Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Preserving Carlsbad Caverns
The purposes for which the park was established as articulated in the 1923 Enabling Legislation, the 1978 Wilderness designation, and the 1996 General Management Plan guide management at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Those purposes include:
Protecting caves within Carlsbad Caverns National Park;
Preserving the park's natural state and scenic features;
Providing enjoyment and benefits for the public;
Managing wilderness areas in accordance with the Wilderness Act;
Preventing damage, destruction, or removal of park features;
Managing the park in accordance with the Organic Act; and
Protecting Lechuguilla Cave and other resources in and adjacent to the park.
The National Park Service prepares a variety of planning and environmental documents to help guide it in managing park resources. These documents can range from site-specific impact analyses on facility locations to broader park-wide plans for future use and management of a park. The Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ ) site contains all of the currently active plans and environmental documents for the National Park Service.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park produces a number of planning documents in the course of careful deliberations about park management issues. Following are planning and other associated documents the park has completed in the last few years.
Air Quality
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a moderately sized park located within the desert southwest and preserves a portion of the northern Chihuahuan Desert. As with many areas throughout the United States, maintaining an excellent air quality is critical to preserving and protecting the natural resources found within the park. Through the Clean Air Act of 1970 and subsequent amendments, the park is classified as a Class 1 air quality area. This classification helps protect the air quality of the park at the highest level.
There are numerous human-made pollution sources that may impact air quality at the park and within the region. These include (but are not limited to) power generating plants within the region, the many producing oil and gas wells within the area, and nearby refineries. Air quality can also be affected by natural conditions such as when strong winds from the west create huge dust storms that drop visibility significantly in the area. Despite growing concerns over air quality and pollution at the park, there are still a number of days when visibility is excellent with views of the Davis Mountains located 140 miles south of the park from the visitor center.
With oil and gas activities increasing in the Black River valley to the south of the park, the National Park Service has recently installed a Portable Ozone Monitoring Site (POMS) unit to record ozone levels during the warm months of the year.
For current ozone measurements, visit http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/data/current/Data_CAVE.cfm (http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/data/current/Data_CAVE.cfm).
For an excellent report and overview of park air quality information (October 2003), visit http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/Permits/ARIS/CAVE/index.cfm (http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/Permits/ARIS/CAVE/index.cfm)
To review the 2001 Air Emissions Inventory from within the park (June 2003), visit www2.nature.nps.gov/air/AQBasics/ParkEIFiles/CAVEnp_nm.pdf (www2.nature.nps.gov/air/AQBasics/ParkEIFiles/CAVEnp_nm.pdf).
Carlsbad Caverns In Depth
News from the Parks
Gettysburg Address to Return for Visitor Center Grand Opening
August 21, 2008 - 5:04pm
There are only five known manuscripts of the famous Gettysburg Address, penned by President Abraham Lincoln — one of those original documents is scheduled to appear in Gettysburg, during the grand opening celebration of the new Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center.
August 21, 2008 - 5:04pm
There are only five known manuscripts of the famous Gettysburg Address, penned by President Abraham Lincoln — one of those original documents is scheduled to appear in Gettysburg, during the grand opening celebration of the new Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center.
Anglers Wary of North Cascades Plan to Limit Fishing
August 21, 2008 - 10:51am
Not much comes easy in the precipitous ice-and-rock geography of North Cascades National Park -- not the hiking, not the high-lakes fishing, and across the park's 40 years of existence, not even fish management. This is what I'm thinking during the sweaty hike out of the stunning cirque that embraces Monogram Lake, where I've spent a couple hours catching and releasing dozens of pretty cutthroat trout with two mountain anglers who fear that soon there will be no fish in the park's high lakes. Whether trout should be in these lakes at all has been an issue since the park was created in 1968, and it is coming to a head with the release in July of the park's voluminous "Mountain Lakes Fishery Management Plan."
August 21, 2008 - 10:51am
Not much comes easy in the precipitous ice-and-rock geography of North Cascades National Park -- not the hiking, not the high-lakes fishing, and across the park's 40 years of existence, not even fish management. This is what I'm thinking during the sweaty hike out of the stunning cirque that embraces Monogram Lake, where I've spent a couple hours catching and releasing dozens of pretty cutthroat trout with two mountain anglers who fear that soon there will be no fish in the park's high lakes. Whether trout should be in these lakes at all has been an issue since the park was created in 1968, and it is coming to a head with the release in July of the park's voluminous "Mountain Lakes Fishery Management Plan."
Bison Advocates Go for Space
August 21, 2008 - 10:48am
As rancher Rick Knobe slowly guides his pickup around the iconic American bison on the prairie here, he reflects on a time when they roamed freely. "I figure the buffalo were there first, the elk were there first, the wolves were there first," he says, looking over his herd of 28 American bison, on his Lazy RRse Buffalo Ranch. "I figure these animals should be given more the right of way to roam."
August 21, 2008 - 10:48am
As rancher Rick Knobe slowly guides his pickup around the iconic American bison on the prairie here, he reflects on a time when they roamed freely. "I figure the buffalo were there first, the elk were there first, the wolves were there first," he says, looking over his herd of 28 American bison, on his Lazy RRse Buffalo Ranch. "I figure these animals should be given more the right of way to roam."
Rapid Climate Change Threatens to Thaw Icy Wonderland of Alaska
August 21, 2008 - 10:43am
I was in Alaska for 10 days in August, on a fellowship with Michigan State University's Knight Center for Environmental Journalism and the Union of Concerned Scientists, to see firsthand the effects of global warming. I didn't have to look far. I watched massive chunks of glacial ice breaking off into the sea.
August 21, 2008 - 10:43am
I was in Alaska for 10 days in August, on a fellowship with Michigan State University's Knight Center for Environmental Journalism and the Union of Concerned Scientists, to see firsthand the effects of global warming. I didn't have to look far. I watched massive chunks of glacial ice breaking off into the sea.
Park Seeks Construction Comment
August 21, 2008 - 10:38am
The National Park Service proposes to construct new housing, operations and recreation facilities in Big Bend National Park. The public, organizations and other agencies may review and comment upon a draft environmental assessment (EA) describing the proposal. The new construction would occur at Panther Junction, Rio Grande Village and Castolon. The proposal is to construct 27 structures, of which 15 would serve new purposes and 12 would replace temporary or inadequate facilities.
August 21, 2008 - 10:38am
The National Park Service proposes to construct new housing, operations and recreation facilities in Big Bend National Park. The public, organizations and other agencies may review and comment upon a draft environmental assessment (EA) describing the proposal. The new construction would occur at Panther Junction, Rio Grande Village and Castolon. The proposal is to construct 27 structures, of which 15 would serve new purposes and 12 would replace temporary or inadequate facilities.
