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Clearing the Air at Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Author(s) -
Shaver Christine L.,
Tonnessen Kathy A.,
Maniero Tonnie G.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
ecological applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.864
H-Index - 213
eISSN - 1939-5582
pISSN - 1051-0761
DOI - 10.2307/1942000
Subject(s) - national park , clearing , air pollution , air quality index , pollution , environmental protection , geography , wilderness area , environmental resource management , resource (disambiguation) , environmental planning , environmental science , ecology , archaeology , business , wilderness , meteorology , computer network , finance , computer science , biology
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, located in the southern Appalachians on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, was designated by Congress in 1977 as a Class I area, where resources are to be protected from damage due to air pollution. The National Park Service, Air Quality Division, collected and then used data on levels of pollutants and response of sensitive resources in the park and found that forests, soils, surface waters, and visibility in the park were experiencing adverse impacts from air pollution. We reviewed the data and process that supported this finding as well as the legal tools available to federal land managers confronted with evidence that sources of air pollution outside the boundaries of Class I areas are affecting resources. We prepared this case study to describe how the National Park Service has used scientific information in regulatory arenas to address air pollution problems at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Based on this case we show that the requirement for Federal Land Manager review of permits for new stationary sources of air pollution is not sufficient to protect the parks from what has become a regional air quality problem.