The North Coast & Cascades Science Learning Network National Park Service

National Parks are required to "preserve and protect" all the natural and cultural resources within their boundaries. So what DO the parks contain? This four-minute video shows Park Service scientists making the newest and most advanced vegetation map of park resources to date. This map will be baseline data showing what is here now... for use in comparisons as climate changes.


Most carnivores need larger areas to roam than plant-eating animals. Discovering their numbers and distribution over the landscape is the work of carnivore monitoring. Roger Christophersen from North Cascades National Park explains how park scientists monitor carnivores using hair snares, motion detection cameras, and DNA analysis.


This "Science Minute Video" shows staff and students from Fort Vancouver and the NW Cultural Resources Institute Archaeological Field School doing field work. Dr. Doug Wilson explains the work and the reasons why it's important.


National Park Service policy aims to restore any animals missing from the parks due to human actions. The fisher is a weasel-family animal that was trapped to extinction for its beautiful fur by the 1930's in what is now Olympic National Park. Dr. Patti Happe, the park's wildlife biologist worked from 2008-2010 with a team of interagency partners to trap 90 of these animals in British Columbia and release them in the park. This video gives a feeling for the project and the people involved.


Glaciers are sensitive indicators of climate change. In this video we meet Dr. Jon Riedel, lead glaciologist at North Cascades National Park. Jon shows how he monitors glaciers and explains his reasons for doing so.

Klondike Gold Rush Seattle is a historical site dedicated to preserving and interpreting the role of Seattle in the historic events of the 1890's. This "Science Minute Video" explains the preservation of a historical treasure at Klondike Gold Rush (Seattle) and features the Park Service scientists who work with these materials.