An Analysis of National Park Service Policy Regarding Management of White-Tailed Deer at Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

The population of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) occupying Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky is unknown. The population is uncontrolled, unmanaged, and suspected to be high. When uncontrolled, white-tailed deer tend to overpopulate and inflict negative impacts to vegetation through increased herbivory. The goal of this project is to demonstrate that the status of white-tailed deer at Mammoth Cave merits a policy formulation, and to provide suggestions as to what such a policy should contain. Three similar national parks have previously developed policies to manage white-tailed deer. These policies are analyzed, and common elements are identified that can transpose into a comparable policy at Mammoth Cave. Recommendations for a white-tailed deer management policy at Mammoth Cave National Park are given.

The Impacts of National Culture on Safety Culture in the Global Oil and Gas Industry

Safety culture is one of the most-studied subjects in the safety literature today, although no agreement exists on exactly what it means. Most safety culture research has been conducted in high-hazard industries such as nuclear power, aviation, and offshore oil and gas production. Only limited research has investigated links between safety culture and the prevailing national culture. This paper proposes that efforts to build safety culture and improve safety performance in the global oil and gas industry will be enhanced if the safety culture maturity and the prevailing national culture are assessed and a location-specific plan is developed based on these factors. A model plan to improve safety performance for one multinational oil and gas company is presented.