On Oct 16 2023 I started looking for a National Park that I might be able to persuade to go completely non-poison. I went to the federal government’s FOIA page and filed a request for pesticide use information in our national parks. It said it could take up to a year. Online reports said that the national park system had 1,500 backlogged. I assume if they’re “backlogged” they are even beyond a year. This report suggested that The nps was just using them as a way of hiding information. The foia law is meant to stop that very thing but apparently there are no penalties for breaking federal law.
So I decided to start at the other end as well and I contacted Yosemite, Sequoia, and the Everglades National Parks individually.
Over dozens of emails none of the parks responded other than misinformation and junk links. Yosemite has been by far the worst with false links and “deliberate”? misinformation. I believe this suggests a much wider use of toxins than I had imagined. I renamed this project our toxic national parks (OTNP). Do you think their behavior at answering legitimate questions has been toxic as well?
I finally contacted some of our National Environmental groups. To ask why they have not been reporting on the increasing use of pesticides in areas that are habitat for endangered species? And if they have any plans to ask the nps for pesticide application information. None but one has responded beyond a form letter that said that they gotten the correspondence.
The Center For Biological Diversity has been a bright spot in much of this. They have an online database of their FOIA requests. That itself has been very helpful so far. And the data suggests that many of the pesticides being currently used in our national parks are toxic to the developing young of many of our endangered species.
Likewise the John Muir Society while not particularly helpful to me, seems to be doing more to challenge the nps then the sierra club, worldwide fund, and audubon society combined.
I believe that people who are at all truly concerned about endangered species and or widespread pesticide use should reconsider donations to the various organizations who are being unresponsive to simple questions regarding pesticide use in our national parks.