The air over Western national parks is under assault -- again. This time the culprit is ammonium, a mix of hydrogen and nitrogen with rain water or snowfall that can upset the ecological balance in the parks, favoring some native species and causing the demise of others.

While scientists have not yet pinpointed the specific sources of the ammonium that's collecting in Canyonlands, Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain national parks, among others, the usual suspects are fertilizer plants, large animal feed yards, vehicle exhaust and factory emissions.

Most of the research on the threat has been done at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Air-quality officials in Colorado, federal regulators and park supervisors are working together to identify the sources of the ammonium that is overloading the sensitive alpine tundra and lakes in the park near Denver.

More studies of this type are needed targeting a wider area, including Utah, to locate the worst emitters and require them to reduce the amount of the chemical they allow into the air.

Researchers at Rocky Mountain describe ammonium as "perhaps the most subtle, potentially the most serious, air quality threat to the park."

Utah's Canyonlands, where ammonium could pollute waterways and the park's famous potholes, should undertake a similar study. The Colorado plan has a target of 50 percent reduction in ammonium over the coming 25 years. Utah and park officials should review the

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findings of that research and model a statewide plan after the Rocky Mountain effort.

National parks should be places of refuge, where visitors can escape the noise and pervasive pollution of the city and enjoy clean water and pure air as well as beautiful scenery, archaeological treasures and history.

Not only Canyonlands, Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone national parks are threatened. High nitrogen content has also been discovered at Mesa Verde, Mount Ranier, Olympic and Capulin Volcano national parks and a national monument and national historic site in Arizona.

Emissions from coal-fired power plants and the ever-increasing number of vehicles invading the West have already compromised the pure air of our parks. We must be mindful of all new pollutants and work to erase or reduce them so that all Americans are able to enjoy the heritage of our national parks far into the future.