A piece in the New York Times Sunday magazine explores the loss of silence in our busy world and efforts to restore it in natural spaces, with a look at acoustic studies in surprisingly noisy Denali National Park.
Animals aren't the only ones who sound off in this piece, though the online version of the article includes brief recordings of some of the park's animals, including a bleating Dall sheep and cooing bear cubs that could break your heart. A wood frog and a squirrel also make appearances, along with a stream and avalanche.
On a ridge above Hines Creek, the reporter meets Davyd Betchkal, the park's physical-science technician, and learns that engine noise regularly shatters the stillness in the park. Since the study to assess park noise began at 60 sites in 2006, Betchkal and others have captured only 36 full days without the rumble of passing engines.
Alaskans will know that usually means small flightseeing planes. In fact, one site recorded the summer buzzing of 78 small-plane flights in a 24-hour stretch. Other noisy contributors include snowmobiles, passenger trains as well as cars and busses on the park road.
The effort and others like it could provide baseline data for growing attempts to protect the natural soundscape. "To restore ecosystems to acoustic health, researchers must determine, to the last raindrop, what compositions nature would play without us," the article notes.
One effort to reduce noise in natural spots includes the development of flightseeing management plans between the National Park Service and the Federal Aviation Administration to reduce overhead noise in some areas.
The effort hasn't made much progress.
"More than a decade since — partly because of disagreements between aviation and conservation interests — no such plan is in place, though many parks have begun looking for ways to trim noise by turning off idling shuttle buses, curbing car traffic and investing in quieter maintenance tools. Grand Canyon managers, after nearly 25 years of laboring, last year proposed amendments to the timing and routes of sightseeing flights that would make the park somewhat more serene," the article notes.
Read a lot more here.