The Problems Facing the US National Park System

There are seven main areas of environmental problems that face the U.S. National Park System: overuse, insufficient funds for park operation, threats to wildlife, the concession systems, energy and mineral development, atmospheric pollution, and activities on adjacent lands. The popularity of National Parks especially the crown jewel parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks, have overwhelmed some national parks with visitors. In fact, the amount of visitors to national parks has steadily increased by 10% each year. This massive increase in pedestrian and vehicle traffic has caused trails to become eroded from overuse, vegetation surrounding trails around popular attraction to be trampled by visitors, and litter, noise, water pollution, and smog have all impeded the enjoyability of national parks. This increase in visitors and the need for the few rangers employed by the park to meet the needs of more and more visitors have created a safety issue. Rangers can’t monitor the entire park for criminal activity, and this impacts the safety of national parks. (Kaufman and Franz, 1993, 474).

Like other environmental organizations and agencies, insufficient funding is a major concern. (Kaufman and Franz, 1993, 475). The increase in visitors to national parks has increased the amount of wear an tear that park facilities sustain each year, and this increases the amount of repair requests and new structures that need to built annually. However, with a limited fund, these repairs and improvements often have to take a back seat to more pressing issues. While improvements to roads, trails, and facilities are important to the enjoyment of the park, the amount of park rangers available helps to protect the safety of park visitors. With shortages in funding the number of rangers at these parks is declining which impairs public safety.