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Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey said there are fewer large-diameter trees growing in Yosemite National Park than in years past, most likely due to climate change.  Warmer temperatures and smaller snow packs are creating conditions that are more difficult for large trees to flourish.

“Most of the water that becomes available in the Sierra Nevada comes from the snow pack,” said Jim Lutz, University of Washington researcher who co-wrote the study.  “Higher temperatures might increase populations of insects or make fungi more aggressive … which all could increasingly contribute to tree mortality.”

When smaller snow packs collect in April and May, trees have less water to sustain them over the dry summer.  Warmer temperatures also increase the severity of wildfires that kill off trees.

The study concluded that the number of large-diameter trees in Yosemite National Park decreased by 24 percent from 1932 to 1999.  Trees in the park’s sub-alpine areas were the most severely affected.

Story at Google News
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A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in Yosemite Valley today to commemorate the arrival of four hybrid electric/diesel tractors that will be used in the popular Yosemite Valley Floor Tours.

The state of the art tractors cost $150,000 each and pull trailers for the two-hour tour narrated by a National Park Ranger.  The new tractors replace propane powered vehicles used to pull the trailers.  Approximately 70,000 visitors take the Yosemite Valley Floor Tour each year.

“We are very proud of these new vehicles and take great pride in leading by example.  Going green is incredibly important to the park,” said Acting Superintendent Dave Uberuaga.

The new tractors will reduce emissions by 85% and get 800% better fuel economy than the previous vehicles.  They complement Yosemite’s fleet of 16 hybrid shuttle buses. 

Story at NPS
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Big Bend National Park has completed the first phase of a project to improve exterior lighting throughout the park.  The goals of the “Night Sky Project” are to reduce night sky light pollution, reduce electrical energy consumption, and provide adequate lighting.

The work was accomplished with grants from the National Parks Foundation, the Friends of Big Bend National Park, Forever Resorts Inc., and park staff.

The new night sky-friendly lighting at the Panther Junction’s visitor center entrance has reduced lighting from 480 Watts to less than 14 Watts.  Yet the new lighting allows visitors to view maps and information after hours at the visitors center.

Story at KOSA
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A 2003 study predicted that glaciers will disappear from Glacier National Park by 2030.  But because temperatures are warming even faster than just a few years ago, glaciers are now expected to disappear by 2020.

Glaciers are created when snow doesn’t completely melt in summer and over time is compacted into ice.  To be classified as a glacier, an ice field must be at least 25 acres, moving, and sculpting the landscape.

In 1900, there were about 150 glaciers in what is now Glacier National Park.  Today only 25 glaciers remain.

Although the quantity and size of glaciers have been decreasing over the past century, glaciers are now shrinking four times as fast as they were in the 1960s.  The reason is warmer climate.  Although Glacier National Park is colder than many other parts of the world, temperatures in the park have increased three times as fast as average global temperatures.

There may be some debate as to whether the warming climate is a natural cycle or the result of man-made pollutants.  But there is no debate that temperatures in Glacier National Park are getting warmer, the glaciers are getting smaller, and this is all happening even faster than previously predicted.

Story at USA News
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It seems like all the big corporations are getting a government bailout, while we citizens are getting nothing but the bill.  So on three weekends this summer, the National Park Service is offering fee-free weekends so cash-strapped families can visit the parks.  Those fees range from $3 to $25 per day.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the initiative Tuesday.  “National parks also serve as powerful economic engines for local communities, and we hope that promoting visitation will give a small shot in the arm to businesses in the area,” Salazar said.

Many national parks were already hoping for a busy summer, and this should improve tourism even more.  “Sometimes, when the economy downturns, places like the seashore see an upsurge because people choose to stay closer to home,” said George Price, superintendent of Cape Cod National Seashore.  “Visitation will be very strong this year.  The question will be how much people will actually spend when they come to visit.”

All 147 National Park sites that charge entry fees will waive them on June 20 and 21, July 18 and 19, and August 15 and 16. 

Story at CNN
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The National Park Service (NPS) is concerned about Alaska’s new predator control effort of shooting wolves from helicopters.  The Alaskan Department of Fish and Game began killing wolves Saturday to boosting caribou numbers in the state.  The goal is to shoot as many as 150 wolves before they eat too many caribou calves and before the snow and wolf tracks disappear.  The state has killed at least 30 wolves so far.

But NPS officials questioned what the shooting will mean for wolves who travel between state land and a neighboring 2.5-million-acre national preserve.  They also worry that the state overestimated how many wolves live in the area and will kill too many.

“We don’t want to see the wolf population, or those packs that frequent the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, be eliminated or reduced significantly,” said Debora Cooper, NPS associate regional director for natural resources.

After meeting with the head of the national preserve last week, the state agreed not to shoot wolves wearing NPS research radio collars, and to limit shooting wolf packs that are known to move in and out of the preserve, said regional Fish and Game supervisor David James.  “We’re not trying to eradicate the wolf population,” he said.

Defenders of Wildlife, a national environmental group that targeted Governor Sarah Palin’s support of aerial hunting, criticized the new helicopter kill.  “This is an extreme response to what has never been more than an arbitrary target with no scientific backing.  There is no biological emergency to justify this kind of action.”

Story at Anchorage Daily News

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National Park Week is an annual Presidentially-proclaimed week for celebration and recognition of the U.S. National Parks.

Our National Parks are living examples of the best this nation has to offer — spectacular natural landscapes and places that reflect our diverse culture and heritage.  Parks can provide recreational experiences, opportunities to learn and grow, and places for quiet refuge.

In 2009, National Park Week is celebrated April 18-26 at hundreds of parks throughout the country.  There will also be a National Junior Ranger Day in 2009, so be sure to check among the nearly 300 National Parks that offer activities for kids at the Junior Ranger Program web site.

Take a moment, an hour, a day or a week to visit the national parks near you.

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A surprise press release by the National Park Service launched a national controversy.  Acting NPS Director Dan Wenk announced the park service is going lead free.  “Our goal is to eliminate the use of lead ammunition and lead fishing tackle in parks by the end of 2010,” Wenk stated in the release.  “We want to take a leadership role in removing lead from the environment.”

The ambiguous press release dropped a bomb on sportsmen’s and conservation groups across the country.  “The National Park Service’s decision is arbitrary, over-reactive and not based on science,” said Steve Sanetti, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry.  “Studies show that traditional ammunition does not pose a health risk to humans, or wildlife populations as a whole.”

Turns out the uproar was all for naught.  David Barna, NPS chief of Public Affairs, said it’s not a rule change at all, but rather an in-house decision.  “It’s an announcement to let the public know that the PARK SERVICE intends to go to non-lead shot in our weapons and non-lead fishing gear in the work that we do,” said Barna.  “It’s not a requirement or regulation for our visitors.  We’re just announcing that’s the direction we’re going and we’re encouraging the public to do the same.”

Story at West Virginia Outdoor News

The U.S. House of Representatives rejected an amended omnibus package containing significant conservation projects and advancements.  This represents a major loss to the conservation movement in the United States. 

The bill would have established:

• More than 2 million acres of wilderness in nine states
• Three new national park units
• Three new national conservation areas
• Ten new national heritage areas
• A new national monument
• Four new national trails
• Enlarged boundaries for more than a dozen existing national parks
• More than 1,000 miles of national wild and scenic rivers

“This is the most important piece of conservation legislation we will likely consider this year and possibly in this entire Congress,” House Natural Resources Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) said on the House floor before the bill was rejected.

As usual, the Republicans were the major obstacle to the land conservation and killed the bill for procedural reasons.  There was also pressure by the National Rifle Association (NRA), which objected to items in the bill that would restrict hunting on some federal land.

Story at New York Times

It’s an often-repeated statistic used by global warming proponents: the glaciers in Montana’s Glacier National Park will disappear by the year 2030.  But Daniel Fagre, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) ecologist who works at Glacier, says the park’s glaciers will disappear ten years ahead of schedule, affecting the region’s plants and animals.

The 2030 date was based on a 2003 USGS study that used 1992 temperature predictions.  “Temperature rise in our area was twice as great as what we put into the [1992] model,” Fagre said.  The 2020 estimate is based on aerial surveys and photography Fagre and his team have been conducting at Glacier since the early 1980s.

Glaciers are disappearing all over the globe.  Most glaciers have disappeared entirely from the Andes, and the Himalayas have lost a third of its snow.

Glacier melt has important ecological implications.  “A lot of our sensitive and rare plants are associated with the edges of glaciers,” Fagre said.  Retreating glaciers initially expose more growing area for plants.  But as glaciers retreat, the streams they feed can become unreliable or dry up completely, affecting plants and animals that depended on the nearly-constant supply of moisture.

Story at National Geographic

Glacier National Park Photo Tour