Conservation Corner
By Mary Mourar, PPG Conservation Co-Chair

Parks, Protection and Good-bye

This country’s park system is an amazing thing. This was reaffirmed for me this year on a trip to the Northwest and by watching the PBS program on the national parks.

During our trip, my husband and I visited several national and state parks, enjoying their incredible scenery and great hiking trails. While in the parks we also learned about the wildlife, plants and history that they protect. Mount Rainier was designated a national park for its towering volcanic mountain, but it also protects old growth forest with 1000 year old trees and the animals that inhabit it. Did you know Olympic National Park was set aside to protect the Roosevelt elk, a subspecies of Rocky Mountain elk? But within its boundaries are temperate rain forests, mountain tundra, and wild Pacific coast. Mount Lassen preserves the location of a volcanic eruption in 1914-1915 but also is the home of hundreds of species found at this meeting point of the Cascades, Sierras and Great Basin.

While watching the PBS documentary, I learned even more about the history of the National Park Service. What amazed me was the battle that occurred at almost every step to create the national parks. Designation of Grand Canyon National Park was held up for many years by a single man with a commercial interest in the canyon. Wyoming residents fought the addition of lakes and valley to what is now Grand Teton National Park. Loggers continued to cut trees in the Great Smokies even after the land had been sold to the government.

The National Park Service (NPS) can’t protect everything so this country added national forests to protect forest ecosystems and state parks to protect more scenic and historic sites. The first protected groves of redwoods were in state parks purchased with funds raised by Californians. Oregon set aside most of its coast from development by creating state parks, coastlines, and recreation sites. Colorado preserves the rock formations of Roxborough State Park.

The Battle for Preservation Continues

The fight to protect these parks and other lands is not over. Parks are suffering from their own popularity and from outside threats.

When the national parks were young and remote, the founders did everything they could to encourage visitation. Lodges were built next to Old Faithful in Yellowstone and on the rims of the Grand Canyon. Roads and parking lots were built through the mountains and next to the hot springs and waterfalls. As visitation and populations increased, services were expanded. Now there are whole villages, acres of parking and traffic jams distracting from the scenery of Yosemite Valley and the wilderness in Grand Canyon.

The boundaries of Olympic National Park can be identified from satellite photos because of the clear cutting that is occurring on Forest Service and private land outside of the park. Global warming is a concern for the species living on top of the small mountain range in Great Basin National Park. Surrounding communities want parks managed for their personal interests rather than the good of the park (Tucson residents don’t want any changes that would slow their commute through Sonora National Park). Development around Lake Tahoe threatens its water quality and the quality of the experience at Nevada’s and California’s Lake Tahoe State Parks.

This is why American citizens can’t sit back and relax our vigilance. It was often one or two individuals who initiated the fight to have a national park or state park created. Designation of new parks and monitoring of threats and concerns is still in citizens’ hands, often with the aid of organizations like the National Park Conservation Association and the CMC’s Shining Mountains group working in Rocky Mountain National Park.

That is why I support the CMC Conservation Department and chose to serve as the Conservation Chair of the Pikes Peak Group. The national and state parks, national forests and other public lands are too valuable to not protect, not only for my personal experiences of hiking, wildlife watching, and photography, but also to ensure they are protected for future generations.

Goodbye and Thank you

With that, I have chosen to step down as Conservation Co- Chair of the Pikes Peak Group at the end of my three year term. I have been serving for the past two years while house sitting in Bailey (southwest of Denver) and was finding it increasingly difficult to serve in the position from this distance. I owe Eric Swab a great Thank You! for being my eyes and ears in Colorado Springs and taking the lead on many issues while serving as Co-Chair during this time. Thank you also to Gary Michels for leading the trail maintenance efforts at Section 16 Trail adopted by the Pikes Peak Group.

As an interested citizen, I will continue to monitor the conservation issues and submit comments or write my legislative representatives when appropriate. I encourage all of you to do the same.