The landscape, and the marine waters, at Olympic National Park are awash in the throaty roar of Navy Growler fighter jets on a daily basis/Rebecca Latson file
Olympic National Park, once hailed for harboring the "quietest one inch" in America, is seeing its soundscape shredded by more than 2,300 Navy training flights a year that not only disturb terrestrial life but also marine life at the park on the peninsula of Washington State, according to new research.
The findings are somewhat ironic, as the National Park Service long has worked to protect soundscapes in the park system, and in the early years of the 21st century a spot in the Hoh Rain Forest in the park was deemed to very likely be the quietest in the country.
One Square Inch of Silence is possibly the quietest place in the United States. Located in the Hoh Rain Forest at Olympic National Park, it is 3.2 miles from the Visitor’s Center above Mt. Tom Creek Meadows on the Hoh River Trail. Hiking time from the parking lot at the Visitor’s Center to the site is approximately two hours along a gentle path lined by ancient trees and ferns. The exact location is marked by a small red-colored stone placed on top of a moss-covered log at N 48.12885°, W 123.68234°, 303 feet above sea level. -- One Square Inch
But the Navy's desire to train its pilots from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island is ruining the silence. Studies into the noise created by overflights of Navy Growlers find it is responsible for 88 percent of the overflight noise in the national park, and that it also affects orcas swimming in the Pacific Ocean. And the bulk of the overflights are conducted between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
"... 95% of Olympic National Park is designated as Wilderness by Congress; this means that, among other criteria, the Park Service is required to manage this area so 'the imprint of man’s work [is] substantially unnoticeable' and 'for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation',” wrote Lauren M. Kuehne and Julian D. Olden in Military Flights Threaten the Wilderness Soundscapes of the Olympic Peninsula. "The noise levels that we document in this study–and the proposed increases–arguably create an unresolvable burden that undermines the fundamental mission and purpose of the Park."
According to the authors, a person on a six-hour hike in the national park "will likely hear jet noise for close to an hour, interspersed throughout their visit."
National Parks Conservation Association staff say the Navy wants to increase the training flights in the area.
"Olympic National Park is world famous for its peacefulness and tranquility. The sound of fighter jets buzzing the park at sound levels as loud as garbage disposal machines simply does not belong," said Rob Smith, NPCA's northwest regional director. "A park's natural quiet is every bit as important as its trees, rivers and wildlife and should be protected as such. The Navy must now find a more suitable location for these fighter jet flights, where the noise will not disturb millions of park visitors and the area's wildlife."
Kuehne and Olden wrote in their study that managing soundscapes across protected places such as wilderness continues to be challenging. Their work in Olympic National Park was designed to capture baseline overflight noise levels for the park.
"I think there is a huge gap between what the Navy is telling people that its aircraft are not substantially louder and operations haven't changed and what people are noticing on the ground," said Kuehne, who completed the work as a research scientist at the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and is now an independent consultant. "Our project was designed to try and measure noise in the ways that reflect what people are actually experiencing."
The research, built in part from data collected by underwater microphones, found that noise from the Growlers could be heard nearly 100 feet underwater "with sound levels known to impact whales. Furthermore, these sound levels are comparable to those documented by studies of noise that is experienced by (killer whales, an endangered species) from small and large vessels."
Comments
Visiting last week in Forks we heard the Growlers as late as 9pm some nights. It was hard to believe how frequently we heard these jets and hard to believe how loud they were. I was so disturbed by the noise I discovered the Citizens of Ebey Reserve organization and their toll-free complaint line. Unfortunately it appears that line is no longer in service as the person answering said it is an attendance line for a company.
After briefly reading Navy's Section 106 consultation determination document, it appears that the only consideration Navy makes in terms of a legal responsibility to the public over the noise levels is the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, pertaining to Downtown Historical districts primarily. Navy terminated section 106 consultation after being unable to come to an agreement with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. They have the right in law to do so. Navy then paid lip service teminding of their commitment to 'resolving the undertaking's adverse effects on historic properties'.
In scanning over 500 pages from my phone I could not see that the Olympic National Park was within any impact study area. It appears the study was concerned only with the impacts on the immediate vicinity of Naval Air Station Whidbey and Coupeville Due to takeoff/landing procedures and flight path involved.
While in forks I observed annoyance and interference with conversation indoors, windows rattling and could feel, not just hear, the growlers as they passed overhead. No map indicates this flight path but they were here and disturbing.
I hope State lawmakers will take this issue more seriously, hold Navy accountable, and work to reduce the negative impact this has on our communities and the wild habitat of the Olympic Rainforest and Puget Sound. I hope the citizens of the peninsula and Puget sound find ways to be louder than these growlers to affect change.
The sound of Freedom
Gosh, all this time, I was thinking the sound of freedom was when Rudy Giuliani passed gas during a republican press conference designed to overturn American democracy.
Just another load of BS. Does one actually think the Military gives a shit about what a couple of unknown researchers find? As far as the local politicians, they want the bucks the military brings into their local economy much more than they care about some noise up in the national park. Follow the money. The Military has plenty.
Your comment is the voice of brainwashed idiocy.
Perhaps the pensioners and academics concerned with military aircraft noise in a National Park should write their Congress members with their important observations. Perhaps.
No, I spent close to forty years dealing with national security topics at quite high levels and, while I agree with your patriotic intentions, I'm afraid the voice of brainwashed idiocy is most certainly emanating from a location much, much, much closer to you, actually the lower part of your face to be exact.
Strange observation. Not sure why "pensioners and academics" are so specially called out.