Noisy intrusion

On behalf of my parents, I recently attended Glacier National Park’s alumni picnic. It was a great opportunity for past GNP employees to reminisce and get an update on current Park issues.

I now live in Illinois, but I was fortunate to spend most of my childhood in Glacier Park. My parents still reside in the area, after spending 26 years working for the Park, striving with many others to uphold national park values.

During this year’s gathering, the assistant superintendent gave a fine informal speech, thanking the old-timers for all their service and dedication to preserving and protecting Glacier Park as a wild place for all to enjoy.

She briefed the crowd on some major issues that the GNP administration currently is working. One of the management concerns that she tried to explain was the Logan Pass corridor. Unfortunately, I (and most of the attendees) could hear none of the details. She was completely drowned out by a sightseeing helicopter.

This type of intrusive noise pollution now destroys nature’s silence throughout the Park. Apparently, we have become habituated to human noise no matter how overpowering. Helicopter cacophony is ruining the peace and quiet for which the Park was once famous.

I am certain that I wasn’t the only one at the picnic who remembered a time before this disgrace befell the wonderful Park. Helicopter overflights for the pleasure and profit of the few have destroyed one of Glacier Park’s essential wilderness attributes. What a loss for all of us, especially future generations.

Mary McClelland

Harvard, Ill.