The Grand Canyon is Drowning In Noise

The Grand Canyon: a place of quiet splendor or repository for helicopters buzzing? Tell the Park Service what you think by June 20, 2011 photo by Dennis Brownridge

Tell NPS To Keep The Helicopters Down Comment Letters Accepted Until June

Grand Canyon is one of our premier national parks and naturally one of the quietest places on earth. Now is the time to speak up so we can hear the Grand Canyon again.

The Park Service released the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on how to manage airtour rides at Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, their preferred alternative is an attempt to make everyone happy, at the expense of the park's natural resources.

For instance, we have asked that one of the two airtour routes in the heart of the park be seasonally closed. The preferred alternative in the ElS does this, but it gives the industry what they want: exempting the fixed wing and long helicopter tours from the seasonal closures.

They continue to protect the hotel areas, but push the aircraft farther into the wilderness character areas. Alternative F would give the industry new routes deep into wilderness. The industry wants flights throughout Marble Canyon, which now has only crossing flights, with few canyon parallel flights.

While the Park Service alternative increases the quiet time before sunset to an hour, it increased the number of thur rides by 8,000 per year. This will hammer the sacrifice zones. The Hualapai tours, airtour related flights that are not airtours, and transportation flights, are not included in the allocations, and hopeftilly will be relocated outside the park.

While the park plan calls for quiet technology, this may not help. This is because the current definition of quiet technology is really noise efficiency. It allows more noise if the aircraft have more seats. This will help the industry but could make the park noise go up.

What they should do is decrease the number of flights to the level of when Congress said there was a problem in the 1975 Grand Canyon Enlargement Act. In January 2011, the Park Service reduced the number of mule rides on the Bright Angel Trail, while allowing more rides outside the canyon. They should do the same for the airtours.

The Park Service goal is half the park quiet for 75 percent of the day. That would allow tour aircraft to be audible for 25 percent of the day in half of the park, and any amount of noise in the other half of the park. This is not good enough for our premier park.

What happens at Grand Canyon is up to the American people, not the Park Service or the FAA. Please write asking to have the park's natural quiet protected. Let your voice be heard above the noise of commercial airtours. Please support Alternative E, which is a stronger alternative than the Park Servke alternative.

Comments can be mailed to Planning and Compliance, GCNP, P0 Box 129, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023. See the ELS or submit comments, click Special Flight Rules ..., scroll to Open for Comment. Or, go to one of the public meetings (details TBD). Comments will be accepted through June 20, 2011.