Okay to Look Back>

Another Reflection Okay? Earl Plato
As I looked back in my records a clipping caught my eye. The caption read “Pollution, Pests, Poachers Threaten Shenandoah.” Peter Whoriskey of the Washington Post wrote in the Buffalo News recently an expansive piece on one of my favourite American National Parks, Shenandoah. I have explored the park from the north and from the south along the scenic Skyline Drive. That’s 197,000 acres that makes up the Blue Ridge Park. We have spent days exploring this now threatened park. That was in the mid-nineties when the exchange rate on the dollar wasn’t so bad.
Our first extensive trip had us enter the park at the north end at Front Royal, Virginia where we ascended the heights. Shenandoah Valley was to our right and the cities and towns of the northern part of the state of Virginia lay far below to our left. For we Niagarans used to more level territory this place of elevation was breathtaking.
The three ‘P’s’ - First-Pollution from the Ohio Valley and its industries has affected the Park. Acid rain has damaged the maples. We read visibility is roughly one-fourth of what it should be if the air was free of pollutants. Actually that’s an improvement since we were there. Then there was a constant haze in the valleys below. The only answer is to reduce industrial pollution. Christi Gordon, Shenandoah’s Park Resources Manager says despite the gradual improvement, “We still have a long way to go.”
Secondly - Pests. Usually you thinks of mammals and insects. Not this time. “It is a silent green invasion.” This was news to me. A new invasive species, the “mile-a-minute” vine, which grows at the rate of 15 centimetres a day, was discovered in the Park last spring. With limited funds action still must be taken.
Thirdly - Poachers. Arriving late at night back to Skyline Lodge we counted seventeen Virginia white-tail deer. So. “Poaching today isn’t just a guy hunting deer for his family,” said Doug Morris, Shenandoah Park Superintendent. There’s money involved and there is big time poaching. “We don’t have the personnel and funds to keep up with it.”
“Shenandoah,” I love that Indian name. With our dollar creeping back up who knows - another trip to Shenandoah National Park!
Are we actively protecting our local natural treasures such as Marcy’s Woods in Niagara? What about the three ‘P.’s’ here? Pollution? Yes. Pests? Yes. Poachers?