GATLINBURG, Tenn. -- The nation's most-visited national park has unhealthy air, endangered natural resources and not enough money, according to a resource assessment.
"This park is beginning to die," said Thomas C. Kiernan, president of the National Parks Conservation Association. The association released its State of the Parks report today.
The report, fact-checked by the federal government, is being announced at the same time as the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to list the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as an unhealthy area based on federal air standards.
"One of the fundamental threats," Mr. Kiernan said, "is air pollution in this park."
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park violated air quality standards 11 days last year, said Jim Renfro, air quality specialist with the National Park Service.
"There are days when the air is too unhealthy to breathe," he said. The total number of violations since the park began monitoring more than a decade ago is more than 300, he said.
James Todd, of Ann Arbor, Mich., said he has been a regular visitor to the park for decades, beginning when his parents brought him down.
"I take my kids now," he said as he stood off Little River Road inside the park, looking up a mountainside with dozens of others who watched a yearling bear cub. "I didn't realize it (air quality) was an issue."
The resource assessment is the 10th done on a national park since 2000 by the National Parks Conservation Association, a nonprofit organization founded in 1919. The association's advisory council for the report includes researchers from the Smithsonian Institution, Stanford University and the U.S. Geological Survey.
The 24-page evaluation also lists potential road work along the north shore of Fontana Lake and a funding shortfall of $11.5 million as park challenges.
Along with the Smokies and seven other national parks, the EPA will announce today the counties nationwide that exceed new federal ozone standards.
The park is part of a regional effort with neighboring Tennessee counties to avoid penalties associated with violations of ozone standards.
Local officials are developing plans to reduce air pollution, officials with the park and the conservation association said, but the air problem in the Smokies needs more than a regional solution.
"There needs to be a national approach," Mr. Renfro said, adding that pollution from other states contributes up to 25 percent of the Smokies' pollution.
The Bush administration proposed legislation last year that would reduce emissions of three harmful air pollutants nationwide by about 70 percent by 2018.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., has co-sponsored legislation to reduce emissions of those pollutants slightly more and from two to five years sooner.
"There has to be a strong federal standard to keep dirty air from other areas from blowing in," said Alexia Poe, the senator's spokeswoman.
Jill Stephens, an air program analyst with the National Parks Conservation Association, said that while air quality in the Smokies can be harmful to park visitors, studies are under way tracking ground-level ozone's impact on the park's rich plant life.
The EPA-recommended threshold for unsafe ozone levels is much higher for humans than for plants, she said.
A University of Tennessee professor is leading a study that tracks ozone's impact on several different species of mature trees in the Smokies.
Mr. Renfro, with the park service, said researchers have found 30 species of plant life that show leaf damage from excess ozone.
"We've got changes going on that aren't natural," he said. "It can change the composition of a forest."
Aside from ozone problems, the parks conservation group found that hazy vistas on bad-air summer days are another serious problem facing the park.
Along with its ozone list, the EPA is scheduled to release today new rules designed to clear visibility.
Mr. Renfro said that, on the worst days, visibility from some areas of the park is limited to about 14 miles. It should be closer to 80, he said.
"Rarely do we have a good natural view," he said.
The new rules would require power plants between 27 and 42 years old to install the best available pollution controls.
Mr. Renfro said emissions-reducing measures in place and considered will provide clearer views and healthier air for the park's 9 million annual visitors.
E-mail Matthew S.L. Cate at [email protected]
