U.S. National Parks in Peril

cont'd: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13363560/

Can nation's parks survive the pressure?
Inside and just outside, they are increasingly being squeezed

Glacier National Park Archives via AP
The pressure on Glacier National Park in Montana includes melting ice. Grinnell Glacier is seen, from left, in 1938, 1981, 1998, and 2005. Upper Grinnell Lake continues to get bigger as the glacier recedes. Icebergs can be seen floating in Upper Grinnell Lake in the recent photos.
View related photos
• Parks in peril
Many of the 390 parks within the National Park System are struggling with budget and development pressures. Click to view photographs from select parks.

Reuters file• Red Listed
Click to view a few of the animals on the 2006 Red List of threatened species prepared by the World Conservation Union.

By Frank Bass and Rita Beamish

Updated: 2 hours, 1 minute ago
This two-part Associated Press series found that the national parks are facing unprecedented pressures inside and outside their borders from population growth, homeland security concerns and Americans’ desires for conveniences such as hotels, restaurants, stores, cell phones and vacation homes.

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, Mont. - The ice-covered mountaintops are shrouded by fog. A stream gushes against the rocks on a headlong rush to the lake. High above the deserted visitors’ parking lot, an elk stares at a lone hiker.

Glacier National Park is an island, a sanctuary from the outside world.

For how long?

:cry:

:cry:

in CA (here). They, fortunately have made very strident efforts to protect GS National Forest over the years and it appears to be working-practically no development growth and emphasis on preservation/eduction.