By Jedd Ferris

Our national parks are in trouble. In addition to astronomical budget shortfalls, they are being choked by air pollution and strangled by invasive species. Thomas Kiernan-president of National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA)-says if we don’t take action now, the parks may not survive.

The NPCA is the number one watchdog of the National Park Services’ 390 areas and 84 million acres. Kiernan has recently launched a new campaign to have national parks back on a track toward health and conservation by their 100th birthday in 2016.

Kiernan knows the woods of Appalachia as well as the halls of Capitol Hill. Growing up in Northern Virginia, he regularly paddled in Mather Gorge and backpacked in Dolly Sods. After reaching the top 10 in U.S. Slalom Kayaking, he worked as a river guide at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. BRO chatted with him about how to save our national parks and where he still likes to play in the outdoors.

BRO:You’ve recently set a goal to fix the national parks by their 100th birthday. What is the plan of action?

TK:Funding is an important part, but so is science and information. The park service is charged with protecting these parks, but yet there’s not a single park that has a complete species list.

If we don’t take significant action immediately, we will lose the vitality, health, and long-term future of our national parks. We need the American public to speak up and say that we collectively do want these parks protected and handed to our grandchildren unimpaired. In all candor I see the next two years as extraordinarily important, if we’re really going to get something going. If we’re ever going to restore our parks, now is the time.

BRO:How short are we on funds to keep our parks healthy?

TK:There are two parts to the budget shortfall. The first is the annual operating shortfall, which is approximately $800 million. Unfortunately that number has been growing-it was $600 million just five years ago. As a result, scientific research and educational programs are falling apart. Parks have had to reduce everything down to the number of times they clean the toilets. The other half of the challenge is the overall backlog of one-time construction or maintenance projects, which is around $7.2 billion.

BRO:Do you see a new opportunity for mobility with the change in Congress?

TK:Yes. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is a strong park supporter. She has spoken out and written letters speaking to the funding needs of the parks, so it’s our hope that the combination of the President’s recent National Park Centennial Challenge with the accountability of the new leadership to come in Congress will create a window of opportunity. We are optimistic.

BRO:Especially for residents of the Blue Ridge, it’s discouraging that Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks always make the NPCA’s Endangered Parks list. Can we save them?

TK:I don’t know if we can save these parks. When we released the last Great Smoky Mountains assessment, I said this is an indication that this park is beginning to die. I am deeply worried. Shenandoah and the Smokies need a dramatic increase in funding, because through that we can make some progress with invasive species and restoration. Air quality is horrendous in both parks and the Blue Ridge Parkway. We also need to push for the passage of the Senate’s Alexander-Carper Bill, which would tighten the Clean Air Act and include provisions for global warming.

BRO:There’s been recent debate over the proposed Blackwater Canyon National Park in West Virginia. Do we need another park, or should we focus on the saving the ones we have?

TK:We need to take care of our existing parks, and we need to be adding to the system. The park system protects and commemorates the history and culture of our country. The population is continuously growing. For us to have the ecosystems and natural resources to live off and enjoy, we need to create additional units.

BRO:Growing up in Virginia, what prompted your love of parks?

TK:At first it was just the creek and woods across the street from my house. Later I spent my weekends hiking and kayaking down the Potomac River. I also grew up backpacking in Shenandoah and out in Dolly Sods in West Virginia. During my senior year in high school I took a course in environmental chemistry, and started studying about acid rain and ozone depletion. I realized that working on conservation issues is what I wanted to do with my life.

BRO:Where can we find you outdoors these days?

TK:I now do a lot of road cycling, usually about 50 miles every weekend. In the summer we go to up to New Hampshire and backpack the Presidential Range. I also like to go out and climb at Carderock. And my sons and I have hiked most of the A.T. in Shenandoah.

MOST ENDANGERED PARKS

Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains continually make the NPCA’s list of endangered parks. The NPCA’s annual State of the Park-a report Kiernan created-identifies the biggest threats:

Great Smoky Mountains
Air pollution from regional coal-fired power plants and the motor vehicle traffic of nine million annual visitors has reduced visibility from an average of 113 miles to 25 miles.

The park has an $11.5 million annual budget shortfall and is understaffed by 108 full-time staff positions. While the park protects approximately half of the remaining old growth forest in the Eastern United States, non-native pests and diseases are killing Fraser firs, hemlocks, dogwoods, butternuts, and beech trees in the park’s forests. The balsam woolly adelgid has killed more than 90 percent of the park’s mature Fraser firs, making it likely that these trees will disappear.

Shenandoah
On many days, the air pollution in Shenandoah is no different than the air in Richmond, or Washington, D.C.-visibility has been reduced from about 115 miles to less than 25. Non-native plant species now account for an estimated 20 percent of all those in the park. The invasive wooly adelgid has killed a majority of the park's hemlock trees. Shenandoah is a long narrow park that is being encroached upon by land development and an largely un-buffered border. Originally envisioned as a much larger park surrounded by farms, development is now up against the park’s boundary, which has fragmented vital wildlife habitat, severing natural travel corridors, and hindered access to food.

DIRECT DEPOSIT

Want to get physically involved in saving your favorite park? Here are some ways to help.

The Friends of the Smokies(www.friendsofthesmokies.org)coordinates a variety of volunteer efforts, including assignments with the national Volunteers in the Parks (VIP) program, which annually donates over five million hours of service. The program also helps care for the trails, campgrounds, visitor centers, offices, and wilderness of Shenandoah National Park. Contact wayne_cottrill@nps.gov

TheAdopt-A-Trailand Adopt-A-Campsiteprograms in Great Smoky Mountains National Park require eight annual maintenance visits to a particular trail or site.

The Smoky Mountains Hiking Club (www.smhclub.org) is always looking for help to maintain the 70 miles of the A.T. within the national park.

As an All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory Volunteer you can assist with the search for new species in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, including collection, sorting and identification. Contact jeanie@dlia.org

The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (www.patc.net) voluntarily maintains most of the trail in Shenandoah National Park. Frequent work trips head out to fix park trails and groups could always use a hand.

For direct donations to organizations helping Shenandoah contact the Shenandoah National Park Trust (cmcnair@nationalparks.org), which recently supplied a $62,000 grant to restore the Old Rag View Overlook or Friends of Shenandoah National Park (540-999-3500).