On the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service I visited two of our nation’s most popular national parks: Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Yellowstone was our nation’s first national park. It contains most of the world’s geothermal features - such as geysers and hot springs - and is an excellent place to see wildlife. Grand Teton National Park is home to towering young mountains and vast lakes. Both of these places are visually stunning, but what struck me the most was the sound of the parks. Motorcycles, cars, and RVs are popular modes of transportation in both of these parks, and they make a constant din. I grew up in a city, so this background level of noise is not unusual. The most profound moments I had in this park were in the quiet - a quiet in which I could hear nature.
You have to get off the beaten path to hear Yellowstone. If you’re on the road, you might never hear it. At Roaring Mountain, long ago, the steam rushing out could be heard from up to a mile away. Now, with a road right next to it, I strained to hear the hissing noise. But I left the roads to find Yellowstone, and it was more than worth the effort. On the river I could hear the rapids, water rushing over rocks at jutting angles. At geysers and hot springs seldom visited, I could hear the water boiling up out of the earth. On a hiking trail I could hear birds, plants bending in the wind, and the sound of my own boots on the ground. Early in the morning in the Hayden Valley, I heard a wolf pack howl: a sound I’ve only ever heard in recordings. A sound that was primal and guttural, one I won’t soon forget.
Bison grazing in Yellowstone, Annabel Dobbyn
In the Grand Tetons, I paddled in a kayak on Lake Jackson hoping to hear only the sound of my paddle and the water, but motor boats roared past my sister and I. Then, I had my moment. Standing at the foot of the Grand Tetons, I heard that absence of sound. Silence. No sound but the wind and a few rustling plants. The kind of silence I’ve only heard once or twice in my life. The kind of silence, if my life were a movie, I would have howled into like a wolf. Immense mountains and silence, a combination that cannot be beaten.
The Grand Tetons
While I was visiting the Grand Tetons, my father was actually asked to take a survey about noise pollution in the parks. The National Park System is taking noise pollution seriously. Sierra Club supports the National Park Service in its efforts to cut down on the amount of man-made noise in the national parks.
As John Muir wrote in a letter to his wife, Louie, “Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness.” The national parks need less noise pollution so that more people can truly engage with nature, and find within themselves a steward of the land.