Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge Air Quality Information
Overview
In 1975, Congress designated 7,386 acres of Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge as a wilderness area, declaring that the area should remain undeveloped and "unimpaired" for future generations. In 1977, Congress further acknowledged the uniqueness of the Moosehorn Wilderness Area by naming it a Class I air quality area and giving it special protection under the Clean Air Act. Congress gave the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), as the Federal Land Manager of the Moosehorn Wilderness Area, the responsibility to protect the air quality and air quality related values (AQRVs) of the area from manmade air pollution. AQRVs include vegetation, wildlife, soils, water quality, visibility, odor, and cultural and archeological resources.
Despite this protection, air pollution is impacting Moosehorn. The air pollution comes from many sources, including pulp mills and other industry, power plants, and automobiles. Haze from pollution reduces visibility in the wilderness area. Occasionally, smoke plumes from nearby industry drift into the area. The area sometimes receives acid rain (and acid snow, fog, and dryfall), with a pH of about 4.6. Although investigations in 1995 and 1996 indicated that area lakes are not at immediate risk, acidic deposition may eventually affect their buffering capacity. In addition, it is likely that mercury deposition from the atmosphere and bioaccumulation is occurring in Moosehorn at a rate similar to that demonstrated in Acadia National Park and the Penobscot River valley. Mercury bioaccumulation in fish has prompted the State of Maine to advise certain at-risk persons not to eat fish from lakes and ponds in the state. Other contaminants, such as dioxin, are also deposited from the air.
Surveys conducted from 1998 to 2000 found that air pollution is causing injury to vegetation in Moosehorn. Symptoms of ozone injury (i.e., stippling and chlorosis), have been found on several plant species.
The FWS has begun a program to better understand air pollution causes and effects at Moosehorn, in partnership with the national Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) program. As part of this program, FWS operates a fine particle sampler that measures the pollutants in the air responsible for visibility impairment. In addition, a video camera records visibility conditions.
The FWS is working cooperatively with industry and the State of Maine to reduce air pollutant emissions and protect the air quality and AQRVs of Moosehorn. If Moosehorn is not protected, unique wildlife and scenic values will be threatened or even lost, as has happened in much of the eastern U.S. The FWS hopes to preserve and protect this special area of wilderness for future generations.