Conservation and Biodiversity | Plastics in Paradise: Protecting Our National Parks

After hours of a grueling hike on the side of a snowcapped mountain, I had finally made it to the Hidden Lake Lookout at the Edge of the North Cascades National Park in Washington. The peak we found ourselves at was surrounded by an endless view of mountains as far as the eye could see. For someone living in the swamps of Florida, where the highest mountains are literally the trash dumps, the view was overwhelmingly beautiful.

Hidden Lake, North Cascades National Park,Washington state, USA       Theodore Roosevelt at Yosemite National Park, California, USA

The view of the hidden lake from the summit was incredible. The deep blue water was motionless at the bottom of the valley, framed by rocks, ice, and scattered evergreen trees. Deep in the national park, this stunning lake looked untouched and pristine from the pollution and chaos of the rest of the world. 

But even this far away from civilization, I saw what I never seem able to escape: plastic. Specifically, a plastic sandwich clamshell.

I’m sure it was left behind by a hiker who was not ill-meaning, but unfortunately, with the amount of plastic we use and are inundated with everyday in our lives, it’s almost impossible not to even accidentally leave behind plastic bread crumbs wherever we go, no matter how far away. 

Hiking in the Cascades and with World Cleanup Day  just around the corner on September 20th, I can’t help but think about the natural wonders we have in the United States. Our national parks are the true jewels of our nation, and something we should not only be proud of, but something we should be actively protecting. I’ve traveled around the world doing cleanup work and picking up trash wherever I go, but I can’t help but be captivated by the sheer beauty that the United States offers. As an environmentalist, I feel the need to act to protect these special places whenever I can.

In my opinion, our national parks, of which there are 63, are perhaps the best idea we’ve ever had.

The very first national park ever created in the world was Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park in 1879, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. This special place was designated “as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.” Since the inception of Yellowstone, globally, more than 100 other nations have set aside land for over 1,200 national parks, inspired by the U.S. model. 

Theodore Roosevelt: The Godfather of National Parks

Theodore Roosevelt, known as the ‘conservationist president’, doubled the number of national parks in the United States, adding 230 million acres of protected land, and left a legacy with the Antiquities Act of 1906. This gave presidents the authority to protect landmarks and landscapes without waiting for Congress. 

Roosevelt protected vast swaths of land not only for public enjoyment and use, but also for wildlife, biodiversity and for the nation’s environmental health. 

Roosevelt’s legacy is celebrated by many of us today, but during his time, he was heavily criticized and his efforts were often met with ardent opposition – largely from political opponents, and industry and business leaders, who saw his reach to protect millions of acres of land, as being in direct opposition to economic growth through the expansion of logging, mining, and ranching. 

But Roosevelt spent time in nature, throughout the U.S., and he inherently understood the importance of protecting some of our nation’s forests and wild places. As Roosevelt expressed in 1908, the rights of the public to enjoy and access these natural resources outweighed everything else and therefore had to be given first consideration. 

His visionary approach is perhaps best showcased in his journal, written during his first visit to the Badlands of South Dakota: “We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation.” 

It’s impossible not to assume that Roosevelt would have been shocked at how quickly our leaders have forgotten this sentiment and now seem to regard the wilderness of our nation as merely a vast commodity.  

Deforestation has swept across the United States, while our rivers are choked with pollutants and fertilizers — most notably the Mississippi, which has created a yearly “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico that suffocates the fish living there. On top of that, the world produces more than 400 million tonnes of plastic every year, half of it designed for single use, much of which ends up littering our streets, oceans, rivers, beaches, and green spaces.

The Threat to our National Parks

Today, we face a similar fight to protect the legacy of the conservationists who travelled before us. Microplastics have invaded every corner of our Earth, from our national parks to our bloodstream; they are inside our children, our food, our homes, and even our hearts. Their chemicals are known endocrine disruptors with links to cancer, strokes, infertility, miscarriages, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and developmental issues. 

Plastic isn’t the only threat to our nation’s natural beauty. Today, the current administration has cut funding to the National Park Service, leading to a significant drop in the number of rangers employed to maintain the parks as well as limiting visitor capacity. At the same time, proposals to weaken the EPA’s Endangerment Finding would gut the EPA’s own ability to regulate greenhouse gases. Endangering not only the park, but the health of every American, while at the same time driving climate change. 

With World Cleanup Day here, we must continue to protect these incredible parks. Joining a cleanup is an easy way to prevent waste and plastic pollution from harming the environment and your own community. If plastic waste especially is not removed, it will eventually end up in the oceans, forests and waterways that most of us love. Check out the Global Cleanup Map to find a cleanup happening near you, or create your own, not just for September 20th, but all year round. 

Great Global Cleanup volunteer picking up trash near a river

Perhaps more importantly, get outside and visit a national park. Only then will you fully understand why Roosevelt fought so hard to create them, and why we must too. While you’re there, pick up any plastic you happen to see lying on the ground please! 

Protecting our national parks is the responsibility of every American. Not just for our own health and well-being, but for all future generations who deserve to see, experience and enjoy this amazing country as Roosevelt did. 

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