TOOLIK FIELD STATION: The Second 20 Years - Recommendations on the Development of Toolik Field Station

This report is the product of a broad survey of the arctic research community and of those affected by arctic research

activities. The main body of the report was written at a workshop held in February 1995 at the Bodega Marine Laboratory

and attended by scientists, experts in the development and logistical support of remote field research stations, and managers of Toolik Field Station (TFS) and adjoining lands. Following the workshop, the report was reviewed by members of the arctic community. The research community, wanting to ensure that excellent science continues to be conducted in the arctic, and specifically at TFS, initiated the planning process leading to these recommendations. In the summer of 1991, during the Arctic LTER site review sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Environmental Biology, researchers urged NSF to upgrade research facilities at TFS. In 1992, TFS was identified as one of the key sites for the intensive process studies and observations planned for the U.S. Arctic System Science Program. NSF initiated a series of planning meetings and discussions with the research community, with the goal of preparing a detailed assessment of current and future needs at TFS. The Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the managers of TFS, began developing a long-term plan for TFS. The TFS Steering Committee identified the need for a new science mission statement, a facilities plan, and a management plan. In 1992, the Institute asked the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS), as an organization representative of the arctic science community, to provide coordination and advice on the formulation of the planning documents. NSF subsequently asked ARCUS to conduct a community workshop and prepare recommendations looking at least ten years into the future.