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Death I Cannot Bear" : An Examination of Death Valley National Park. by Zeitel Gray | |||
| 1 | Recently I went with a class to Death Valley National Park. There were 34 of us all together, instructors included. One-third of the group was botany and biology students, while the other two thirds were geology students. Upon arriving in Death Valley, I felt the most amazing power take hold of me. It was unlike anything that I had ever felt before. I had a feeling of being somewhere special, somewhere that was like nowhere else I had ever been or would ever go. The mountains were so gigantic, the valley was so low, and the sky seemed to be stretching itself to keep its grasp on the mountain peaks. | ||
| 2 | When I originally heard about this trip, I really wanted to go, though I had no background on the content of the class. And the name, Death Valley, brought a question into my mind, what exactly would we see in the "Valley of Death?" But the name is just as deceiving as the mountains and the salt pan, for very much is alive amongst the Juniper and the Pinyon Pine and underneath the branches of the Desert Holly and Creosote Bush. I was astounded at all that lay before me. And yet that first day I had no idea what was really out there. After spending 10 days in and four weeks researching Death Valley, I still only have a small grasp of what is there, from the earliest geologic events to the smallest endemic specie;as radical nature writer Edward Abbey writes in Desert Solitaire, truly "the desert is a vast world, an oceanic world, as deep in its ways and complex and various as the sea" (Abbey xii). | ||
| 3 | Though I don't know all that there is to know about Death Valley, I do know that it is one of the most unique places on the face of this earth. But the beauty and uniqueness of this park are becoming ever more threatened by human activity, both in and outside the park. Throughout my trip I heard about and saw many of the things that are threatening the valley, and through research I have discovered more. I fell in love with this place in 10 days. It taught me so much and yet so little about its life and processes. It breaks my heart to know it could be gone someday. My words will do little justice to the beauty and magnificence of Death Valley, but I hope to get through to you a hint of its beauty and teach you that you can help, and I also hope to help you understand the problems that are threatening this park. Problems caused by man himself. Man is threatening the very thing that keeps him alive. In many ways, man has already destroyed much of what he needs to survive. We need to reestablish that perfect balance that we humans once had with Mother Nature. | ||
| 4 | The hottest, driest, lowest place in North America is the valley floor of Death Valley (Harris 610). It is approximately 140 miles long, and ranges from four to 16 miles wide. Death Valley is the oldest of the three desert park units. It was proclaimed a National Monument in 1933 (National Park Conservation Association, Death Valley National Park), and was established as a National Park on October 8, 1994 (Harris 610). With its 3,299,840 acres of land (Harris 610), Death Valley is the largest national park in the lower 48 states (National Parks Conservation Association, Death Valley National Park). With its amazing wonders and unique species, Death Valley is rightfully a national park. | ||
| 5 | One of the many amazing features of Death Valley is the contrast of mountain and valley, which isn't really a valley at all, but a basin caused by movement on earthquake fault lines (Fun Facts about Death Valley). Death Valley ranges from -282 feet below sea level at Badwater and 11,049 feet at Telescope Peak (Harris 611). Charles Hunt, Professor of Geography and Environmental Engineering at the John's Hopkins University and author of Death Valley: Geology, Ecology, and Archaeology, describes the floor of the valley as "a vast evaporating dish covering more than 200 square miles" (36). The valley floor is a salt pan, which is a "crusted over [area] with a variety of salts distributed in zones, which are orderly both horizontally and vertically and which faithfully reflect the differences in solubility of the salts." The salt crust averages about two to three feet deep(36). Few people know it, but thousands of years ago, Death Valley was a lake, called Lake Manly. And only thousands of years before that, this lake and the many other that surrounded Death Valley, were hundreds of feet deep (14). The evaporation of Lake Manly was what formed the salt pan. | ||
| 6 | Looking at the salt pan from a distance, the surface looks relatively flat. But upon closer inspection, such as at Devil's Golfcourse, one of the many tourist attractions, the surface is very rugged. Here, the salt pan looks like salt mounds. Upon even closer inspection, there are many tunnels and cracks within the mounds that give the surface an even more rugged texture. I was amazed to see that the salt pan was as white as snow. | ||
| 7 | So knowing now that the valley is made mostly of different salts, there probably isn't much life in Death Valley, right? Wrong. There are over 900 different kinds of plants that live within the park (Uhler). Plant life ranges from below sea level to two miles above (Clark 10). Since the average annual precipitation in the valley is less than two inches, all of the 900+ plants have very special adaptations to small amounts of water and the continuous heat. Many of the plants have very small to no leaves at all, which helps them to retain water. Many plants also hibernate or estivate. Most of the plants estivate, meaning that they go into a state of dormancy through the summer. Since the summers are extremely hot and there is no rain, this makes sense. These plants shed their leaves and look dead through the entire summer, but once the weather gets cooler, they begin to look alive again. Hibernation, dormancy during the winter, of plants is not as common because there is more rain and the weather is cooler during the winter. | ||
| 8 | The plants that live on the valley floor near the salt pan receive the most amount of water compared to those that live up on the alluvial fans because the water table is higher in the valley. As we already know the valley is very salty, so these plants also have a special adaptation to handle high concentrations of salt. Up on the alluvial fan, water is more scarce. The water table is much lower in the ground, which is why most of these plants depend on the scarce amount of rainfall for water. Up in the higher elevations, rainfall averages annually 15 inches. Since this is a significantly greater amount of water, these plants simply use the rainfall as their water supply (Clark 11). | ||
| 9 | An example of the hardiness of the many plants in Death Valley is the mesquite tree. Mesquite is one of the many trees in Death Valley. Because it uses gallons of waters a day, its roots can be as long as 50 feet to reach the water table. So if you are lost in Death Valley, and you're in desperate need of water, look for a mesquite tree. But near Furnace Creek Visitors Center, many of the oldest Mesquite are dead. They did not win the battle against man for water. The resort, the golfcourse, the swimming pool, the store, and the other industrialized mechanisms use millions of gallons of groundwater a year, leaving the mesquite nothing. Many of the seeps and springs in the area have been eliminated or reduced do to human consumption of water which is affecting endemic and endangered species (National Park Conservation Association). | ||
| 10 | Along with the many plants in Death Valley, there are over 440 species of animals in Death Valley (National Park Service, Endemic Plants and Animals). These 900+ species of plants and 440+ species of animals are totally reliant on one another. Many of the plants rely on the birds to carry its seed away for germination, and the animals rely on the plants for food and shelter. In many cases, one without the other would cease to exist. Just within the Park boundaries, there are 20 species of endemic plants (U.S. Department of the Interior) and 23 endemic animals (National Park Service, Endemic Plants and Animals), which means that once the habitats of these 43 species are destroyed and the species are extinct, they are gone forever. | ||
| 11 | One of these amazing, endemic species in Death Valley is its Pupfish, which live in "fossil" water. Pupfish are very small fish, ranging from one to three inches in length. The Pupfish in and around Death Valley are descendants of ancient fish that became isolated in springs when the drainage that formerly connected Death Valley and the Colorado River was destroyed (Hunt 216). This disconnection of drainage was followed by dry conditions, which further isolated the aquatic habitats to specific springs. This resulted in the inhabiting Pupfish differentiating and evolving into the relic species we find today (National Park Service, Ash Meadows). So what started out as one species millions of years ago is now the four species and the three subspecies of endemic Pupfish found in the Death Valley area. There were once two additional subspecies, but they have gone extinct due to the destruction of their habitats (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Devil's Hole). | ||
| 12 | The "fossil" water in Death Valley is from ten to twelve thousand year old aquifers, or pools of underground water, which is brought to the surface by seeps and springs. These seeps and springs are caused from the water table intersecting with the Earth's surface, which causes a natural flow of ground water (Lutgens 197). | ||
| 13 | One of the most famous springs is Devil's Hole in Ash Meadows. It is the only naturally occurring habitat for the Devil's Hole Pupfish, which have been isolated here for ten to twenty thousand years. This is longer than any other specie of Pupfish in Death Valley. Devil's Hole is water filled cavern that is cut into the side of a hill that is over 300 feet deep (National Park Service, Ash Meadows). | ||
| 14 | Devil's Hole is constantly being threatened by human activities, such as the pumping of groundwater for surrounding areas and irrigation by a farming corporation, that bought the land surrounding Devil's Hole back in the 1970's. In 1971, Federal Courts issued an injunction to stop further pumping of the groundwater because small portions of the natural habitat of the Pupfish were being exposed and the Pupfish weren't reproducing as much. Then in 1976, a Supreme Court ruling recognized the prior water rights of the Devil's Hole Pupfish due to their designation as a National Monument (Death Valley was not proclaimed a National Park until 1994). Groundwater pumping has not completely stopped, but is only limited to a level which guarantees sufficient water to the habitat of the Pupfish (National Park Service, Devil's Hole). | ||
| 15 | Though Devil's Hole is protected, the majority of Ash Meadows is not. Prior to its designation as a wildlife refuge, Ash Meadows has been considerably threatened. In 1977, a land development company bought the Ash Meadows land with the intent of subdividing the area into 30,000 residential lots. This was a new and powerful threat, which California Senator Alan Cranston saw. He introduced legislation to establish a Desert Pupfish Wildlife Refuge, which would later be known as Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in 1984 (National Park Service, Ash Meadows). | ||
| 16 | Even though Ash Meadows is a National Wildlife Refuge and part of Death Valley National Park, there are still many threats that cause concern for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. There are still great amounts of water loss due to pumping of the groundwater, habitats and sensitive plants are being destroyed by illegal off-road vehicles, and the competition of native and non-native species, such as the Pupfish vs. the Large Mouthed Bass (U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Devil's Hole). | ||
| 17 | Another threat inside the park has to do with recreation and human visitation. Death Valley also has designated wilderness areas. In fact, 95% of the park is designated wilderness, which means that you can only hike into these areas. These wilderness areas have the highest standard of federal protection. These are areas with unique ecosytems and resources that can not be destroyed. In the wilderness areas, where vehicles are not allowed, the National Park Service is still allowing vehicles to drive up through these wilderness areas to popular campgrounds, which is obviously against park policy. The park service is also "permitting motorized access in wilderness [areas] to ranchers with grazing permits, [another] violation of NPS policy" (National Parks Conservation Association, Death Valley National Park). | ||
| 18 | Another recreational threat is a more recent one, called Sandboarding. Sandboarding is like snowboarding. You "coast down the face of a steep, colossal slope at between 30 to 50 miles per hour" (Mackay). To enhance speeds, people have been know to polish the underside of their board with furniture polish. Since sand is physically corrosive, it grinds away the polish, putting it into the ecosystems of the sanddunes. In Death Valley, Eureka Dunes has become the hot spot for Sandboarding. The dunes are home to listed endangered plant species, such as Eureka Valley Dune Grass and the Eureka Dunes Evening Primrose (Mackay). To my knowledge, there has been no conservation agreement to protect the dunes from this newly-found fad. Meanwhile, these plants are being destroyed and harmful chemicals are being put into the ecosystems. By not creating a conservation agreement, the park is in direct violation of the Endangered Species Act and the park's own mandate to preserve and protect park resources (Mackay). | ||
| 19 | It is possible, in my own opinion, that the greatest threats to Death Valley National Park are coming from outside the park boundaries. For instance, to the west of Death Valley is Los Angeles and to the east is Las Vegas. While in Death Valley, I noticed the flight patterns. Though they cannot be heard, airplanes fly over the park. The exhaust discharged from airplanes releases particulate matter into the air. Now since it does not rain very much in Death Valley, this particulate matter falls to the surface in a dry form. It can land on the soil or in a water body, polluting the surface water or if landing on the soil, could percolate down to the groundwater. Car exhaust does the same thing, and almost everyone I saw in Death Valley was driving a car. Though the effects are probably minuscule now, once these pollutants build up and nature has reached her threshold, who knows what will happen to the unique species of Death Valley. | ||
| 20 | Mining is another threat to the natural stability of Death Valley. In the 1800's, gold and silver were mined in Death Valley. Salts and talc have also been mined out of Death Valley. But Death Valley is mostly famous for its borax mines (Hunt 147-149). Now that it is a National Park, mining is no longer permitted within the park, with the excpection of one active borax mine that predates the protection act (National Park Conservation Association, Death Valley National Park). Gold mining also threatens the park. One mine, the Briggs mine, lies along the western border of Death Valley. The Briggs Mine is a cyanide-leaching gold mine. This mine uses 250 gallons of groundwater per minute (Marcus). This is faster than the water can be recharged (National Park Conservation Association, Death Valley National Park). This is 360,000 gallons of water a day, 2,520,000 gallons of water a week, and 131,040,000 gallons a year. This mine is using the same ground water that supplies many of the plants and animals in Death Valley. Combined with the amount of water the Visitor Center uses, these species are being denied their given rights to water as they are a part of the unique ecosystems that make up Death Valley. Even though this mine is outside the park, it is using up the most valuable resource that these species have. Without it, as the myth goes, there will be no life in Death Valley. | ||
| 21 | The cyanide-leaching process is quite a process. First crushed gold must be dissolved in either a solution of sodium cyanide or potassium cyanide. Then the unwanted particles are filtered out and the gold is percipitated out by adding zinc, leaving the miners with a large yeild of gold. Though this process increases the yield of gold, it of course has many problems associated with it. The cyanide is usually allowed to accumulate in preg ponds, where the water and cyanide solution are put, forming toxic pools. And like any "container," there is always a high potential for leakage. Cyanide leaking from these preg ponds can and does seep into streams and aquifers. It is also one of the major pollutants whereever it is used in the mining process (Grolier 1996). Death Valley's air quality is suffering tremendously from outside mines, much like this one (National Parks Conservation Association, Death Valley National Park). | ||
| 22 | Another potential threat, and one that is under construction but not yet in use, is the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository. Yucca Mountain lies approximately 20 miles to the east of Death Valley National Park. It has been a major site for research for the storage of nuclear waste for the last 20 years and is currently the sole candidate for the repository (Christenson A16). As of February 2000, the recommendation of Yucca Mountain will be taken to the president in the year 2001, who in turn will decide whether to recommend Yucca Mountain to Congress (McCutcheon, Senate). | ||
| 23 | The plan is that 700,000 tons of spent nuclear waste would be buried in Yucca Mountain (Environment). The waste would be stored in "corrosion-resistant" nickel alloy for at least 10,000 years.The storage facility itself is 1,980 feet wide and 3,960 feet long, with a transport tunnel also about 2,000 feet long. The canisters holding the waste would be transported into the tunnel via rail. The storage tunnel itself will consist of 120 storage tunnels and three connecting tunnels built 1,000 feet below the surface (Christenson A16). | ||
| 24 | Accordingly, Nevada ranks third in the country for seismic activity and it just so happens that two faults lie underneath the proposed storage tunnel. Seven years ago, 12 miles southeast of Yucca Mountain, a strong earthquake, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale, shook the Yucca Mountain region. And still today, small earthquakes have been known to happen (McCutcheon Seperating). With two small fault lines underneath the storage tunnel and the potential that lies in the surrounding area for earthquakes, the chance of some damage, being very minute to very destructive, is very great, in my opinion. Even the smallest amount of threat from fault activity should lead the researchers to believe that an earthquake could potentially cause mass structural damage and cause any of the canisters to crack or break open. The water table is only 1,000 feet below the storage tunnel (Christenson A16), leaving a large potential for radioactive waste to percolate into the water table. Not only this, but the repository will tap into the same aquifer that supplies the species of Death Valley with water (National Parks Conservation Association, Death Valley National Park). The repository will simply add to the humongous amount of consumption that is already at a level that cannot be replaced. | ||
| 25 | What I find the most difficult to understand is the role of the Park Service. It was established in 1916 (Abbey 47) and was/is mandated to "promote and regulate the use of the parks in conformity with their fundamental purpose, that purpose being to conserve the scenery and the natural and the historic objects and wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for enjoyment of future generations" (Abbey). If this is it's mandate and responsibility, then how can it justify allowing hotels, swimming pools, roads, and everything else that comes with industrial tourism, into the park? These actions are in no way in alliance with their mandate. These things take away from the natural beauty of Death Valley, or of anywhere for that matter. They are intrusive, and only bring more intrusive acts against the park. | ||
| 26 | I realize, however, that the park service has a tough job. It is responsible for many things. And for what it has done so far, it has done an allright job, with a few exceptions. The Park Service's main problem lies within their own mandate, "for [the] enjoyment of future generations." The key here is "enjoyment of future generations." If people's enjoyment lies in hotels, swimming pools, golfcourses and air conditioned automobiles, then it's done. Done all through out every National Park, with the exception of parts of Alaska, through the United States. And once it's done, the people will come, checkbooks, Visas, travelers' checks in hand, ready to pay whatever it takes to get out of the heat and have a cold glass of what is left of the 12,000-year old water. My point is is that urbanized, industrial tourists created industrial tourism for their "enjoyment," which is what the National Park Service mandates. And where there is money, there is power, and "through Congress the tourism industry can bring enormous pressure to bear upon such a slender reed in the executive branch as the poor,old Park Service" (Abbey 49). I feel that Edward Abbey described the Industrial Tourism Industry rather nicely. When he comes to the new site of a national park, he sees nothing natural, he comes with "supersensitive antennae [looking] into red canyons and seeing only green, stand among flowers snorting out the smell of money, and hear, while thunderstorms rumble over the mountains, the fall of a dollar bill on motel carpeting" (Abbey 50). These people seem to have no sense of what the term "National Park" means that it is to be enjoyed, but above all, protected. | ||
| 27 | You have probably noticed that I have quoted Edward Abbey quite a bit. The reason is his book, Desert Solitaire, the first Abbey book I ever read. It is about Abbey's 3 seasons as a Park Ranger in Arches National Park. It is the story of the gripping, anguished cry of a man who challenges the growing exploitation of the wilderness. Reading this book, I felt sad and frustrated. I was frustrated because I didn't want to believe what he was saying, and I was sad because what he was saying was true. I knew after reading this book that Nature needed not only my help, but everyone's help. And without our help, Nature would disappear and simply be called development. | ||
| 28 | The National Park Conservation Association is one group that is trying to help protect the National Park System. This group is continuously working with the National Park Service "to protect and enhance America's National Park System for present and future generations" (National Parks Conservations Association, Death Valley National Park). The NPCA is currently working with the National Park Service to establish a more organized way of fulfilling the Park Service's mandate. Among its suggestions are to develop a more detailed management plan that will assess potential threats to the park and identifies remedies for these threats, establish standards and guidelines for grazing that protect native vegatation and wildlife, and complete the legal maps and boundry descriptions for the wilderness areas (National Park Conservation Association, Death Valley National Park). These are just a few of its suggestions, and with a little bit more information, you can make your own suggestions. | ||
| 29 | The best part of the NPCA is that it is made of 400,000 people just like you and me, people who want America's national parks to stay beautiful and natural. Even you can become a member and help protect what remains of the beauty in the United States. You can start by reading Edward Abbey's book, Desert Solitaire, you can continue by visiting some of the National Parks in the United States, and then, if you are still not convinced, reread Edward Abbey's book. And as you read it, think of all that you saw on your adventures and compare that to what he describes throughout his book. The only time he mentions a store is when he drives an hour to one. Remember the way he described the roads, all gravel and dirt. Continue on from there, and hopefully then, you will be convinced. | ||
| 30 | Death Valley, though its name is deceiving, is full of life and history. Within the mountains lies the story of our earth, underneath the Desert Holly hides the Zebra-tailed Lizard, and in the quiet crystal blue springs swims the pupfish. Some people look at me like I am crazy when I tell them all the life that I saw in Death Valley. "I thought nothing could live in the desert, it's so hot and dry down there," one replies, "I drove through there a couple years ago and didn't see anything but boring rocks." You may be thinking slightly the same thing right now, but in the words of Edward Abbey, "You cant see anything from a car; you have got to get out of the god damned contraption and walk, better yet crawl, on hands and knees, over the sandstone and through the Thornbush and Thistle...[then] you'll see something, maybe." I know I did. I crawled through canyons and washes, sanddunes and valley, and saw things that amazed me and still amaze me today." | ||
| 31 | Within Death Valley National Park, there is an array of uniqueness that cannot be matched. But in this uniqueness lies a constant threat, human activity. Not only our activity within the park, but our activities outside the park as well. Mankind needs to search his heart to find mother nature, and once he does that, he needs to realize that without her he would not be here. These National Parks through out the United States are protected so they may remain beautiful and prestine for future generations, but until we realize that are actions, though hundreds of miles away, are affecting the natural beauty of mother nature, these parks will not remain beautiful and prestine, but instead decay and rot away. I could watch my house burn down, handle the death of my dog, "...but oh my desert yours is the only death I cannot bear" (Richard Shelton). | ||
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