Rocky Mountain National Park at Risk

Nitrogen deposition is the greatest threat to Rocky Mountain National Park and it's all because of air pollution.

Fortunately, the state of Colorado, National Park Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency are forging a plan to cut nitrogen pollution. This means cutting nitrogen oxide emissions from smokestacks and tailpipes, and ammonia emissions from feedlots and farms.

But what will the plan look like? So far, the draft plan is pretty toothless. Although scientists have found that nitrogen deposition is increasing by 2% annually, the plan calls for no actual pollution reductions. Instead, it relies on existing regulations and voluntary pollution reductions from agriculture.

We may be missing something, but this just doesn't add up. With increasing nitrogen deposition projected into the future, the status quo doesn't seem to offer much in terms of relief.

The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission is set to adopt a plan at their June meeting in Estes Park. Hopefully the Commission will call for some sort of mandatory pollution reductions; after all, this is Colorado's #1 tourist destination on the line.

In the meantime, Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action is working to cut nitrogen oxide emissions from the Cemex cement plant just outside Rocky Mountain National Park. This effort could lead to a 90% reduction in nitrogen oxides, a solid first step toward reversing nitrogen deposition trends.

This diagram makes nitrogen deposition appear more complex than it is.

Nitrogen deposition is basically overfertilization of soils and waters. Too much fertilizer kills, and that's exactly what is happening to Rocky Mountain National Park.