The whole idea of a “grand tour” — encompassing southern Utah and northern Arizona — began with the National Park Service’s first director, Stephen Mather.
Once he saw Zion National Park, Mather was enchanted by the southwest’s red rock country. He returned to Zion regularly; in fact, between 1919 and 1929 he made at least one trip annually. As part of his 1921 visit, he brought a Saturday Evening Post writer, one Emerson Hough, plus naturalist Edmund Heller. Mather hoped they would be equally enchanted and help spread the word about Zion. The trio also traveled to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and began kicking around the idea of a grand “tourist circle” linking Zion, Bryce, Cedar Breaks, and the North Rim.
(Mather was convinced that auto tours was the key to attracting large numbers of the public to the national parks. He also conceived of a grand, multi-state tour encompassing Sequoia, Yosemite, the Northwest, Glacier, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion.)
Arbitrarily, let’s start at Cedar Breaks National Monument, a Bryce Canyon writ small — a large coliseum of brilliant colors. Located east of Cedar City, the monument is surrounded by the forests and meadows of Dixie National Forest.
Air quality in Zion National Park has long been a concern of the National Parks Conservation Association — particularly ozone levels driven by regional power plants, which can produce haze and damage plants.
“We’re pushing the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) for best-available technology to control ozone,” said Karen Hevel-Mingo, Program Manager, Southwest Region for NPCA.
Some two years ago, the Bush administration set new limits on ozone that were a bit stricter than limits that had been in place since 1997. Eleven states and many environmental groups sued, charging that the Bush limit of 75 parts per billion (ppb) was too weak. EPA scientists had suggested limits in the 60-70 ppb range. EPA is now reconsidering the Bush-era limits, and may set stricter ones.
Utah’s Washington County (surrounding Zion NP) would be in violation if EPA set the limit at 60-70 ppb.
In 1977 Zion NP was designated a Class I air quality area, receiving the highest protection under the Clean Air Act. Several plant species that occur in Zion NP are known to be sensitive to ozone, including quaking aspen), snowberry, and ponderosa pine. In 1999, the National Park Service Air Resources Division surveyed vegetation in Zion NP and found probable ozone injury on several species, including snowberry.
As for Zion’s soundscape, the park is currently working on a “soundscape management plan,” that if adopted, would be the first national park to set standards for its acoustics.
Learn more the National Park Service air quality and soundscape management programs at www.nature.nps.gov/ParkScience.
