Your Plans To Visit A National Park May Need To Change
Due to the recent oil tragedy in the gulf the national park service is altering the service status of several gulf region parks
. Although they are updating information daily at www.nps.gov . The problem is that no one knows when they will reopen or close without notice.
In addition to the strain this has put on the park service to accommodate legions of summer travelers to the region they are concerned about some of the long term damage to their parks. The closing of these highly sensitive areas may last for years, and have consequences on all aspects of the parks in which they reside.
They park service has declared four specific areas that are disproportionately endangered. The first is the seagrass beds. Seagrass beds provide an important nursery for aquatic wildlife of all kinds. Unfortunately they are destroyed almost immediately on contact with oil. If the nursery are affected it can devastate marine life populations for generations and may even alter what services, like fishing, the parks can offer.
The second hotspot is salt marshes. Not as important to wildlife as seagrass beds the marshes nevertheless provide for food for birds and flood protection zones for humans during extreme weather. If oil destroys the plant life the salt marsh will soon follow.
Mangroves are very similar to salt marshes and in many ways play the same role in providing for wildlife and protecting humans. Again if a key element of the mini ecosystem were to collapse the mangrove would also.
Finally the park service spoke about cultural landmarks. Things like shipwrecks and civil war defenses could be forever tainted by the oncoming oil. There are few things in the world as romantic as a shipwreck or an old fort and it would be a tragedy to see these sites lost or destroyed. Unlike some of the environmental damage once these sites are lost they are lost forever.
We all want to support our struggling brothers and sisters in the gulf region through this tragedy, but we also want to make sure our families enjoy their vacation time together. If the national park service cannot provide guarantees as to what attractions and areas will be open it is probably best to alter our itineraries. Visiting historic inland attractions and spending money in shops and restaurants will provide the economic assistance the desperately need, and allow our families to see something unique.