As part of a settlement from a lawsuit The Wilderness Society and others filed, the U.S. Air Force has conducted a study to monitor the noise of its military training overflights in the the Owyhee-Bruneau Canyonlands to quantify military aircraft noise, and baseline "natural" noise.
How Loud?
The U.S. Air Force conducts operations regularly and often throughout the Owyhee-Bruneau Canyonlands. The noise is disruptive to human visitors and may also cause impacts to resident wildlife in the area. But how loud, really, is the noise of military aircraft?
New Data
For the first time, we will have solid science to help answer that question. In the summer of 2002 the U.S. Air Force conducted a study to monitor the noise of its military training overflights in the Canyonlands. The noise study was required as part of a settlement agreement with the Air Force in a lawsuit that The Wilderness Society and other conservation groups brought.
The purpose of the study was to actually quantify the noise generated by low-level fighter aircraft and supersonic aircraft over key areas of the Canyonlands. Sites monitored included popular hiking areas, river access areas for river floaters and outfitted river trips, California bighorn sheep habitat, and sage grouse habitat. The study sought to record actual sound levels of military aircraft in the area, and to establish a baseline level of "natural" noise when military aircraft were not using the area, such as on week-ends and at night.
The information will be useful if the need arises to investigate the possible impact of noise on wildlife populations or should the military decide to change the type or numbers of aircraft using the airspace over the Canyonlands. Before the study, the military had only offered model-generated predictions of noise levels to quantify expected impacts from military training.
The final report should be available to the public in early 2003.
For More Information on Noise and Other Impacts from Military Overflights in Idaho
