Ears Wide Open

Sounds of Bees Scare Elephants - African villagers trying to protect their crops from hungry elephants may have a new tool at their disposal: bees. Even recordings of bees could work, for a short while at least. While the animals rested, researchers played either buzzing sounds recorded at beehives, or a control sound of white noise. The buzzing clearly had the animals concerned. Ninety-four percent of the elephant families left the tree within 80 seconds of hearing bee sounds, nearly half of the time at a run. White noise, by contrast, only scared away 27% of the families. "So you could use sounds to deter elephants," noted Dr King, "but there are two major hiccups. Firstly, farmers don't have money to pay for a loudspeaker and a minidisc, and on that level it's not practical. Secondly, elephants are smart and would work out that there are no painful beestings; we don't know if that would happen after three playbacks or 30, but it is clearly going to happen." It might be more practical and more desirable, she believes, to use real bees rather than their sounds. Another of the projects that the group is running in Kenya involves creating a "beehive fence", where the passage of a hungry elephant would trigger bees to start flying and buzzing, giving the animal cause to turn and not come back. Source: BBC, 10/8/07 [READ ARTICLE]

Forest Service Continues Off-Road Vehicle Planning - On national forests and BLM lands across America, local land managers are continuing work on new Travel Management Plans, which aim to set clear map-based standards to manage off-road vehicle use. On many forests and most BLM land, ORV's have been permitted to travel off-trail; in the future, ORVs will be allowed only on designated roads and trails. A recently released report from the Isaac Walton League surveys land managers, and finds that most consider ORV use to have a serious impact on hunters and fishermen. Meanwhile, on forests nationwide, ORV users and quiet recreation advocates are working with land managers, and in some cases sparring with each other; we encourage you to get involved in your local forests' planning process. Source: USA Today, 10/1/07 [READ ARTICLE] [DOWNLOAD ISAAC WALTON LEAGUE REPORT]
[See AEI Special Report: Travel Management Planning]

Navy to Revise Atlantic Coast Naval Warfare Training Range DEIS - Two years ago, the Navy published a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for an Undersea Warfare Training Range (USWTR) being planned, with potential sites off the coasts of North Carolina, Virginia, or Florida. After being flooded with comments from the public, state agencies, and federal agencies, the Navy has decided to revise and reissue the Draft EIS, rather than move forward to a final EIS. A new scoping period for the DEIS is now open, through October 22. The new DEIS will be changed to include a fourth possible site, off Charleston, SC. In addtion, the Navy is working with NOAA Fisheries (formerly NMFS) to develop a better way to analyze the behavioral impacts on marine mammals. NOAA had been unusually direct in its critique of the Navy's previous approach, which was based on a simple maximum sound level criterion; over the past couple of years, a "dose response" approach has been developed, which accounts for the impact of lower sound sources occuring over longer perdiods of time. Further, the Navy's previous reliance on hearing and behavioral tests using captive dolphins will be expanded to include assessment of the responses of wild animals. Sources: PilotOnline, 10/1/07 [READ ARTICLE] Delmar Daily Times, 9/22/07 [READ ARTICLE] Charlotte News-Observer, 9/22/07 [READ ARTICLE]

Final Yellowstone Plan Reduces Snowmobiles, But Maybe Not Noise - The permanent Winter Use Plan released last week proposes a reduction in the daily maximum number of snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone National Park, while at the same time reducing the average number of machines in each guided tour group. The end result, according to projections included with the plan, is likely to be a slight increase in the area of the park in which snowmobiles or snowcoaches can be heard. The daily maximum will be reduced from 720 snowmobiles to 540, with an average group size of 11. The new proposal, to take effect in the winter of 2008-9, "would have potentially more groups traveling through, even though it would be an overall (smaller) maximum number of machines," said Al Nash, Yellowstone spokesman. About 13% of the park would be affected by snow vehicle noise, up a percentage point from the old plan, while there may be a slight decrease in the number of hours in which vehicles are heard more than 50% of the time (though a response by retired national park employees suggests that deep in the fine print, the acreage in which noise would be audible more than half the time actually almost triples). A few more snowcoaches will be allowed under the permanent plan (83, up from 78), with new quieter snowcoaches phased in starting next winter; all snowmobiles will need to be the slightly quieter four stroke models. Actual snowmobile numbers have been far below the maximum levels allowed (averaging under 300 per day), apparently because of snowmobilers' tendency to want to ride without being part of guided tours. Source: Billings Gazette, 9/28/07 [READ ARTICLE] Albuquerque Tribune, 10/26/07 [READ ARTICLE]
Related: Snow Vehicle Noise Still Exceeds Yellowstone Goals - A National Park Service report on noise levels recorded in Yellowstone during last winter's recreational season confirms that snowmobile and snowcoach noise remains more omnipresent than managers desire. Snowmobiles remain the source of most noise intrusions (heard 60% more often than snow coaches), while the bus-like snowcoaches created the loudest sounds, often exceeding the maximum goal of 70dB (equivalent to a vacuum cleaner in a house). Vehicles were audible at Old Faithful 68% of the time between 8am and 4pm, and 59% of the time at Madison Junction. This most recent study was done between Dec. 20, 2006, and March 11 when, on average, 30 snowcoaches and 299 snowmobiles came into the park each day. Source: Casper Star-Tribune, 9/2/07 [READ ARTICLE] [DOWNLOAD REPORT (2.1MB pdf)]

Navy Gets Court Temporary OK For Sonar Training off California Coast - A Federal appeals court has lifted an injunction imposed by a lower court, allowing the Navy to proceed with planned mid-frequency active sonar training missions off the California coast while awaiting a full hearing, planned for early November. This particular challenge to active sonar was initiated after the Navy rejected additional mitigation measures imposed by the California Coastal Commission (including lower sound levels and suspension of training in times of low visibility). The lower court simply imposed an injunction, and the appeals court ruled 2-1 that national security needs must be balanced with the environmental concerns, primarily related to possible disruption or injury of whales. The Navy claims that their trainings have only rarely affected whales, while the NRDC is asking for the inclusion of more stringent safety measures. The panel ruled that the lower court had not explained why a full injunction was necessary, rather than proceeding with sonar exercises with the imposition of additional mitigation; it also suggested the navy may have an uphill battle at the full hearing: "Nor does the Navy explain why it no longer proposes to use these mitigation measures, a factor that militates against its probability of full success on the merits in district court." Sources: LA Times, 9/1/07 [READ ARTICLE] ENS, 9/4/07 [READ ARTICLE]
Related: Navy Sonar Training Off California Halted by Court - A federal court has upheld a challenge by environmental groups, ruling that the Navy must hold off on active sonar transmissions off the southern California coast until the court hears the case. The Navy had earlier rejected the Coastal Commission's more stringent monitoring and operational requirements, saying that their own protective measures were sufficient. The judge also took issue with an array of measures to protect whales that the Navy has already put in place, including rules that prohibit using the sonar within 1,000 yards of marine mammals. Sound waves may not dissipate to sublethal levels for more than 5,000 yards, she noted. Environmental lawyers have argued for a larger safety zone, as well as for a 12-mile buffer along the coastline. They want training missions to remain a respectful distance from the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, and they want the Navy to use acoustic monitoring as well as spotters in aircraft to watch for whales.To remove the temporary ban, the Navy will have to take the case to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Navy lawyers plan to move quickly because the next training mission is scheduled to begin in September. The lawsuit, according to environmental lawyers, could be settled quickly if the Navy would agree to more sweeping precautions, such as shutting off or reducing the intensity of the sonar when visibility is too low for spotters stationed on deck to see whales that venture into harm's way. Sources: LA Times, 8/7/07 [READ ARTICLE] San Francisco Chronicle, 8/7/07 [READ ARTICLE]
[See AEI Special Report: Active Sonars]

BC Village Nixes Cell Phones in Woods, Streams - The village of New Denver, British Columbia has turned down Telus's offer to erect a cell phone tower near their remote valley in the West Kootenays, “an economic driver to bring them into the 21st century.” Bill Roberts, of the Slocan Valley Economic Development Commission told a Vancouver Sun reporter, “When you’re portaging between two lakes and all you’re hearing is the call of the loons and the rustles of the forest, the last thing you want to hear is a BEEP BEEP or the opening bars of Colonel Bogey’s March.” Roberts and friends think not being electronically joined at the ear to the rest of the modern world will be New Denver’s touristic ace in the hole. Their community will be one of the few places left in North America – on the planet, in fact – where the cell phone will be useless. “It’ll be a big competitive advantage,” says Roberts. “We won’t have people answering the darned thing everywhere and yelling on it.” Source: Parksville Qualicum News, 8/21/07 [READ ARTICLE]

Long Island Helicopters Cause a Ruckus - Increasing helicopter and small plane traffic ferrying wealthy weekenders to and from eastern Long Island is raising concerns about impacts on wildlife and residents. At the East Hampton airport, overall traffic has risen 42 percent in the past two years, due largely to frustration at increasingly congested roads. While ninety percent of local residents have never used the airport, low-flying helicopters that eschew the voluntary flight paths and requirement to stay above 2000 feet are causing the most complaints: "We’ve had enough,” said Bill Reilly of Noyac. From Thursday through Tuesday there are between 70 and 100 flights per day below 2,000 feet, he said. When the helicopters fly over, conversations must cease, lightbulbs flicker, and glasses crack, he said. According to sound engineer Jerome Goodman, the noise from low frequency emissions is more than a nuisance; he stated that studies have shown that regular exposure to such noise actually promotes physiological changes in the body, specifically, a rise in blood pressure. Resident Laura Auerbach believes him. As she clocks up to 20 pass-overs an hour, she says she can "feel her blood boil." Protected woods and wetlands in eastern Long Island are home to diverse wildlife, including Piping Plovers, Bald Eagles, Osprey, Terns, Red-Tailed Hawks, and Great Horned Owls. East Hampton cancelled its fourth of July fireworks display in deference to the nesting Piping Plovers, though local nature reserves continue to bear the brunt of increasing air traffic. Planning underway to modernize the airport, which is currently unregulated (ie, pilots sort out traffic among themselves) does not include any environmental assessment. Sources: New York Times, 8/3/07 [READ ARTICLE] East Hampton Star, 7/28/07 [READ ARTICLE] Great Neck Record, 8/10/07 [READ ARTICLE] East Hampton Press, 8/1/07 [NOT ONLINE]