus rerouting or relocation, or changes in parking lot capacity. Volpe also worked on potentially enhancing traveler information systems that would assist traffic circulation analysis, daily park operations, information distribution, emergency traffic...

The Mohawk Valley Battlefield Ethnography Project was designed to document the relationships between contemporary Indian peoples and the events that occurred in central New York during the mid to late eighteenth century. The particular focus was Fort Stanwix, located near the Oneida Carry, which linked the Mohawk and St. Lawrence Rivers via Wood Creek, and the Oriskany Battlefield. Because of its strategic location, Fort Stanwix was the site of several critical treaties between the British and the Iroquois and, following the American Revolution, between the latter and the United States. This...