FEDERAL LAND MANAGERS' AIR QUALITY RELATED VALUES WORKGROUP (FLAG)
PHASE I REPORT
(December 2000)

Appendices

C. General Policy for Managing Air Quality Related Values in Class I Areas

Most Federal Land Manager (FLM) enabling legislation and regulations developed to implement Federal Laws do not directly address air quality, or air pollution effects on Parks or Wildernesses. They do, however, provide broad direction on what should be protected in Parks and Wildernesses (the earth and its community of life) and to what degree (preserve natural conditions or conserve resources unimpaired). Accordingly, FLMs have developed the following policies related to air quality and Class I areas:

1. Class I areas are not merely a commodity for human use and consumption. Park and Wilderness ecosystems have intrinsic values other than user/public concerns.

2. A principle objective of FLM management is to offer a natural user experience, rather than strictly an enjoyable one. The amount of enjoyment is purely a personal matter for the individual user to decide.

3. All Class I components are equally important; none is of lesser value than another.

4. A Class I component is important even if users of the area are unaware of its existence.

5. All life forms are equally important. For example, microorganisms are as essential as elk, wild flowers, or grizzly bears.

6. The goal of Class I management is to protect not only resources with immediate aesthetic appeal (i.e., sparkling clean streams) but also unseen ecological processes (such as natural biodiversity and gene pools).

7. The most sensitive Class I components are to be emphasized more than those of "average" or "normal" sensitivity. Sensitivity is generally determined by inertia (resistance to change), elasticity (how far the component can be stretched from its natural condition without being permanently modified), and resiliency (the number of times it can revert to its natural condition after experiencing human-caused change).

8. Each Class I component is important in itself; as well as in terms of how it interacts with other components of the ecosystem. That is, the individual parts of the Class I ecosystem are as significant as the sum of the parts.

9. The physical components of the ecosystem (for instance, lake chemistry) are as essential as its biological constituents (i.e., salamanders). That is, the earth is as essential as the community of life.

10. Class I components are to be protected from "human-caused change" rather than from "damage." Terms such as "damage" and "harm" are prejudicial, whereas "human-caused change" is value-neutral. (For example, deposits of nitrogen in a lake from nitrogen oxide, a common air pollutant, might result in more plant growth and larger fish. This would, however, be an unnatural - and therefore unacceptable - change in the aquatic ecosystem).

11. The goal of Class I management is to protect natural conditions, rather than the conditions when first monitored. That is, if initial monitoring in a Class I area identifies human-caused changes, appropriate actions should be taken to remedy them, in order to move towards a more natural condition.

12. The designation of a Park or Wilderness as Class I or II does not dictate the management goals for it; these are identified in the enabling legislation. The designation only determines which options are available to meet the goals. Class I Parks or Wildernesses, for instance, can be protected through AQRV analysis, whereas the protection of Class II Parks and Wildernesses can be achieved using BACT requirements.

13. While it may not be possible to manage every Class I area in a natural or near-natural state, each should be managed in as pristine a condition as the specific (local) biophysical, legal, scientific, and social/political situation will allow. That is, FLMs will do the best job possible of Park and Wilderness management, based on local constraints and opportunities. The extent of actual protection, therefore, may vary.

14. Although monitoring is critical to many air resource management decisions, it must not interfere needlessly with Park or Wilderness. Where possible, the most intrusive monitoring and instrumentation should be conducted adjacent to the Class I area - if such areas adequately represent the area of concern.