The Ecosystem of Death Valley

Historical Image of Death Valley National Park.

http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/deva/galmining.html

Death Valley was a frightening obstacle for pioneer settlers and miners to overcome when coming into California during the Gold Rush of 1849. However, only one pioneer is known to have died crossing the lowest, hottest, and driest area in the western hemisphere. About fifty years later, it was the best area for borax mining, and today its extreme environment draws the attention of campers, hikers, nature lovers and tourists from around the world. For many years, National Parks such as Death Valley, have been increasingly feeling the effects of foreign factors caused by natural and human activities. Even though it is an isolated area that is more than 120 miles from the nearest major city, Death Valley National Park is continuing to be affected by unnatural disturbances.

Current Image of Death Valley National Park.

http://inyo.110mb.com/dv/skidooghosttownsite.html

Although the California Desert Protection Act of 1994 protects millions of acres in Death Valley, the park's unique characteristics continue to face deterioration from many sources. Invasive species, Devil's Hole Pupfish, off-roading, light pollution, and air pollution are just a few of the many threats to this fragile desert ecosystem.

Tamarisk

Nonnative Species, such as the Tamarisk family of plants, were introduced to the United States beginning in the early 1800s for reasons such as: decorative plantings, erosion control, shade, and windbreaks. By 1913 it had invaded the California desert. In Death Valley, Tamarisk was planted by pioneers and even by the National Park Services during its early time of responsibility for the park. Today, Tamarisk is one of the most plentible riparian plants throughout the dry southwest. Unfortunately, Tamarisk's negative production was not recognized early enough. It crowds out native plant and animal communities and depletes enormous amounts of water, the key to life in the desert.

Little inch-long fish swim in the scarce water supply that is thought to be one of the smallest vertebrae habitats on earth. They have been capable to survive serious conditions such as: high heat, warm, mineral-rich water with very limited food sources for more than 20,000 years. Human interference has at times, nearly eliminated their spawning area and researchers have accidentally reduced their numbers. But they remain an extraordinary example of adaptation and endurance. Although their numbers have gotten smaller, they continue to live and breed in the water supply at Devil's Hole.

Off-roading in Surprise Canyon

Death Valley has more miles of road than any other National Park. Though 91% of the parks 3.4 million acres are protected in roadless wilderness areas, nearly one thousand miles of paved and dirt roads provide opportunities for off-road recreational activity. However, without proper regulation the invitation of visitors has affected the wilderness that these roads cross. These areas of Death Valley are affected much like the rare, fragile desert stream in Surprise Canyon inside the National Park. Extreme off-road vehicle use was damaging its unique character, including waterfalls, cottonwoods and willows that provide habitat for desert bighorn sheep, endangered birds, and rare species found nowhere else except Surprise Canyon and nearby areas. Although Surprise Canyon is a unique area there are still unprotected areas of Death Valley National Park that are still affected by off-road vehicles and their owners who unfairly introduce oil and other pollutants to the environment.

Although Death Valley's skies are darker in comparison to skies in areas that are more populated in the United States, they are still affected by conspicuous glows of light from Las Vegas and the central valley. These glows along with local areas are taking stars away from the park. "New research reveals light pollution from Vegas increased 61 percent between 2001 and 2007, making it appear brighter than the planet Venus on clear nights"(www.ohranger.com).

Air Pollution Data
http://www.clrsearch.com/Death_Valley_Demographics/CA/Pollution-Levels

You might think that the isolated area of Death Valley National Park would help keep its air significantly clean. However, winds bring pollutants from cities, industrial areas, and transportation hotspots to the West. "Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide are produced by power plants and cars in Los Angeles which reacts with other molecules in Death Valley to form sulfates and nitrates, which result in acid rain"(www.ohranger.com).

In 1972, the National Park Service began to make a positive impact on attempting to reverse past actions of the introduction of nonnative species that destroy resources the park was created to preserve. They began a tamarisk removal project at Saratoga Springs to return the area to a more natural condition. More recent removal projects have been in other sites such as Eagle Borax Works, Warm Springs Canyon, and the sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells. The National Park Service has removed a large amount of athels, as well as date and fan palms. The non-native palms also have negative affects on native populations. After these invasive species are removed, native plants will be able to re-establish themselves.

Pupfish

In 1952, large recovery efforts by representatives from the National Park Service, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Nevada's Division of Conservation were in action to save the Pupfish. President Harry Truman responded by setting out to protect the unique pupfish and its habitat by labeling Devil's Hole a isolated part of Death Valley National Monument. For nearly two decades, the fish enjoyed a protected habitat. The fish continued to struggle so a chain link fence was put around the perimeter of the hole and only members of the recovery team could enter. The Pupfish became one of the first species to be protected under the Endangered Species Act. To this day there is still a close eye kept on the Pupfish that continue to struggle yet somehow adapt to the Death Valley environment.

Conservation groups such as the National Parks Conservation Association, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, California Wildnerness Coalition, Wilderness Society, and Bureau of Land Management fought along side the Congress to protect the Surprise Canyon of Death Valley National Park. In response the National Park Service closed the upper portion of the canyon to vehicles in 2002. Since then, the canyon has experienced a remarkable recovery. Cottonwoods and willows trees are flourishing and rare species such as desert bighorn sheep are thriving. Endangered birds such as the Inyo California Towhee have returned to the canyon after decades of absence. Although the area has recovered, it is not possible to resume off-road vehicle use without causing significant impacts to the creek, water resources, and other natural resources and to the area's wilderness character. The canyon needs to feel like you are in a National Park and Wilderness instead of an extreme off-roading site. However, off-road enthusiasts continue to fight for the reopening of the canyon even though there is many off-road opportunities elsewhere in the Mojave desert.

Light Pollution from Las Vegas.

The National Park Service has been attempting to deal with the issue of light pollution. They obviously have no control over the neon glows from Las Vegas; however, they are trying to reduce the amount of local light pollution from within the park by encouraging the use of outdoor light fixtures that direct light to the ground rather than sideways or upwards. There is also an idea in place to eliminate outdoor lighting wherever possible. A plan to adopt these measures is currently being developed for Death Valley National Park. Collecting data on the current state and general nighttime visibility is also important to solving the problem of light pollution. As a result, night sky conditions are monitored at the park annually by a team of scientists.

Death Valley National Park cannot prevent the pollutants that are blown in from cities, industrial areas, and transportation hotspots. However, the park has acquired an air quality monitoring station near Furnace Creek that measures ozone, wet and dry acid deposition, visibility-reducing particles, and meteorological data. A system for forecasting high ozone days is in development.

The continuous efforts to preserve the unique ecosystem of Death Valley National Park will have positive impacts in the future. In the issue of the nonnative species, the National Park Service has been attempting to solve the problem with many recent removal projects. They have been removing these species from specific areas, however, just how affective are they in their removal? There is a huge amount of land that makes up Death Valley National Park. Much more needs to be done to ensure a successful future in the removal of the unwanted species. The large recovery efforts by the National Park Service, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Nevada's Division of Conservation will continue do all they can to take the Pupfish off the endangered species list. The ongoing research and protection will give the Pupfish a bright future. Under the protection of many conservation groups, the restricted area of Surprise Canyon will allow the unique environment to continue to flourish once again without the disturbance of unwanted off-road vehicles. However, the permission of these off-road vehicles to other parts could be a problem to the ecosystem in the future. The National Park Service's plan to establish the use of outdoor light fixtures that direct light to the ground and eliminate outdoor lighting wherever possible. This is an affective idea that will significantly discard unwanted light if they take action to a large portion of lighting. The park's ability to monitor the air quality will give them future data that will increase the regulation of pollutants from industrial areas. Humans have continued to tackle the hardships of Death Valley National Park but only the future will tell what it is doing.

The human impact of Death Valley National Park could use improvement. More removal projects need to inhabit the large area that earns its right to be named one of America's largest National Parks. This will benefit the entire area that the nonnative species are disturbing. The faster these species are pulled out of the environment the faster Death Valley National Park can return to its natural state. The scientists need to continue to monitor the water level of Devil's Hole; however, they need to let nature take its course because there is a reason the Pupfish survived all these years and they should not interfere too much. The impact on the off-road vehicles has been good because off-roading is only aloud on certain roads in the park. These rules will continue to allow 91% of the parks land to be undisturbed by these unwanted vehicles. However, much could be done to regulate the 9% of land that could possibly be in danger by visitors who do not respect the land and the rules. Also, National Park Service needs to put there plan to eliminate light pollution into affect and ensure that every light source is changed so that it is pointing downward. The park needs to also keep the air quality data so that one day they can have proof so that stricter laws will be put on air pollution. Today the price to enter the park is a pitiful $10.00 for an individual for up to seven days and $40.00 for the year. A vehicle permit is also very cheap at merely $20.00. To help regulate the land, pay for human action and the change of downward facing lights, and create more removal projects the National Park should raise the prices to enter the park.

Death Valley National Park is a beautiful and unique area of the United States. We cannot let the natural native land be a victim of issues it can't control. Humans need to increase their efforts and give the land the protection it deserves.

Long Live Death Valley National Park

References

1. http://www.ohranger.com/death-valley/preserving-death-valley

2. http://www.nps.gov/deva/naturescience/nonnativespecies.htm

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_National_Park

4. http://www.desertusa.com/dv/du_dvpdesc.html

5. http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2008/surprise-canyon-12-22-2008.html

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Death Valley National Park