QPI Awards Glacier National Park First US Wilderness Quiet Park Status on July 27, 2022

 

“This award reinforces the natural sounds educational efforts the park makes to distinguish the natural soundscape from noise, and the importance of the visitors' opportunity for that experience. Increasing awareness of natural sounds helps promote reverence for the park, its natural ecosystems and wilderness character,” said Matt Mikkelsen, Executive Director of Wilderness Quiet Parks.

QPI would like to thank the following public servants for their dedication to preserving the natural soundscapes and the wilderness values that were the foundation of Glacier’s designation as an international peace park.

  • Brad Blickhan, Wilderness and Wild and Scenic River Coordinator

  • Richard Menicke, Geographer, Division of Science and Resources Management

  • Mary Riddle, recently retired Chief of Planning and Environmental Compliance

  • Pete Webster, Glacier National Park Deputy Supt

  • Jeff Mow, recently retired Glacier National Park Supt

And Mary T. McClelland who spearheaded the efforts at Glacier National Park.

Quiet Glacier Thoughts by Nick McMahan

Golden leaves surround the path along the lake. It’s the first week of fall here, in northern Montana, and everyday turns more golden. This will all be over soon though. Darker days. Grey, then white will transform this golden path. My rhythmic walking pound the thoughts from my head. I think I hear a rumble of sorts, or is it rustling in the brush? Suddenly the warnings of bear country erupt into my consciousness and I freeze to listen. Then it hits me. Viscerally. Sweeping across and through me as if it had been just a step behind. Stunning silence settles and the complete stillness of this beautiful golden path along a blue Montana lake is enormous.

In motion, in thought, the rumbling of blood pumping through my body. Enormous silence under enormous mountains. To experience two extremes in such contrasting ways is overwhelming. It feels significant to be insignificant in the presence of such a state. Golden leaves glow in the warm evening sun. I continue my way along the lake at ease again.

Night arrives and I watch from camp. It seems as if the lake has gone to sleep in its stillness.

 

Photo credit: Nicholas McMahan, Director of Quiet Trails @nickcmcmahan

 

More Wilderness Quiet Parks are planned for American Prairie Reserve, Montana, USA, Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada, Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Minnesota, USA, Namibrand Nature Reserve, Namibia and Bialowieza Forest, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland among others. Zabalo River, Ecuador became the First Wilderness Quiet Park in 2019.

About QPI
Quiet Parks International, a non-profit organisation based in Los Angeles, is on a mission to save quiet for the benefit of all life. Preserving natural quiet means preserving the natural soundscape that originally belonged to the land, thereby preserving natural life and habitat on that land.

QPI divides the world’s quiet areas into five categories: urban quiet parks, wilderness quiet parks, quiet trails, quiet stays, and quiet residences and communities. It is hoped that people will protect this land by observing the three core concepts of Listen, Learn, and Love.

 

Press Contact

Gordon Hempton, Executive Director of Media Affairs, gordon@quietparks.org, cell +1-360-477-9588, Skype ID quiet.planet1