Air Quality and Monitoring

Views like this from the Old Wagon Trail would not be possible without clean air.

NPS photo.

Clean Air: Helpful for all

Capitol Reef protects and conserves resources integral to a landscape of everchanging geologic features for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. The views of mountain ranges over 50 miles away as well as the steep canyons and outcrops within the park would be dramatically different without clear air. Clean air, critically important because we breathe it, can also keep park ecosystems healthy, for example, by minimizing harmful atmospheric nitrogen and sulfur deposition that can acidify soil and water.

 

Clean air provides first-class viewing of the night sky.

NPS photo

Capitol Reef National Park is a designated Class I Air Park as defined by the Clean Air Act and a gold-certified International Dark Sky Park in 2015 by the International Dark-Sky Association. The Clean Air Act, as amended, requires all park units to meet federal, state, and local pollution standards. Additionally, Capitol Reef's Class I area gives the National Park Service an "affirmative responsibility" to protect the air quality and air quality-related values in the park from the adverse effects of air pollution. Air quality-related values are resources that are sensitive to air pollution, such as visibility, plants, animals, soils, water, and certain cultural resources.

Multiple factors contribute to these designations, including remoteness, high-elevation, and clean, dry air. Clean air contributes to the health of the park's water, vegetation, wildlife, and soil. The crisp clean air allows for spectacular visual scenery, with expansive views of distant landscapes extending to the horizon. In 2018, the measured visual range of Capitol Reef was 86 to 179 miles.

Due to clean air and minimal light pollution, Capitol Reef has some of the darkest night skies in the country. Visitors can view celestial wonders they have never seen before as the park is away from sources of light pollution and air pollution in the form of haze or smog that are present in towns and cities. Learn more about the Night Skies of Capitol Reef.

What can affect clear air?

Air quality, night skies, and scenic views can be impacted by regional (outside of the park) and local (within the park) sources of air pollution. Regional sources include:

• Pollution (such as from vehicle exhaust, coal-fired power plants, oil and gas development)
• Wildfire
• Dust from agriculture and other land disturbances.

Local sources include:

• Vehicle use (vehicle exhaust, including idling cars and buses)

Visitation to Capitol Reef has increased from 662,661 people in 2010 compared to 1,405,353 in 2021. With increased visitation, brings more vehicles into the park. This could increase ground-level ozone levels affecting plants living in this harsh desert environment. Ozone impacts to riparian systems include lower photosynthesis, growth, and seedling establishment. Ozone levels (W126) are elevated and there are at least 15 ozone-sensitive plants found in the park, including aspen, willow, and serviceberry.

 

Monitoring stations allow staff to see changes in air quality with ease.

NPS photo

Assessing changes to air quality

Staff at Capitol Reef implement monitoring stations in the park to measure specific factors that contribute to air quality. Haze is a measure of daytime visibility and can also influence the visibility of stars and planets in the night sky. The haze index is a measure of aerosol particles in the atmosphere. Information for this indicator come from the NPS Air Resources Division (ARD).The haze indicator is monitored through the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) Program, with an IMPROVE station located within the park.

Information on air quality and trends of Capitol Reef and other NPS sites can be found by visiting the National Park Service's Air page, which displays spatial and temporal trends in ozone, nitrogen deposition, sulfur deposition, and visibility-reducing pollutants in all units of the National Park Service. Together, these stations can form a "big picture" of where pollutants are in greater abundance.

Visit the Live Weather & Air Quality Data map to see current air quality of National Park sites across the country.

 

What is being done to protect clean air?

Protecting the quality of air is a multi-facetted job that includes active research and monitoring. Coordination with outside organizations on pollution controls continue as more research progresses. Capitol Reef participates in regional haze rule reviews and comments to Utah's state implementation plans.

Park staff continue the practice of adding more environmentally friendly green vehicles to our fleet to reduce emissions. Volunteers and staff engage in night sky monitoring that includes periodic full sky analysis of light pollution. These analyses continue to show that Capitol Reef is one of the darkest National Parks.

Capitol Reef provides educational opportunities with visitors about the importance of clean, healthy air and things that they can do to help promote clean air. A simple step visitors can take is to carpool when possible and turn off your car when waiting for other passengers, or stopped, instead of idling. Reducing the number of idling vehicles at a visitor center or scenic view will reduce vehicle emissions and allow visitors to take a breath of fresh air while looking upon the beauty of the park. Lean more about the importance of clean air!