The National Park Service (NPS) manages the most pristine, biologically intact parklands in the country, making it one of the La Kretz Center’s key partners. Surrounded by Los Angeles and its suburbs, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) is a vast, 160,000 acre open space that is overseen by the NPS and serves as a critical ecological oasis for many La Kretz Center research projects. Given our applied conservation science mission, the La Kretz Center partners with the NPS on multiple fronts to produce cutting edge research that facilitates conservation policy and management. Collaborative NPS/La Kretz projects have addressed threats to sensitive native species in the SMMNRA, often with critical co-funding from both parties to achieve important conservation results. We also manage our La Kretz field station collaboratively with the NPS.
- Check out Gary Bucciarelli’s work on declining amphibians in the SMMNRA
- John Benson’s models are helping mountain lion conservation
- The La Kretz Field Station provides housing and meeting space for SMM conservation
- NPS biologists participate in the annual La Kretz Conservation Genomics Workshop, which provides rigorous training to an international community of students
