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Perpetuating quiet in national parks

Acoustic ecologist places rock designating `One Square Inch of Silence' in sanctuary

PHOTO: AP

ON A SONIC TRAIL: Acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton in the Hoh Rain Forest at the Olympic National Park in Washington.

Olympic National Park WASHINGTON: Reclining against the trunk of a western hemlock tree, arms behind his head, Gordon Hempton listens closely to the quiet symphony of nature: the rumble of the Hoh River in the distance, a winter wren's trill, the chattering of a Douglas squirrel.

Perhaps more striking is what's missing. There is no sound of airplane traffic, campground generators or hikers — all sounds that Mr. Hempton says disturb the peace at national parks across the country.

The abundance of quiet in this small spot led Mr. Hempton to place a small reddish-brown rock on a moss-covered log here last year, designating the remote spot in western Washington's Hoh Rain Forest as `One Square Inch of Silence.'

The acoustic ecologist's hope is that by protecting this tiny spot from man-made sound, a much larger part of the park will reap benefits.

`It is extinct'

"Quiet is going extinct," Mr. Hempton said. "I wanted to find a quiet place and hang on to it and protect it."

National Park officials like the concept.

"We're certainly aware of the need to take whatever measures we can to maintain the natural quiet," park superintendent Bill Laitner said. "We are so strapped for resources that there's just no way we can ... do this kind of research on our own."

National Park officials recently released a draft general management plan — including goals and strategies to protect natural quiet and soundscapes — that will be finalised in the coming year. But Mr. Hempton says the draft does not go far enough.

Suggestions

He wants the Olympic National Park to be added to the Federal Aviation administration's list of no-flight zones for all aircraft. He also wants the Park to hire a full-time acoustic ecologist and to complete a comprehensive sound survey within the next five years.

But Mr. Laitner said that while national parks across the country want to preserve natural quiet, they could never afford to implement all the changes Mr. Hempton wants. With 30 former full-time positions currently unfilled, he says an acoustic engineer for the Olympic National Park "will never make its way high on the priority list."

Mobilising funds

In response, Mr. Hempton has set up an account to organise a not-for-profit organisation to help pay for the monitoring of the site.

He sends his `One Square Inch' album — an hour-long recording of soundscapes from the park — is available on iTunes and the `One Square Inch' Web site, with proceeds going toward his project, and letters and audio CDs to those he considers noise violators.

Mr. Hempton makes his living recording and selling nature soundscapes and by providing audio consultation to companies, including Microsoft.

He won an Emmy for the 1992 PBS documentary Vanishing Dawn Chorus and has recorded sounds of nature on six continents.

"I've circled the globe three times in pursuing silent places," he said.

"The Olympic National Park is the most sonically diverse, and is the national park that has the longest periods of natural quiet that I have observed."

Mr. Hempton visits the site about once a week in the spring, two to three times a month during the summer and about once a month in the winter. He uses a sound level meter to check the decibels, does some recording, and keeps a log of any "noise intrusions."

Noise violators

If he hears a jet engine overhead, he notes the time and later checks flight paths over the park, and sends a note to the airline, along with an audio recording of the sound, and asks them to no longer fly over the Park.

Mr. Hempton has secured an agreement from American Airlines not to fly over the park.

In April, he complained about a Hawaiian Airlines flight that registered at 44 decibels in the one square inch spot.

He received a written response from the airline, which stated the park is not in its normal flight path, except for some check out flights, but that it will ask pilots to avoid the area.

He said he found his square inch on Earth Day 2005, when he just kept walking until he got away from outside noise.

An elk trail

"I felt I was being ushered to a place," he said. "I didn't put a trail in to One Square Inch. I just followed an elk trail. It's just such an out of the way, insignificant, pleasant, quiet place to be, I thought I'd place the stone there, and I did."

His independent research project has drawn pilgrims to the place where they sit and listen, and leave notes of praise in a `Jar of Quiet Thoughts.'

Mr. Hempton has not tried to replicate the `One Square Inch' project anywhere else, but encourages others to take up his cause in a national park near them. — AP

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