#4 Coloradoan

RMNP ecosystem in danger
Groups pledge to work together to solve area's air-quality problems

Kevin Darst
Fort Collins Coloradoan
March 19, 2005

ESTES PARK - Worsening air quality is threatening Rocky Mountain National Park's ecosystem, researchers told state air-quality regulators Friday.

Nitrogen emissions from vehicles, power plants and livestock production on Colorado's Front Range and nationwide are increasing, blowing up toward the South Platte Valley to the park and depositing in the park's soil, plants and water. Carried primarily through rain and snow, the nitrogen emissions are overfertilizing the park's ecosystems.

Higher nitrogen concentrations could cause changes to plant types and locations, benefit grasses over flowers, cause algae blooms in high-altitude lakes and damage aquatic ecosystems and fish populations. While some longtime park visitors say they've seen changes in plant communities, nitrogen's effects have been largely invisible to average park visitors, said Jill Baron, a U.S. Geological Survey ecologist who has made a career of studying the park.

"They won't notice anything, and that's why it's been under the table so long," Baron said.

Scientists, park administrators and state and federal regulators met Friday, the beginning of what could be an attempt to fix the park's air-quality problems. The state, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Park Service say they'll work together to find a solution.

“(The state has to decide) where’s the goal that makes a positive improvement in the park, and no one’s in the position to say that,” said Howard Roitman, director of environmental programs at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

More than 3 million people visit the park each year, which covers more than 265,000 acres in Larimer, Boulder and Grand counties. It’s considered a Class 1 airshed under the Clean Air Act, which requires that its air quality be protected and enhanced.

“We want to ensure this special place is still special for this and future generations,” park Superintendent Vaughn Baker said.

Nitrogen levels took off after 1950 and are now nearly 20 times higher than preindustrial levels, scientists said, with levels east of the Continental Divide higher than those on the west side.

“We’re really at the point where we have sufficient data, and something needs to be done,” said Don Campbell, U.S. Geological Survey research hydrologist who has studied the park.

The park is especially vulnerable because the granite bedrock and shallow soils found there do a poor job of buffering chemicals, and a brief growing season limits the amount of time plants can absorb nitrogen, according to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Rocky’s air-quality concerns loom large for Colorado air-quality regulators because a declaration by federal land managers that the park’s air quality has been significantly impaired would mean strict controls on state pollution and growth.

“We’re very concerned” about evidence suggesting air quality in the park is degrading, Roitman said. “We’re really digging into the data.”

Visibility also has deteriorated in the park, something park managers and state regulators hope to improve with emission controls that started this year.

Some area residents, however, criticized regulators. Anne Vickery is an Estes Park resident and member of the Colorado Mountain Club, a group created in 1912, whose members helped establish the park.

“Significant deterioration is not being prevented in Rocky,” she said.