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Congress should put up or shut upon natural quiet

Our view: As long as commercial jets are permitted to fly over the Grand Canyon, the congressional mandate for natural quiet is a semantic charade.


Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Today's Daily Sun editorial

The Grand Canyon is about to get a lot quieter -- at least on paper. Like state officials who lowered the AIMS passing scores because not enough students were passing, national park officials are recommending that the "natural quiet" standard be made easier to meet by eliminating commercial jet noise from the sound measurements.

Park officials contend they have little choice. Rerouting jet traffic around the Canyon or making it fly significantly higher would be expensive, time-consuming and possibly more dangerous, according to a study by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Low-flying helicopter and airplane tours have already been significantly limited. Operators have long complained they are being held accountable for a noise source -- commercial jets -- that don't have similar restrictions and over which they have no control.

Congress set the natural quiet standard in 1987. It said officials should work toward making at least half the Canyon quiet for 75 percent of the day.

But more than 20 years later, aircraft noise can be heard across 96 percent of the Canyon for at least a quarter of every day, according to surveys of hikers and rafters.

Tour operators, who once flew below the Canyon rim, must now fly higher, less frequently and within corridors that avoid the most popular tourist destinations, such as the South Rim.

The effect of the proposed redefinition on these operators isn't yet clear. If accepted, it will be part of a new proposal by park officials to achieve natural quiet.

On the one hand, if noise pollution no longer includes jet noise, then it should be easier for tour operators to meet restrictions based on a lower standard.

On the other, if Congress insists on its 1987 mandate, then tour operators might be asked to shoulder an even bigger burden for meeting natural quiet if commercial jets are exempted.

This newspaper has long noted the incompatibility of a term normally applied to wilderness -- natural quiet -- at a national park that caters to mass tourism. The motorized wilderness is not only an oxymoron but also an example of congressional doublespeak. Congress should either insist on preserving natural quiet in the most majestic canyon on Earth by rerouting commercial jets (and be willing to subsidize the costs) or drop the entire charade.

It may be possible with strict regulations to shield certain parts of such a wide and deep expanse from motor noise from smaller tour aircraft -- and even that is a stretch in terms of natural quiet. But for park officials to have to play semantic games just so Congress can attempt to take credit for a natural quiet standard they are not willing to uphold is insulting to one of the world's natural wonders and the people who manage and visit it.

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