“Hikers come across bear while on trail in Yosemite National Park: Video - Yahoo News” plus 2 more

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• Hikers come across bear while on trail in Yosemite National Park: Video - Yahoo News
• DFW Disaster Relief Nonprofit Small Business Water Damage Restoration Launched - Newswire
• Stacks, water and waste: What the Piney Point leak means for Tampa Bay - WFLA

Hikers come across bear while on trail in Yosemite National Park: Video - Yahoo News Posted: 02 Jun 2021 08:17 AM PDT The Conversation Overcrowded US national parks need a reservation system Traffic at the south entrance to Yellowstone National Park on Aug. 20, 2015. Neal Herbert, NPS/FlickrIf you're headed out into the wild this summer, you may need to jump online and book a reservation before you go. For the second consecutive year, reservations are required to visit Yosemite, Rocky Mountain and Glacier national parks. Other popular sites, including Maine's Acadia National Park, encourage visitors to buy entrance passes in advance. Limiting visitors has two purposes: reducing COVID-19 risks and allowing some parks to recover from recent wildfires. Rocky Mountain will allow 75% to 85% of capacity. Yosemite will again restrict the number of vehicles allowed in; last year, it hosted half of its average 4 million annual visitors. Nationwide, some U.S. parks were emptier than normal during the pandemic, while Yellowstone and others were near capacity. But the pandemic likely was a temporary pause in a rising tide of visitors. America's national parks face a popularity crisis. From 2010 to 2019, the number of national park visitors spiked from 281 million to 327 million, largely driven by social media, advertising and increasing foreign tourism. This exponential growth is generating pollution and putting wildlife at risk to a degree that threatens the future of the park system. And with Americans eager to get back out into the world, the summer of 2021 promises to be one of the busiest domestic travel seasons in recent history. Reservations and other policies to manage visitor numbers could become features at many of the most popular parks. Crowding in the national parks has been rising for years and has spiked since 2010. Protecting treasured lands In my work, I've explored the history of national parks and the factors that drive people to seek experiences outdoors. I've also studied the impacts of national park visitation and ways to keep the public from loving national parks to death. Much of that research has focused on California's Yosemite National Park, which contains nearly 1,200 square miles of wilderness, including iconic granite rock formations, deep valleys, waterfalls and ancient giant sequoias. Its creation dates to the Civil War. In 1864, with this landscape threatened by an influx of settlers and visitors, Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Act, which ceded the region to California for "public use, resort, and recreation." This step set a precedent that parks were for everyone's benefit and enjoyment. Congress made Yosemite a national park in 1890. President Theodore Roosevelt arriving at Yellowstone National Park in 1903. Library of Congress, CC BY-ND Influenced by naturalist John Muir, President Theodore Roosevelt established five new parks in the early 1900s, along with 16 national monuments that included the Grand Canyon. Roosevelt wanted to protect these natural treasures from hunting, mining, logging and other exploitation. To coordinate management, Congress established the National Park Service and the National Park System in 1916. The National Park Service Organic Act directs the agency to protect the parks' wildlife and natural and cultural heritage "in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations" – a mission that is becoming increasingly difficult today. Loving the parks to death Americans fell in love with their parks – and several waves of overpopularity nearly destroyed the very experiences that drew people there. The advent of automobile tourism in the 1920s opened national parks to hundreds of thousands of new visitors, who overwhelmed limited, aging roads, trails, restrooms, water treatment systems and visitor facilities. Ironically, relief came during the Great Depression. The New Deal funded massive construction projects in the parks, including campground comfort stations, museums and other structures. Hundreds of miles of roads and trails opened wild backcountry. Dedication of Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, Montana, on July 15, 1933. George A. Grant, NPS/Flickr Between 1929 and 1941, the number of annual park visitors grew from 3 million to 20 million. This increasing torrent slowed only when the U.S. entered World War II. In the postwar boom, people returned en masse. The National Park Service launched "Mission 66," another flurry of construction that again expanded capacity. Conservationists and others condemned the development, alarmed by its environmental impacts and the threat of overcrowding. By the mid-1960s, total yearly park visitation exceeded 100 million. Riding the tourism wave Today the national park system has grown to comprise 63 national parks, with ever more visitors, plus 360 sites with other designations, such as national seashores, monuments and battlefields. Some of these other sites, such as Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts and Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, also attract millions of visitors yearly. In 2019, a record-setting 327 million people visited the national parks, with the heaviest impacts on parks located near cities, like Rocky Mountain National Park outside Denver. This crowding spotlighted problems that park officials had been raising concerns about for years: The parks are underfunded, overrun, overbuilt and threatened by air and water pollution in violation of the laws and executive orders that protected them. Park horror stories have grown common in recent years. They include miles-long traffic jams in Yellowstone, three-hour waits to enter Yosemite, trails littered with trash and confrontations between tourists and wildlife. In 2020, Congress passed the Great American Outdoors Act, which will provide up to US$1.9 billion a year for five years to address the park system's nearly $12 billion maintenance backlog. This long list of postponed projects reflects Congress' reluctance to adequately fund the national park system over many years. But as the New Deal and Mission 66 demonstrated, increased infrastructure spending often boosts visitation. The Great American Outdoors Act doesn't cover conservation efforts or significant personnel needs, which will require increased federal funding. Many repairs are needed throughout the parks, but the system's future sustainability relies more on staffing than infrastructure. A cruise ship approaches Margerie Glacier in Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park in 2018. NPS/Flickr And neither more money nor additional park rangers will solve the overcrowding crisis. I believe the most popular national parks need a reservation system to save these protected lands from further damage. This won't be a popular solution, since it contradicts the founding premise that national parks were built for public benefit and enjoyment. Critics have already created a petition opposing Rocky Mountain National Park's timed entry permits as unnecessary, unfair, undemocratic and discriminatory. But the parks' unrelenting popularity is making it impossible to preserve them "unimpaired." In my view, crowd control has become essential in the most popular parks. While there is only one Yosemite Valley, the national park system offers many less crowded destinations. Sites such as Hovenweep National Monument in Colorado and Utah and the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Kansas deserve attention for their natural beauty and the depth they add to Americans' shared heritage. [Get our best science, health and technology stories. Sign up for The Conversation's science newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Michael Childers, Colorado State University. Read more:Grand Canyon National Park turns 100: How a place once called 'valueless' became grandSpending time alone in nature is good for your mental and emotional health Michael Childers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

DFW Disaster Relief Nonprofit Small Business Water Damage Restoration Launched - Newswire Posted: 11 Mar 2021 12:00 AM PST [unable to retrieve full-text content]DFW Disaster Relief Nonprofit Small Business Water Damage Restoration Launched  Newswire

Stacks, water and waste: What the Piney Point leak means for Tampa Bay - WFLA Posted: 02 Apr 2021 12:00 AM PDT MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – An environmental disaster is looming on the horizon east of Tampa Bay as a phosphogypsum stack at Piney Point leaks, threatening to contaminate local water supplies. A local state of emergency has been declared and an evacuation order issued as hundreds of millions of gallons of highly contaminated water must be drained to avoid catastrophe. But what does this all mean for people living in the Tampa Bay area? What is a phosphogypsum stack, and why is it important? Since 2015, the United States has been the third-largest producer of phosphorite, a phosphate-rich rock used in the production of fertilizer. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, in 2019, Florida and North Carolina produced over 75% of the total domestic output of phosphate rock with phosphorus pentoxide, the "marketable product" used in fertilizers and feedstocks. Highly contaminated water being released from Phosphogypsum in Manatee County Phosphogypsum is the radioactive waste left over during phosphate mining, formed as a by-product from producing fertilizer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The waste created during the production of fertilizer is stored in large piles, or stacks. However, Manatee County officials have made it clear that the reservoir currently leaking contains mixed saltwater with elevated levels of nutrients and is acidic. "Obviously you would not prefer to go swimming in it. There's a little bit of ammonia in it but… we're not talking about anything with radiation or high levels of heavy metals or anything like that," said Interim Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes. In Florida, there are currently 27 stacks across the state. State officials say only nine are active. Only one of the active mines is in North Florida. Of the stacks in Florida, 22 of them are located around the Tampa Bay area or in counties bordering the region, primarily in Bone Valley, which contains portions of Hardee, Hillsborough, Manatee and Polk counties. The majority of Florida's active mines are in Bone Valley. (Map published by Florida Department of Environmental Protection) The environmental impact of phosphogypsum leaks and how it can hurt the local economy In Manatee County, the former Piney Point phosphate plant's phosphogypsum stack is leaking. The Piney Point plant, closed in 2001, is still owned and maintained by HRK Holdings. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says the company is still working to prevent the leak. On April 1, 2021, the Manatee County Commission declared a local state of emergency due to a liner tear at the site. Manatee County declares local state of emergency after former phosphate plant leaks contaminated water In 2016, a sinkhole opened in Polk County, Fla., damaging a phosphogypsum stack. The sinkhole led to an estimated 215 million gallons of contaminated, radioactive water draining into a local aquifer. The current leak in Manatee County has the potential to do more than just harm the supply of drinking water in cities. Brian Rosegger, the owner of Lost Coast Oyster Company, told 8 On Your Side in previous coverage that he is concerned the leak will cause an algae bloom or a possible red tide, which could shut down his business. County leadership continues to provide updates on the Piney Point facility and its ongoing leak issues, especially concerning the effects of stormwater runoff. While the water discharged from Piney Point currently "meets water quality standards for marine waters with the exception of pH, Total Phosphorus, Total Nitrogen and Total Ammonia Nitrogen," FDEP staff are still monitoring water quality daily, according to state officials. Additionally, the state has released a timeline of events, clarifying the discharges that are occurring at Piney Point: In an effort to prevent uncontrolled discharges that would result in environmental harm, DEP issued an Emergency Order requiring HRK to take immediate action and implement necessary steps to ensure integrity of the system. This authorization includes the release of controlled discharges.   To be clear, the department's authorization for the controlled discharges is not a blanket authorization. The Emergency Final Order only authorizes discharges at an amount necessary to ensure stabilization.   The purpose of these controlled discharges is to prevent the buildup of pressure in the system. Such excess pressure could cause uncontrolled discharges of mixed seawater into freshwater, and also undermine the structural integrity of the water management system at the site.  Last night, controlled discharges alleviated pressure enough to temporarily halt uncontrolled discharges into Piney Point Creek. A State Watch Office notice was distributed regarding this event, and did not include the word "creek," when identifying Piney Point Creek – causing many to believe all discharges had ceased which is not the case. Later on, uncontrolled discharges resumed into Piney Point Creek, but at a decreased volume. This status remains the case at this time and DEP is continuing to oversee HRK's response onsite to resolve this issue.   Aside from this, a separate leak in the pipe leading into Port Manatee paused controlled discharges until repairs could be made. Yesterday evening, these leaks were fixed and controlled discharges resumed this afternoon in an effort to continue alleviating pressure and maintaining structural integrity.  Statement from Florida Department of Environmental Protection Additionally, DEP says "a breakout of seepage in the east wall of the NGS South containment area was observed. This water is the same mixed seawater in the reservoir. These discharges are currently contained in the onsite lined stormwater system. DEP's Emergency Management staff are onsite and coordinating with Manatee County to provide assistance with an engineered blockade of natural landscape to halt the breakout to contain the system." Potential solutions and a waiting game while officials work to contain leak U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., who represents Manatee County and parts of Hillsborough and Sarasota counties, weighed in on the ongoing leak, calling it a potential disaster. This is a potential environmental disaster if it isn't handled properly. The Piney Point fertilizer plant was abandoned in 2001. Its contaminated phosphogypsum stacks remain a threat that needs to be resolved. (2/2) — Rep. Vern Buchanan (@VernBuchanan) March 29, 2021 Buchanan posted support of a proposed "deep well injection" to dispose of liquid waste in the area going forward, but the process would take three to five years. His tweet says the Manatee County Commission voted 6-1 in favor of the concept as well. On April 2, residents near the plant were given a notice to evacuate the area due to an "imminent uncontrolled release of wastewater." .@MCGPublicSafety just sent out an emergency evacuation notice to any persons in the half-mile radius of Piney Point. The evacuation notice was issued due to the imminent uncontrolled release of wastewater at Buckeye Road and Bud Rohden Road. pic.twitter.com/qqFuMVNFlv — Manatee County Public Safety Department (@MCGPublicSafety) April 2, 2021 8 On Your Side is closely tracking the situation at Piney Point as it continues to unfold. Please check back for additional updates.

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