National Park Service and Federal Aviation Administration to Hold Meeting on Grand Canyon Overflights

Date: July 22, 2009
Contact: Maureen Oltrogge/NPS, 928-638-7779
Contact: Ian Gregor/FAA, 310-725-3580

Grand Canyon, Ariz. - The National Park Service (NPS) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will hold a meeting on Tuesday, July 28 to update an advisory panel on the agencies’ efforts to restore natural quiet in Grand Canyon National Park.

The meeting will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the High Country Conference Center, 300 South Milton Road, Flagstaff, Arizona.

During the meeting, the NPS and FAA will update the Grand Canyon Working Group on the status of several noise reduction alternatives. The information will include preliminary sound modeling results that quantify the degree to which the alternatives restore natural quiet in the park.

The Working Group was established to help develop programs to measure and manage the overflight noise at Grand Canyon National Park. The group includes agency, tribal, environmental, recreation, and aviation representatives.

While Tuesday’s meeting is open to the public, attendees’ participation will be limited to making brief comments at the end of the meeting.

Congress mandated the restoration of natural quiet in the park when it passed the National Parks Overflights Act of 1987.

For more information, please contact Ms. Palma Wilson, Deputy Superintendent, Grand Canyon National Park [phone] or e-mail us and Ms. Lynne Pickard, Senior Advisor for Environmental Policy, Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, D.C. at [phone] or e-mail us.

-NPS-