Our most treasured National Parks are abused more each day.
The Park Service is busier than ever, but continues to be neglected in the federal budget.
The idyllic paradise of refuges like Yosemite Valley, Zion’s Virgin River Gorge, and other hot spots are being crushed under the weight of rampant tourism.
Park Service’s dual mission of protecting the resource but providing for enjoyment seems, at times, on the edge of collapse.
The Writing is on the Wall
Literally.
(photos from nps.gov and Imgur)
Even more so than the rest of the world, our Parks are barrelling toward an unsustainable state of failure.
The purpose of this article is to present a collection of news headlines that illustrate the point. After all, the first step in moving forwarding is admitting that we have a problem.
Money
Needed repairs on the simplest, most basic needs in the Parks like roads, buildings, and utility systems are not getting done. The Park Service currently needs almost 12 billion dollars for these repairs that it simply does not have.
Trump’s Proposed Budget would Devastate National Parks
The Park Service operates under an annual budget of about 3 billion, so the deferred maintenance backlog quoted above has no end in sight. The proposed 2020 budget wants to cut the Department of Interior by an additional 500 million (one half billion).
The Economics of National Parks
Who Runs the Lodges and Dining Establishments?
Private concessions companies like Recreation.gov (misleading domain, eh?) operate visitor services like campgrounds, hotels, and restaurants under government contract within the parks. These companies gross over just one billion annually, and the Park Service takes an average franchise fee of 5%.
Crowding
Crisis in our national parks: how tourists are loving nature to death
If you only read one article that I’ve linked to from this post, let it be this one (above). A team of professional journalists (far more accomplished than myself) has done an excellent and thorough job of discussing the problems that are going on in the outdoors right now.
Here’s a quote from the article that nicely sums things up, highlighted in yellow:
The least-studied mammal in Yellowstone is the most abundant: humans.
Yellowstone visitors dislike crowding, come for scenery and wildlife, survey shows
“Two thirds of Yellowstone’s visitors surveyed think that finding available parking is a problem, and over half think that the amount of roadway traffic and congestion are problems.”
NPS: Prepare for long entrance lines, limited parking at Grand Canyon South Rim
Arches, Canyonlands, Zion National Parks Expect Heavy Memorial Day Weekend Crowds
“Last year more than 86,000 people visited Zion over the four-day holiday weekend… the line on Scout Lookout was one to two hours long, with many reports of visitors running out of water and feeling that the trail was too crowded, raising safety concerns. The evaporative toilets at Scouts Lookout were also well over capacity and pedestrian impacts to soils and vegetation resulted from crowding.
Yosemite Valley is under siege from tourists. Can it be saved?
“Upward of 8,000 cars and a potential 23,000 tourists have been counted in the valley on summer days in recent years. Horror stories of two-hour traffic standstills are common”
Glacier park staff share challenges of record visitation
“We get fistfights in the parking lot,” said visitor service assistant Emlon Stanton. “We’ve even had people that get out of their vehicle, jump into a space and stand there (to claim it,) and then their vehicle is nowhere to be found, and then somebody tries to pull into them and bumps ’em.”
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Breaks Record Number of Visitors (Again!)
Our busiest park continues to break its own records.
Mount Whitney Has Turned Into an Overcrowded Catastrophe
The backcountry faces a crisis, too. Increased visitation in the wilderness means more unpreparedness, accidents, and search and rescue calls. Mount Whitney is the highest peak in the lower 48 states and falls under the management of Sequoia National Park.
Development
Are We Losing the Grand Canyon?
“Since it entered the American consciousness, the Grand Canyon has provoked two major reactions: the urge to protect it, and the temptation to make a whopping pile of money from it.”
As Cell Service Expands, National Parks Become Digital Battlegrounds
Park Superintendents have been quietly approving the construction of cell phone towers for several years.
Sequoia National Park Is Getting Its First Cell Tower — And Not Everyone Is Pleased
Grand Teton National Park pursuing disputed cell-tower build
Though invisible to the eye, cell phone data and communication abilities arguably detract from the core values for which our National Parks were first established, and the values they should represent in the future.
The political crusades targeting national parks for drilling and exploitation
“There is a new crusade by some lawmakers, dubbed the ‘anti-parks caucus’, to unlock more public land to drilling and other development.”
EPA Revives Possibility Of Massive Mine Near Lake Clark National Park And Preserve
A war is brewing over lithium mining at the edge of Death Valley
Oil boom imperils Carlsbad Caverns
Oil Drilling—Coming to a National Park or Monument Near You?
National Monuments Under Threat
The ultimate fate of several of our National Monuments is still tenuous.
Trump’s Wall Would Devastate Big Bend National Park
…and Organ Pipe National Monument, and clearly all wilderness areas along the southern border.
Climate Change
Climate Change is Destroying Our National Parks
“Some of the most sacred and ecologically sensitive areas in the country, from the Grand Canyon to Yosemite and Denali, may decay into ghosts of their former mighty selves and be unrecognizable to future generations expecting to inherit a planet hotter than they received.”
The Troubling Consequences of the Vanishing Ice at Glacier National Park
The vanishing glaciers of Montana’s Glacier National Park have long been a notable example of the effects of climate change, but there’s a recent flash of good news in the quiet removal of signs stating that all the glaciers will be gone by 2020.
Can California’s Iconic Redwoods Survive Climate Change?
The short answer? Maybe. A redwood tree’s genetic code is interestingly 12 times longer than that of a human being. Maybe that’s how they’ve been around for so long.
Florida Everglades: the Most Endangered Site In the U.S.
Iconic Joshua Trees May Disappear
Climate change could melt decades worth of human poop at Denali National Park in Alaska
What Happens When the Saguaros Disappear?
Water Levels Continue to Drop at Lake Mead, Lake Powell
Vandalism
As Vandals Deface U.S. Parks, Some Point to Online Show-Offs
“Vandals have spray painted over ancient petroglyphs and painted boasts on famous rock formations. They have chopped up precious plant specimens, knocked down stalactites and dumped just about anything you can imagine beside crystal clear streams. “We just haven’t seen this type of vandalism in the past,” said Darla Sidles, the superintendent at Saguaro.
Some US National Parks may need centuries to recover from damage after the government shutdown
A rise in vandalism is partially attributed to the ability to share everything on social media, but it’s primarily been a change in attitude with the free-for-all atmosphere of recent government shutdowns.
America’s most stunning jerks are flocking to your national parks. Who are they?
Some knucklehead torched the bathroom at Cuyahoga Valley National Park
“Art” in the Parks: Instagram Artist Defaces National Parks
Social Media and Geotagging
Man wades into Katmai bear feeding zone, takes a selfie
Is Geotagging on Instagram Ruining Natural Wonders? Some Say Yes
“It could take years for behavior to change because smartphones are not going away. We want to start a responsible conversation now about social media and conservation.”
Is Social Media Ruining America’s National Parks?
Bison selfies are a bad idea: Tourist gored in Yellowstone as another photo goes awry
Getting Lost in the Great Geotagging Debate
Millennial Hikers: Will You Stop Geotagging Your Instagram Selfies?
Have You Seen Enough?
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Is there any hope?
What do we do?
Stay tuned for some ideas in my next post.
Excellent job documenting.