A report released by a national organization rates the natural and cultural resources at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore “poor,” warning that the dunes are being threatened by air pollution, water contamination and shoreline development in the surrounding areas.

The National Parks Conservation Association released a report today that highlights threats to six national parks along the Great Lakes, including the National Lakeshore and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan.

The NPCA used a scoring system to rate the natural and cultural features at each park. The Indiana Dunes scored the highest mark for its historic structures, while the categories of history, archeology, soils, water and biotic impacts all ranked “fair.” But the other factors measured -- ecosystem, air, cultural landscapes, museum collection, and ethnography -- all ranked “poor,” with the lowest ratings given to air quality and museum collections.

Among the report’s key findings:

•Adjacent shoreline development is harming the dunes, halting natural dune construction and increasing the pace of erosion.

•Contamination from aerial deposits, runoff, industrial pollution and sewage from adjacent lands are negatively impacting the park waters and wetlands.

•Industrial, commercial and residential development in the surrounding areas impact the park’s air quality. The report cites high nitrogen deposition, ozone, sulfur dioxide, sulfate and mercury and “critically high” particulate pollution.

•Additional staff training is needed in the areas of cultural landscape, collections management and ethnography.

•The National Lakeshore’s’ museum storage facilities are inadequate to house collections. The park lacks a curator or museum technician, resulting in about 40 percent of items not having been catalogued.

The report notes that residential development in the area has “exploded” in the last decade, boosting property values, which in turn have made it more expensive and difficult for the National Park Service to acquire parcels that have been added to the National Lakeshore’s authorized boundary. The report also says that local tourist operators are bringing greater numbers of visitors to the park, which can lead to problems such as vegetation trampling and dune erosion.

The report also notes that a lack of funding has deferred regular maintenance on historic structures. Currently, the National Lakeshore has about $326,000 worth of deferred maintenance costs, while rehabilitation and restoration costs of historic structures is estimated at about $5.2 million.

Further, the report notes that the National Lakeshore has more than 88,000 artifacts, specimens and historic photos, but about 60 percent of these are stored at the Midwest Archeological Center. Only about 25 percent are on public display at the National Lakeshore, since the park does not have adequate exhibit space.

The report also notes that funding cuts have led to staff reductions: Since 2000, the park has lost 20 staff positions in resource management, resource and visitor protection, maintenance, interpretation, and administrative divisions. This has resulted in an inability to carry out high priority projects such as threatened and endangered species protection, invasive plant control, museum collection, and dune protection, as well as a plan to guide wetland restoration.

The report praises the National Lakeshore in a number of areas, including its use of volunteers and community partners, scientific research and environmental education programs, renovation of the Century of Progress homes, use of prescribed burns to protect native habitat, efforts to protect the endangered Karner blue butterfly, efforts to eradicate non-native species and replace with native plants, and the Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center.

“National parks contain and preserve our nation's most significant resources for future generations. They are treasured places where people can reconnect with nature and learn about facets of our history,” said Lynn McClure, the Midwest regional director for the NPCA, a nonpartisan organization aimed at supporting and protecting the national parks. “Park visitors expect to find healthy ecosystems, clean air, and well-maintained historic sites, but this is not always the case. Each of the Great Lakes national parks assessed in this report faces threats on those fronts.”

The reports are available online at www.npca.org/stateoftheparks/great_lakes/

Posted 10/10/2007