One Square Inch of Silence

Gordon Hempton, the Sound Tracker, seeks those rare places untouched by human noise, where birds and nature create a complex, quiet music. In the Hoh Valley, in a rain forest in Olympic National Park, is a place he calls One Square Inch of Silence. It’s the least noise-polluted place in all of the Lower 48. And Gordon is working to preserve it. To experience One Square Inch of Silence, download the mp3, below. Gordon says, “It demonstrates what we are giving up, not just for ourselves, but for future generations if we do not set aside a quiet place now, or to hear it positively, what I believe we are going to save for all time.”

BirdNote^®

One Square Inch of Silence
With Gordon Hempton

Interview by Todd Peterson

This is BirdNote.
[Hempton recording of natural sounds, Hoh River Valley, Olympic National Park]
Gordon Hempton, the Sound Tracker, seeks those rare places untouched by human noise, where birds and nature create a complex, quiet music.
"One Square Inch of Silence is a real place. It’s up the Hoh Valley, a rain forest, in Olympic National Park. It is a place that is home to the earth’s tallest trees. And it’s also the least noise-polluted place in all of the Lower 48. It is an area that I’m trying to preserve. Isn’t it amazing to think that on all of planet earth there is not one place off-limits to noise pollution? And air traffic is the number one violator…The noise-free interval, which is the measure of quiet at the One Square Inch of Silence has shrunk from in 2007 it was commonly over an hour. Now because of the increased frequencies of flights, it’s barely 20 minutes. We will see the complete loss of quiet, natural silence in the United States unless we do something. …And there are no bad guys here. There just are people who are not paying attention to the importance of silence.”
[Hempton recording of natural sounds, Hoh River Valley in Olympic National Park]
Today’s sounds were recorded by Gordon Hempton of QuietPlanet.com.
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Hoh Long Piece was recorded in the Hoh River Valley, Olympic National Park, by Gordon Hempton and provided courtesy of QuietPlanet.com.
BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2013 Tune In to Nature.org    August 2018 Narrator: Mary McCann        Marantz V Track 84:05
ID#   hemptong-02-2013-08-04    hempton-02