OK. You knew this day was coming. After reading stories about imperiled parks week in and week out on the Traveler, it's time that you tell us which parks you think are most imperiled.
Lord knows there are plenty of candidates. Glacier National Park has its mining issues (not too mention its waning glaciers), Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Shenandoah National Park struggle with air quality issues, Yosemite National Park has traffic woes in the Yosemite Valley while Yellowstone National Park has its snowmobile saga.
And those are just for starters.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore has issues with ORV traffic -- depending on your point of view, the seashore doesn't provide enough leeway for the rigs, or allows too much. Grand Canyon National Park has river corridor problems due to the lack of natural flows of the Colorado River, Acadia National Park struggles with high ozone levels in summer, Rocky Mountain National Park has too many elk and too much nitrogen.
What else? Hmmmm. Virgin Islands, Biscayne, and Dry Tortugas national parks are threatened by warming, overly acidic, ocean waters that are damaging coral reefs, Everglades National Park doesn't have enough water (and too many pythons!), and those parks that touch any one of the Great Lakes are threatened by non-native species.
We could go on, but you get the idea. So, help us put together a Top 10 Endangered Parks list and we'll forward it to the powers in charge.
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Comments
Shenandoah and the Smokies get my vote for the bad air quality. On a hot and hazy day, a long hike can actually make someone dizzy and sick.
While I have no doubt that the illegal pot farms are a serious problem, the growers generally want to stay low profile and generally don't want to attract attention. I've heard of some that were a bit bold and tried chasing down hikers who came across those pot farms, but I think the smart ones don't do that. They're kind of screwed if they decide to shoot a hiker since that can mean SAR may come searching for said overdue hiker and then discover the illegal farms. I've heard of once case where someone claimed to have come across one of these farms, and the heavily armed guard simply told the guy to leave and forget that he even saw the place. I don't think anything was said until after the farm was discovered by the Feds. From what I gather, these illegal pot farms mostly get discovered via aerial reconnaissance.
There have also been pot farms found at Yosemite and Point Reyes. I understand that in the USDA Forest Service is having a heckuva time dealing with pot farms from coast to coast.
If hikers fear going into an area of the park because of fear of running into an illegal pot operation, then that part of the park is effectively closed. The pot farms also endanger the park by fertilizer runoff into streams, irrigation lines and mounds of trash from the illegal operations.
I would have to agree with Dave about Lake Clark and Katmai National Parks. I have been fortunate enough to guide in both parks for the last 7 years, taking backpackers, rafters and kayakers to some of the most remote, least visited and spectacular places within each park. Our business also owns a home in Port Alsworth, the gateway community to Lake Clark NP and home to park headquarters.
The Pebble Mine prospect has the possibility of being the largest open pit mine on the planet, less that 15 miles from Lake Clark NP's SW border, and at the headwaters of the Bristol Bay salmon run. Not only are we in danger of having a huge mining development within a stones throw of one of the country's most amazing NP, but we are in danger of losing the salmon run that helps feed this rich ecosystem. This mine could spell disaster for the National Park.
Check out the Renewable Resources Coalition website for Pebble information. http://www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/