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week of 3/27/02 | |
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| Park
ranked among most threatened SMN The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the nation’s 10 most endangered because of ongoing damage from air pollution, a national environmental group said Monday. It is the fourth straight year the park has been on the National Parks Conservation Association’s top 10 list. “Air pollution continues to be the biggest threat that the park and its visitors face,” said NPCA Southeast Associate Director Greg Kidd. “But a series of development issues along with inadequate funding are also putting park resources at risk.” The Bush Administration has a proposal to “substantially improve visibility” in the park’s region by 2020 — perhaps improving haze by 25 percent. But the association wants faster improvements and is backing a bill to reduce four types of harmful air emissions by 2007 that was introduced by Sen. James Jeffords, an independent from Vermont. Smokies park personnel said that years ago the average visibility around the park was about 93 miles. Now visibility averages 22 miles during the year and drops to 15 miles in the summer at the nation’s most visited national park. The park also has “unhealthy days” from ozone pollution, which is dangerous for people with respiratory problems. There were 14 such days last year, 32 in 2000, 52 in 1999 and 44 in 1998. More moderate weather patterns last year prompted the lower number. Coal-fired power plants, including those operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, factories and motor vehicles are blamed for most of the air pollution damage. Other issues noted in the report that threaten the park are: ° Widening of U.S. 321 Tennessee and the expected development along the park’s northern boundary. ° The proposal to remove 168 acres from the park near the Oconaluftee Visitors Center and trade it to the Eastern Band of the Cherokee for development in exchange for a parcel near the Blue Ridge Parkway. ° The proposal to build the North Shore Road along the northern edge of Lake Fontana in Swain County. |
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