As tourists wander the trails of Mesa Verde National Park they might see wild horse and elk competing for the same water source. Wild horses from the nearby Ute Mountain Ute Reserve wander into Mesa Verde on a daily basis. The horses have been around since the opening of the park in 1906, but with recent water shortages from drought, there is not enough water to fulfill the needs of all the animals in the park. Since the horses are considered trespassing, the National Park Service and The Bureau of Land Management are trying to find a way to keep the horses away from the park. The wild horses of Mesa Verde National Park deserve to live in the park even though the horses have caused some complications within Mesa Verde, and the National Park Service needs to provide better management services for the horses. For centuries, the wild horses have roamed the Colorado Plateau and they should be able to continue living in the park. The horse population of Colorado has dropped ninety-eight percent since the 1800s. This is mainly because the BLM has rounded up many of the herds from the Mesa Verde area. Contrary to many people's beliefs, horses are not a nuisance to the park because they are a native species. The horses are in the park to get the food and water they need to survive in a …show more content…
Recently, sensor cameras have been monitoring a few water sources in the park showing twenty-four percent of the time there were elk chasing horses. These observations show horses are not the only ones competing for water. Also, horses have been accused of trampling and causing erosion at the historical sites in the park; however, other wildlife contribute to the same type of damage in the park. Since horses are kept away from natural water sources, they are attracted to any place in the park that has water, such as restrooms, restaurants, and septic
Committee on Senate Energy and National Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. 3 June 2003: ESBCO. Mission Viejo Library., Mission Viejo, CA. 31 July 2005. http://web31.epnet.com/citation.
P4: ‘The parks can be cruel to the animals they hold because they put a restriction the freedom they would normally have in the wild’ (para 5).
There should be no man made machinery operating in the park unless absolutely necessary. The creation of the National Park Service is to preserve wilderness in a way that gives people the opportunity to experience nature in all its wonder. It was never intended to create amusement parks where people never leave the safety of the modern age and look at the natural world through glass. Being completely enveloped in nature has many benefits, from physical such as lowering blood pressure, to psychological in boosting moods. According to Tyler Tapps in Parks & Recreation: “Recent research indicates that outdoor activity is associated with positive mental and physical benefits, including increased cardiovascular function, decreased stress levels, and reduced blood pressure” (Tapps). Abbey understood this, as did many Americans. Today however the number of people willing to immerse themselves in the nations parks is decreasing. In Desert Solitaire, abbey puts it this way: “A man on foot, on horseback or on a bicycle will see more, feel more, enjoy more in one mile than the motorized tourist can in a hundred miles” (Abbey). Today many members of the younger generation have lost that sense of joy and wonder in the outdoor setting. This change would bring back the love of nature in this
An excited crowd waits expectantly to see the horse, cowboy, and calf burst out of the chute. Within seconds, the cowboy has the calf roped, on the ground, and tied. The action appears effortless. Two wranglers release the calf, and it trots out of the arena, seemingly unharmed. The question remains, are rodeos humane? That does the calf think of all this excitement? Contrary to what many people assume, PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) sanctioned rodeos treat their livestock humanely.
The meadow is one of the largest mountain meadows in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. People do not visit this meadow because there are no roads or official trails leading to this area. The meadow is suffering from overgrazing of cattle that took place for a century beginning in 1885 and ending around 1980. Livestock grazing causes many issues. For example, it affects the growth of trees, leads to the transmitting of diseases from the livestock to the wild animals, causes degradation of native plant communities, and a change in habitats for native wildlife species. The NPS would like to restore the Cahoon Meadow without disrupting the Wilderness character. Some people ask, why preserve this meadow if humans rarely see it? The answer is, meadows are ecologically significant because they support much of the wildlife and plant species that are accustomed there. Plant communities are widely diverse within meadows, and they provide essential habitats for a wide range of wildlife, including mammals, birds, amphibians, and invertebrates. As this meadow was being grazed, the wildlife, plant life, and natural beauty has been destroyed. As time has gone by, the only solution the National Park Service has attempted was to not physically restore the meadow but to just monitor
Since its creation in 1916, the National Park Service (NPS) has had to balance between its two goals, which are to preserve wilderness and nature and to provide the public with access to these wonders in a monitored environment. These two goals tend to create a conflict for the NPS because as soon as one goal is given more priority than the other, the administration of national parks is harshly criticized by the public. The accusation that by allowing people to experience the wilderness, the NPS is corrupting the natural environment is very common, as well, as the criticism towards the lack of government funding to preserve nature and history. However, regardless of arguable criticism and a certain need for improvement, after one hundred years,
The documentary “The National Parks- America’s Best Idea” explained the history of national parks and how they came to be. Monuments, battlefields, and military parks were transferred to become national parks. Though they weren’t what they are now at first, they seemed a lot like zoos, focusing on tameness and less on wildness. There is an abundance of life in the national parks, and George Wright tried to let everyone know the equilibrium was out. People were getting in the way of the plants and animals, instead of letting the plants and animals thrive on their own. Each of these species, including the predators should be protected. He saved the trumpeter swans.
Every year, over nine million hikers and adventure seekers travel to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park making it the most visited national park in the United States. There are abundant reasons for this, but many popular reasons include over 150 hiking trails extending over 850 miles, a large portion of the Appalachian Trail, sightseeing, fishing, horseback riding, and bicycling. The park houses roughly ten thousand species of plants and animals with an estimated 90,000 undocumented species likely possible to be present. It is clear why there was a pressing interest in making all this land into a national park. My research was started by asking the question; how did the transformation of tourism due to the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park affect surrounding cities such as Gatlinburg and Sevier County, and in return, its effect on the popularity of the park?
Have you ever been to a horse race? Seeing the riders give their horses a pat and an apple after the race, people cheering for their horse as it runs rapidly to the finish line? Seems like a great time. But what happens to those horses after they are done their race. What happens to the people who gambled their family’s lives savings. All horse racing should be shut down due to the well being of the horses, the effects of gambling, and the lack of interest.
It is early in the morning with the majestic Elk bugles in the distance. The sun kisses the tops of the peaks with the most beautiful gold, and paints the clouds rose red. Men and women who enjoy the outdoors, whether it is hunting or just hiking, help make these types of moments possible. Hunting and the ecosystem is tied closely to conservation of land and animals. The articles on “Hunting and the ecosystem” written by the South Dakota Game Fish and Parks Department (SDGFP), and “Facts and statistics on wildlife conservation” written by Roger Holmes, director of the Fish and Wildlife, touch on how hunting is important to the environment to keep a good balance in the ecosystem.
The geology, its history, and the presence of past civilizations contribute to much of the significance of Mesa Verde National Park. The interconnectedness of these aspects should also be noted. If not for the weathering processes and changes in sea level this formation would not exist. Without it, the ancient people would not have been able to reside within Mesa Verde. This National Park now serves as a tool to help conserve the remains of these past civilizations as well as to help educate today’s society on the significance behind this astonishing geologic
Kirkpatrick, Jay F. "The Surprising History of America's Wild Horses." LiveScience.com. Live Science, 24 July 2008. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. .
National Parks are the cornerstone of every country because it preserves the rich cultural and natural resources of a nation, such as Yellowstone in the United States of America. Yellowstone National Park is the World’s First National Park which brings millions of attraction each year, it is larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combine and have over a thousand species of plants and animal (Yellowstone Media). However, a very important type of species has been missing in Yellowstone National Park for a very long time. Wolves, which got reintroduce back into Yellowstone National Park, should stay there because without them the ecosystem would be out of balance.
A bear meanders across the road several hundred yards in front of your slowly moving vehicle. A doe and her fawn leap back into the brush as you approach. The sun shines in such a way that it seems the mountains above you go on forever. This pristine image of our nation's national parks is unfortunately getting harder to find today. The approximately 270 million visitors to the parks annually have begun to take their toll on the wild and preserved areas of our nation.
Equestrian Riding, also known as horseback riding is a sport. Some people may argue that is not because they think the horse is doing all of the work. However that is not true. People do not realize that it takes a lot of to ride a horse and the rider does a lot of work as well and its good exercise too.