McMurdo LTER Environmental Issues

Background

Because the main purpose of the long-term ecological research (LTER) in the McMurdo Dry Valleys is to come to a better understanding of the natural phenomena of the area, human impact to the region is intentionally kept to a minimum. As a result, the MCM LTER program is operating under the guidelines of several environmental assessments that have been done for specific activities. This portion of the MCM LTER web site deals with environmental issues that have arisen in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, and contains any environmental assessments that were required to conduct the studies in the unique ecosystem of Antarctica's Dry Valleys.

Since funding for the McMurdo Dry Valley long-term ecological research comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF), environmental assessments related to this research go through their Office of Polar Programs for approval. Through a contract with NSF, Antarctic Support Associates (ASA) provides a wide range of logistical and science support operations to the United States Antarctic Program, and is involved in the processing of McMurdo Dry Valley environmental assessments.


Proposals & Findings

Proposals and/or findings for the following McMurdo Dry Valleys environmental actions and dates are available by selecting from the list below:


Modified on 3-8-2001 by JLH