Whether it’s listening to falling water echoing off the canyon walls, or the call of a bald eagle, natural sounds are important part of any visitor’s experience in a national park. But despite the passage of legislation to protect natural sound in the parks, little has been done to ensure that visitors have the opportunity to be inspired by the sounds of nature.

National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000

In addition to specifically banning air tours over Rocky Mountain National Park, the law requires that all commercial plane and helicopter tour operators apply to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for authority to conduct air tours (the law does not apply to Grand Canyon National Park, national parks in Alaska, general aviation, or commercial airline aircraft). The law also took a major step towards protecting Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Glacier National Park, and other parks by requiring the FAA, in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS), to develop an air tour management plan for every national park that has air tours.

Unfortunately, since the law was passed nine years ago, the agencies have been unable to finalize even one air tour management plan due to the FAA’s refusal to recognize the authority of the NPS to determine the significance of noise impacts on the visitor experience and park resources, including wildlife.

Since the NPS is mandated by the NPS Organic Act of 1916 to “promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks,” and is recognized by the Council on Environmental Quality for its jurisdiction by law or special expertise to examine the “effects of noise on national park areas,” it is clear that the NPS is the appropriate agency to determine the significance of noise impacts on the parks.

Until air tour management plans are completed, parks are managed under “interim operating authority,” which sets flight limits for each park based on unverified flight numbers over the parks provided by tour operators soon after the passage of the act. As a January 2006 General Accounting Office (GAO) report confirmed, park superintendents have been unable to deal with what has been, in many cases, actual increases in the number of air tours since the passage of the law.

Based on our experience participating on the National Parks Air Tour Advisory Group, it has become apparent that little progress will be made in implementing the act until the jurisdictional responsibilities of the FAA and NPS are clarified by Congress.

NPCA Recommends:

• Congress amends the National Parks Air Tour Management Act to specify that the NPS has sole authority for evaluating noise impacts on park resources and the visitor experience, while the FAA fulfill its mandate to ensure air safety;
• Congress follows the GAO’s recommendation that the “FAA establish a procedure for operators to record and report to both agencies the number of air tours they conduct over national park units.” This would provide the agencies with the necessary information to manage air tours;
• Congress only allows for the modification of interim operating authority if “modifications improves protection of national park resources and values and tribal lands” as required by the National Parks Air Tour Management Act.
• Public comment, provided through the NEPA process, should be required for any park with, or may consider allowing, air tours. Air Tour Management Plans should be based on a foundational Environmental Impact Statement or Environmental Assessment, and adhere to
  Congress’s intent of improving the protection of natural sounds in the parks;
• Where appropriate, air tour operators should pay a basic fee to the Park Service for the privilege of flying over parks. Lack of payment should trigger the suspension of their flight authority; and
• The two agencies release a rule detailing incentives for reducing total noise impacts from aircraft by using new quieter technologies as mandated in the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000;

If appropriately managed, air tours provide a unique way for park visitors to experience some of America’s parks. However, NPCA believes it is unfair for air tours to detract from the experience of other visitors.

Listening to natural sounds is an increasingly rare experience in America. We must insure our national parks provide solace and peace for future generations.

For More Information

Contact Bryan Faehner, NPCA legislative analyst, at 202-419-3700 or bfaehner@npca.org. 

Want a reminder of what’s at stake? Listen to Natural Sounds in the Parks >

Read the Article in National Parks Magazine: "The Listener's Yosemite"