Geodatabase representing the sample design for the North Coast and Cascades Network (NCCN) elk monitoring project at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (LEWI).

The goal for the elk monitoring project is to detect changes in the magnitude and spatial patterns of elk use of landscapes at several spatial and temporal scales within, and adjacent to, the Fort Clastop unit of Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (LEWI). The geodatabase is the spatial representation of elk pellet survey plot locations and standard road driving routes, with tenth mile reference markers, used to conduct elk surveys.

Changes in elk relative use and the proportion of area occupied (PAO) by elk will be based on pellet group surveys conducted in the Fort Clatsop unit of LEWI. We will monitor trends in the relative use by elk in winter through the estimation of pellet group density as measured during late winter surveys each year. We will infer trends in elk viewing opportunities in selected areas adjacent to the Fort Clatsop unit by monitoring the rate at which elk are sighted in roadside surveys on specified routes. The road survey sighting rate is a direct index to the rate that park visitors driving the selected set of roads would be expected to see elk. By recording the seasonal patterns of elk herd sightings we will document trends in elk viewing opportunities for visitors during different seasons.