Tyler Roth
A Whole Natural Park System Thought of By a Hole
Stepping out of the 2002 white, Ford Explorer I saw the variety of autumn shades
illuminating the dense forestation ahead. Venturing out, along the hiking trails of Great Falls
National Park, I felt a breeze of the cool fall air along the hair on my limbs. Mentally relaxing
myself, I kept walking. Not a single worry was in my mind and I was in no rush to be anywhere.
My mind was even more cleared than the cloudless sky. Breathing heavily from briskly walking
two miles, I noticed the perfect boulder to attempt to free climb. Running over and getting closer
to it I realized that this was going to be a difficult but manageable climb. Beginning my climb, I
reached my left hand up, grabbing a ledge in a rock. I felt the cool, slick, bumpy cliff as my
fingers slid a minuscule amount. Continuing my journey upward, I was now close to the peak.
Taking one final lunge up with my right leg, I reached the top and had the perfect, most
immaculate view. Looking down I took a double take - noticing an oval-shaped, gaping hole in
the ginormous rock. Focusing in on it, my mind was fluttered with confusion.
What could have caused this? Why was this hole formed? When did this hole get there?
Could we, as a human race, be responsible for this? How has our human presence affected
Great Falls National Park? My own car burned a great amount of non- renewable fossil fuel on
my way to this beautiful place. We are releasing so many pollutants into our atmosphere every
single second of every day. This is extremely alarming considering our Earth has so kindly
provided us with hospitality, resources, and a wonderful environment to sustain life in the first
place.
Analyzing this hole I realized that I knew none of the answers to any of these questions. I
began inspecting the hole in more depth to see if I could gain any more insight on what I was
currently wondering. I was unsuccessful in what I was attempting. Still lost in my thoughts, I
realized that I would like to look into how the presence of our human race has affected these
national parks.
According to National Park Service’s website, the environment is directly influenced by
humans in several major ways (National Park Service). There are two things to keep in mind
about the information provided by this website. First of all, much of this information is likely to
come from environmentalists who work for the National Park Service. With this being said, they
may have some preexisting assumptions about nature and these national parks. Some of these
assumptions may include ideals regarding concerns for environmental protection and improving
the health of the environment. Secondly, despite all of this, the National Park Service is a reliable
site as this website is run by a government organization. This is significant because these
government organizations are the top in their trade and if they should not to be trusted then I
don’t know who would be. This website is updated every day; therefore, the facts contained are
current, reliable, and accurate. This site is designed to inform and provide factual information.
This factual web page goes on to discuss direct examples of how we, humans, influence
National Parks. There is one major point made more prevalent than any other point made by this
webpage. It says that national parks and the environment, in general, are affected by humans
simply by being in a place (National Park Service). There is an NBC news article titled National
Parks feel the effect of human, environmental threats, written by Bill Briggs, which provides
opinions related to this major point that’s on the National Park Service’s website. These opinions
come from several valuable personnel groups who tend to be experts in their field. Much of this
information is attained through interview (Biggs).
According to Briggs, environmentalist agree with what the National Park Service says
about how human presence directly affects our national parks. These environmentalists are now
more concerned than ever when it comes to the future well-being of all 58 U.S. National Parks.
Their concern comes from the fact that the global temperature is increasing and mining and
drilling projects are happening right next to these parks causing the pollution of unwanted
emission of greenhouse gasses. Besides these two concerning factors, one of the most prevalent
dangers to these parks are the people who love and enjoy them the most. With the hundreds and
millions of National park visitors, the amount of footprints on and off the trail are growing.
When hikers and explorers step off trail they trample vegetation. With more and more people
coming out to see some of nature’s beauty, they leave behind trash such as wrappers and water
bottles. Roads going through and around the parks are being filled with vehicles emitting gases
(Briggs).
A public affairs officer with the National Park Service named Jeffery G. Olson also
agrees with this. Briggs interviewed him and he said that signs and rangers are constantly telling
visitors to not wander off of the designated hiking trails. Olson directly stated: “We really count
on the visitor having a sense of ownership of national parks, we remind them [the] parks are here
for them to enjoy and ask they help make sure they are here for future generations, too” (Briggs).
Looking at this point that the National Park Service made from a third point of view,
Brigg’s interviewed some frequent park users. It is evident that they disagree with all of these
other similar opinions offered. They say that they believe that some, possibly even much, of the
park landscape’s decay is caused by our planet’s normal aging process as the earth naturally
decays and breaks down bit by bit as time continues to pass by. They discussed the idea that
these environmental groups must also consider the fact that national parks are supposed to be
touched, seen, and felt by people. People were granted the rights to hike, drive, raft, and even
observe from above (Briggs).
Environmental concerns will always be present. There will consistently be controversy
over how our human race’s presence has and will continue to negatively affect National Parks as
this is an extremely subjective issue. Obvious evidence has been presented that our environment
in some way, shape, or form has been directly impacted by our society. With an exponential
amount of human and natural factors capable of affecting the environment, there is no question
that there are opposing opinions on this sensitive matter. Ultimately, it comes down to what you
believe and how you interpret the facts.
Works Cited
Briggs, Bill. "National Parks Feel the Effects of Human, Environmental Threats."nbcnews.com. nbc, 30
Aug. 2010. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
"Environmental Factors." Nps.org. U.S. Department of the Interior. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.