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AIR QUALITY ISSUES IN NATIONAL PARKS AND WILDERNESS AREAS. Tonnie Cummings formerly with National Park Service. Class I Areas. Some national parks and wilderness areas have special protection under the Clean Air Act
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AIR QUALITY ISSUES IN NATIONAL PARKS AND WILDERNESS AREAS Tonnie Cummings formerly with National Park Service
Class I Areas • Some national parks and wilderness areas have special protection under the Clean Air Act • In these areas, the focus is on protecting natural resources from air pollution • Area managers are required to “…err on the side of resource protection…”
Class I Air Quality Issues • Visibility • Ozone damage to plants • Acidification of lakes and rivers • Mercury and other toxic metals harming wildlife
Visibility Which would you rather see?
Ozone • Causes early leaf drop (bye-bye fall colors!) • Reduces plant health and lifespan • Lowers plant reproduction
Although deposition in the Pacific Northwest is relatively low, some of our mountain lakes have very little buffering capacity: Acid sensitive: <100 units Pacific Northwest lakes: <20 units
Mercury • Highly toxic • Affects nervous system • Greatest harm is to developing organisms • Biomagnifies (Question: what does this mean?)
What Can YOU Do? Everything you do to reduce air pollution in your community can help parks, too!
For Additional Information • National Park Service Air Quality Program: http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/ • U.S. Forest Service Air Resource Management: http://www.fs.fed.us/air/ • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Air Quality: http://www.fws.gov/refuges/habitats/ airQuality.html