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Keeping Things Quiet In The National Parks

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It seems inevitable in summer. When we head out to the patio for dinner, to enjoy the evening air and quiet broken by chirping birds at the feeders, a neighbor seemingly sees it as a signal to cut his grass. The gutteral roar of his lawnmower carries well, and proves far more irritating than a mosquito's buzz in the ear.

During the day the mower's noise might have blended in with the rest of the background noise we create -- cars and trucks on the streets, weed-whackers, stereos, vacuum cleaners -- and not seemed obtrusive. But in the evening, a time many of us prize for relaxing and enjoying the day's end, a single mower can sound amplified.

Much the same can be said of noise in national park settings. In places such as Yellowstone, Glacier, Shenandoah, Great Smoky Mountains, Acadia, and Canyonlands, just to cite a few examples, we often expect the sounds of silence, or at least those of nature. But as I found out last year during a visit to Congaree National Park in South Carolina, society's background noises can intrude on these natural settings.

Now we're learning that there are at times unintended consequences of good deeds in national parks. For instance, efforts to reduce traffic by using shuttle buses can actually create a noisier environment, according to studies at Rocky Mountain National Park and elsewhere in the park system.

A study recently released by the Acoustical Society of America pointed to the shuttle buses in Rocky Mountain as just one example of noise generators in the park system.

A study in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, for example, revealed the aural consequences of reducing traffic congestion on park roads by adding shuttle buses to carry people to and from trailheads. The new shuttles succeeded in making trails accessible to a greater number of visitors. But each bus was also six times louder than a car; and the sounds of chatting hikers, backpack zippers, and gravel-crunching boots became concentrated at bus arrival times instead of being spread more evenly throughout the day. This good decision therefore had a negative effect on soundscape, shrinking the visitors’ “listening area,” or the distance around their heads at which they can still hear natural sounds.

To mute, so to speak, these sound generators, a Colorado State University researcher, Peter Newman, and colleagues are developing soundscape models that park staff can use to help predict how management actions -- such as bringing in a fleet of shuttle buses to reduce air pollution and traffic -- can affect the soundscape.

Such "soundscape maintenance," notes Professor Peterson (who worked for nearly two years as a ranger at Yosemite National Park), is beneficial not just to human visitors in the parks but to the resident wildlife as well.

“[Animals] want to know, ‘Where’s Bambi?’” Professor Newman explains in a release sent out by the Acoustical Society. “‘How far away do I have to be where [my young] can still hear me … or where I can hear that vole crawling beneath the surface of the leaves?’”

The studies Professor Newman's team conducted included surveys of park visitors to get their thoughts on noise levels in national parks. And they found that something as simple as signs denoting "quiet zones" were effective in getting visitors to keep the noise down.

Professor Newman is presenting the findings of his studies this week in Hong Kong at a joint meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Acoustical Society of China, Western Pacific Acoustics Conference, and the Hong Kong Institute of Acoustics.

“This paper is about lessons learned,” says the professor. “Not only is noise important to people, but if we ask people to quiet down, they will.”

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If you "must have" electricity to "camp" then go to an RV park or stay in your driveway!


Another "camper" that want to tell others how to enjoy the parks.  Places should be available for both RV and Tent campers, just not in the same spot.  My experience is that most parks are handling it this way, offer RV/tenting spots and tent only spots.  


Thank you for this opportunity to rant about modern American-branded motorcycles. Here we are in 2016, with vehicle engineering having refined muffler technology decades earlier, and yet legions of man-children continue to relive their teenage years on the back of ridiculously noisy beasts. Second only to the stupidity of "rolling coal", this hobby beggars logic. I would gladly see checkpoints next to park entrance stations, where offending motorcycles are promptly and efficiently shunted to a roadside crusher, and riders are shepherded to a waiting bus to take them to the nearest Yamaha or Honda dealer.

And yes I feel the same about Asian racing bikes with their different but equally-annoying noise.

Now I have to go and ride my extremely quiet F 800GT. Have a great day.


In Yellowstone, Fishing Bridge RV Park is the only campground that offers hookups, and no tent camping allowed. The second part is ostensibly becasue of potential bear problems, but it also provides space from the largest RV units camping in the park.


So we should not even bother to visit national parks because we use a motorcycle? Maybe leave that at the campsite and bring the rv instead? That's what the motorcycle is for!


 I just found this blog and although the comments are rather dated I wanted to add my $.10 worth. I started a video blog on YouTube to chronicle my solo RV adventures. Although I am new to all of this I fell in love with solar technology. I have found myself staying in national parks quite frequently and cannot believe the noise I have to endure from the generators.  With solar technology there's no need for generators. I also think that installing electricity in the national parks is a great idea. At the end of the day people just need to be more cognizant of those around them and how their actions affect others. Noise pollution is pure pollution and I go to the forest to hear the sound of silence. This is a big problem. Why do we have to be so comfortable while camping? Why does someone spend all day in their rv in a national park in air conditioning watching tv? Maybe they should just stay home.


My wife and i RV camp, but detest generators. We've gone as long as 7 days on a single charge of our battery....I don't understand why people go to the trouble of getting an RV into a nice isolated spot only to run a generator and watch TV..you can do that at HOME


My home state prohibits the use of generators in State parks and it is wonderful. It has also not resulted in any decrease in park use. Noise from some motorcycles can certainly be annoying but at least it's gone relatively quickly unlike the constant drone of a generator which people run for hours.


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