Fifteen Years of Research: An Analysis of the UW-NPS Research Center, A Cooperative Park Studies Unit

Abstract

The foundation of the University of Wyoming­National Park Service Research Center (UW-NPS) is rooted in the first research station established in a national park. The Jackson Hole Research Station, was initiated in 1948 by the New York Zoological Society and the Jackson Hole Preserve, Inc. In 1953, the University of Wyoming (UW) joined with the New York Zoological Society in operating and sponsoring that facility and its research program. A name change in 1954 to the Jackson Hole Biological Research Station (JHBRS) described the research emphasis of the program. In 1971, the Yellowstone Environmental Research Center (YERC) program was jointly established by the University of Wyoming and the National Park Service-(NPS). Finally, a cooperative agreement between the University and the NPS in 1977 joined JHBRS with YERC to form the present UW-NPS Research Center, the first Cooperative Park Studies Unit (CPSU) in the Rocky Mountain Region (RMR) of the NPS. A field research facility at the former AMK Ranch continues to be cooperatively operated and maintained in Grand Teton National Park under a-long-term special use permit. With this reorganization, UW and NPS agreed to jointly sponsor and administer a new research program covering 19 national park areas in four states: Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. In 1985, Utah was added to the program, and Colorado was added in 1990 to reach a total of 41 park units. The Research Center is headquartered in the Department of Zoology and Physiology on the University of Wyoming campus, Laramie.