Their Sound and My Fury
2 Comments Published March 18th, 2010 in Color Country Information, Personal Conservation, Southern Utah Talking Points and Questions, Southern Utah Wildlife and Nature.Zion National Park takes a tentative first step to restore a forgotten part of the natural environment.
As I write these words, a light plane – undoubtedly some tourist with enough money to rent one for a few hours – is circling over Zion Canyon and Springdale making a sound like an angry lawnmower. A couple of tourists get a scenic thrill ride. Meanwhile, every visitor to the park – and all of the residents of Springdale and Rockville – get to listen to them clattering back and forth through the sky. A few days ago, I attended an “Open House Session” at the Springdale Canyon Community Center put on by Zion Park to let us know what they are doing to create a “Soundscape Management Plan”. More than one Springdale resident suggested that they supply the people here with anti-aircraft guns to solve the problem. The Park Service took that ‘under advisement’. Action on the suggestion is not expected soon, unfortunately.
For my own part, a bazooka would do a better job. The noise that bothers me is the damn motorcycles. A swarm of those will go up Zion Boulevard and I look for rockfalls that have been rattled down. My only consolation is that the people riding them are closer to the noise than I am. As I pray for rain to follow them on their journey, I meditate about painting a silicone oil slick on that sharp corner down SR9.
The Park Service recently asked their visitors what was important to them. They found out that almost as many visitors come to enjoy the soundscape (91 percent) as the scenery (93 percent). (“Report on the Effects of Aircraft Overflight on the National Park System”) The Park Service put together a nice web site about the sounds of nature. Find it at: http://nature.nps.gov/naturalsounds/.
My sources tell me that Zion Park is on target to be the first park to have a soundscape management plan. The plan is open for public comment until April 9, 2010. You can read more about the Zion Park plan and comment about it at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?parkId=113&projectId=30628.
Since Americans seem to be intent on following Japan, China, and India in populating every square inch of land, we probably need to learn a little more about how to avoid violating each other’s space. Blasting your noise into my space is a violation.
Dan,
You have REALLY hit a sweet spot (sore spot?) with me on this topic.
Each time a motorcycle with ineffective muffling, or a diesel vehicle, or a “normal” vehicle that is “muffling challenged”, or even an inconsiderate a** hole listening to his/her personal music player with ear buds at a volume where their music leaks out (and surely must be deafening them permanently) I cringe with utter disgust at their self-centered lack of control.
The last time I recall anything near pure silence was in 1981 in the rural heartland of Finland near Mikkeli when I went running. No wind, no wildlife, no vehicles, no aircraft . . . no nothing. I initially found it to be quite disconcerting, probably because it was so foreign to my experience. I soon realized how rare the experience was and soaked the silence in with reverence.
I’d like to say that there is total silence where I live (at least between motorcycles on SR9), but those pesky sparrows tweet all the time. And the chipmunks with their trilling! If it isn’t them, then I can hear rattlesnakes telling me not to step on them.
Ah … the noise pollution up here! Tsk, tsk!!