An extended enterprise architecture for a network‐enabled, effects‐based approach for national park protection

Threats to the national parks in the United States are many and varied. These range from climate changes, animal/fish population cycle variations, invasive species introduction, and cultural affects of indigenous peoples to problems associated with natural disasters, oil spills, land development, and criminal enterprises. The U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service (NPS) has issued a Natural Resource Challenge to pursue the preservation of the many diverse national parks in all 50 states and U.S. territories. According to the NPS National Park Service Action Plan for preserving natural resources, a focused methodology is necessary to achieve this challenge. By investigating the Wrangell‐St. Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST) in Southeastern Alaska as a specific illustration of a complex U.S. national park environment, this paper proposes a solution for national park protection in the 21st century via the application of a network‐enabled effects‐based requirements approach married with a well‐defined extended enterprise architecture. The interconnection of planning systems, monitoring sensors, visualization tools, and other information sources will allow for knowledge instantiation and quick reaction to national park threats. This paper further discusses some command systems in use by U.S. forestry agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) that could be used to form an initial realization of a network‐enabled, effects‐based approach to national park protection. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng