Free Ranging and Feral Cats in National Parks: Development of Park Management Strategies for Stakeholder Engagement

The National Park Service intends to award a single-source justified cooperative agreement to North Carolina State University for the project "Free Ranging and Feral Cats in National Parks: Development of Park Management Strategies for Stakeholder Engagement". The project aims to provide an engagement framework for park managers to understand and navigate challenges surrounding free-ranging cats. The project will involve a document analysis, interviews with national-level government officials and stakeholders, and in-person interviews with NPS managers and local stakeholders. The project will provide an analysis of the free-ranging cat management context for one or two specific national parks. • The project will help disrupt existing entrenched conflicts concerning the management of free-ranging cats. • The project will provide new insights and options for park officials to navigate challenging issues. • The project will involve a collaborative planning process between NPS officials and project researchers. • The project will provide a written document summarizing the findings from the analysis of one or two specific National Parks.