As drones, smartphones other gadgets invade America’s most tranquil trails, many lament the loss of peace and quiet

‘Turn it off’: how technology is killing the joy of national parks

Andrew Studer was admiring a massive lava fire hose at Hawaii Volcanoes national park when he spotted something unusual: a small quadcopter drone flying very close to the natural wonder pouring hot molten rock.



“There were other visitors sitting out relaxing in somewhat of a meditative state, just trying to enjoy this phenomenon,” said Studer, who recently captured a viral image of a drone hovering near the lava. “I do feel like drones are extremely obnoxious, and I’m sure it was frustrating for some of the people there.”

In recent years, there have been growing concerns about technology invading national parks, with drones and other noisy gadgets disrupting wilderness areas, wildlife habitats and other recreational areas.

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While the boom in drones has increasingly spoiled the natural sound that the National Park Service (NPS) is charged with protecting, there has also been a rising number of reports of social media use leading hikers to snap inappropriate and dangerous selfies, threatening wildlife and the environment in the process.

“Being in nature, you should be focused on nature,” said Judy Rocchio, an NPS program coordinator, who works on preserving natural sounds. “Nature is very healing – leave the tech at home or put it away and turn it off.”

As drones became increasingly popular in 2014, the NPS moved to ban the launching and landing of “unmanned aircrafts”, but the problem has persisted. Since the new rule went into effect, parks have issued 325 citations related to drones, according to spokesman Jeffrey Olson.

“It was pretty quickly apparent that visitors who weren’t flying them didn’t like them,” he said. “People were really upset ... It’s like a buzzing bee you can’t get out of your head. People observed drones being used to herd wildlife.”

The buzzing and clamor of drones, smartphones, music speakers and other tech gadgets that hikers can now carry in their hands isare contributing to damaging noise pollution, which is pervasive in US protected areas, according to a new study published last week.

People were really upset ... It’s like a buzzing bee you can’t get out of your head Jeffrey Olson, national parks spokesman

The park service, however, has no control over drones that fly from outside park boundaries, which has allowed some pilots to skirt the rules and enter protected areas.

“There are very few places that still have a very natural quiet setting,” Rocchio said. “How are we supposed to manage wilderness when you have drones flying over them?”

NPS surveys and research suggests that drones and other tech-related noises are disturbing both visitors and wildlife. Minnesota black bears experienced elevated heart rates when they saw drones in the sky, according to one study.

Research further indicates that drones and similar aircraft and unnatural noises make it harder for wildlife to perceive natural sounds, which can interfere with communication, reproduction and survival.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Hikers seeking to unplug are struggling due to noise pollution, says the national parks service. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

“Chronic exposures to relatively low sound levels could have significant impacts for animals by reducing their environmental awareness,” said Kurt Fristrup, an NPS senior scientist who co-authored the recent noise pollution study suggesting that human noises are often 10 times that of background levels.



Sometimes the harm to animals are more obvious.

In 2014, NPS sent out a press release titled “Drone Harasses Bighorn Sheep” after volunteers at Zion national park witnessed a remote-controlled drone flying close to a herd, causing them to scatter, leading a young sheep to become separated from the adults. Today, law enforcement in the area gets roughly once every two weeks about drones, said Zion spokesman John Marciano.

If we don’t start now, children of the future will never know what a natural quiet peaceful setting sounds like Judy Rocchio, national parks coordinator

“People come in the park for a peaceful zen spiritual-type experience and when they have hiked for four hours somewhere and they want to be in the wilderness and suddenly, they hear this ‘vrrrrrrr’ sound, it kind of kills the whole experience.”

Other common gadget noises have increasingly annoyed visitors, according to park officials, who note research showing that natural sounds can have health benefits for humans.

At Muir Woods national monument, a popular destination in California, cellphone and other human noise recently became such a problem that the park began putting up signs reminding people to be quiet, according to Rocchio.

“If we don’t start thinking about this now, children of the future will never know what a natural quiet peaceful setting sounds like,” she added.

In recent years, there have also been growing concerns about tourists displaying a lack of respect for nature in national parks, especially from visitors hoping to capture viral Instagrams. In an effort to take impressive photos for social media, park tourists have vandalized parks with graffiti, trampled on wildflowers in rare “super blooms” and faced attacks from bison.

Marciano said there have also been increasing demands for internet service throughout Zion national park.

“A lot of people want wifi access. They want to use their phone gadgets … They want to plug in,” he said, noting that there are park areas that now have wifi. “We have to adapt to new technologies.”