This article first appeared in Wilderness Magazine. To read more great articles like this one, become a member today.

It is getting louder all the time. It used to be easier to escape the din, and national parks and our other public lands were among the spots you could find peace and quiet. Most of these places remain the best prospects for basking in natural sounds, but the decibel level is on the rise.

This feature was first published in the 2009 Wilderness Magazine. To receive the annual magazine and quarterly newsletters from The Wilderness Society, become a member today!

Writer David S. Wilcove is a professor of ecology, evolutionary biology, and public affairs at Princeton University and the author of No Way Home: The Decline of the World’s Great Animal Migrations.

By David S. Wilcove

Today, a long awaited and monumental piece of wilderness-focused legislation leaped a major hurdle in Washington.

After postponing the vote on the Omnibus Public Land Management Act late last year, the U.S. Senate finally approved this historic legislation Jan. 15.