SERVICEWIDE LAWS AND POLICIES - Natural Soundscapes
| An important part of the NPS mission is to preserve or restore the natural soundscapes associated with national parks. The sounds of nature are among the intrinsic elements that combine to form the environment of our national parks. The natural ambient soundscape is the aggregate of all the natural sounds that occur in parks, together with the physical capacity for transmitting natural sounds. Natural sounds occur within and beyond the range of sounds that humans can perceive and can be transmitted through air, water, or solid materials. Natural sounds are slowly and inexorably disappearing from most NPS units. | |
 |
Desired Condition: The National Park Service will preserve, to the greatest extent possible, the natural soundscapes of parks. The Service will restore degraded soundscapes to the natural condition wherever possible, and will protect natural soundscapes from degradation due to noise (undesirable human-caused sound). Using appropriate management planning, superintendents will identify what levels of human- caused sound can be accepted within the management purposes of parks. The frequencies, magnitudes, and durations of human- caused sound considered acceptable will vary throughout the park, being generally greater in developed areas and generally lesser in undeveloped areas. In and adjacent to parks, the Service will monitor human activities that generate noise that adversely affects park soundscapes, including noise caused by mechanical or electronic devices. The Service will take action to prevent or minimize all noise that, through frequency, magnitude, or duration, adversely affects the natural soundscape or other park resources or values, or that exceeds levels that have been identified as being acceptable to, or appropriate for, visitor uses at the sites being monitored. |
Source: |
|