7791

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7791
• Author: National Parks and Conservation Association.
• Title: Park Waters in Peril, National Parks and Conservation Association.
• USFW Year: 1993.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: YES

PROBLEMS St RECOMMENDATIONS
i N
W
inquiries merely underscores the need for and impor-
tance of increased funding for Park Service research
and technical activities.
The bulk of NPCA's recommendations call for
congressional action to strengthen the authority and
resources available to the Park Service to address
park water threats, while other recommendations call
for more effective use of available tools by the Park
Service. Most of the recommendations, however,
carry an important message to state governments as
well. Many of the problems identified in this Report
could be minimized or resolved if state governments
exercised or expanded their authority to protect park
waters -waters obviously enjoyed and cherished by
their citizens.
Finally, it is critical to recognize the importance
of taking steps now to avoid devastating damage to
park waters. It is generally more effective, and less
costly, to prevent problems than to try and fix them.
As Aldo Leopold observed, "Who but a fool would
discard seemingly useless parts? To kee~~~ every cog
and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinker-
ing." But we have "discarded" critical parts of virtu-
ally every park ecosystem, and are only now realizing
the price. We now confront, for example, the expen-
sive and possibly impossible task of "replacing the
parts" of Everglades' aquatic ecosystem as we attempt
to restore and clean up once-natural, once-pristine
water flows. The troubling truth is, however, that
we can never fully restore ecosystem damage that
could have been prevented.
10
Inadequate legal and administrative toc'~ set _. _iy undermir.. Parh Serti,, e efforts to defena ~~ ~„ n River in Dinosaur National Monument, as
well as innumerable other park waters threatened by activities beyond park boundaries.