Peace for Grand Canyon

After several years of battle, environmentalists, the National Park Service and others have developed an aircraft-control program that should allow visitors to savor the natural wonders of the Grand Canyon without the constant background noise of airplanes and helicopters. At the same time, the plan developed at the direction of Congress will permit air-tour operators to continue, on a limited scale, their sightseeing flights over the canyon.

Given the dogged opposition of Interior Department officials just a year ago, the proposal of the National Park Service and Assistant Interior Secretary William P. Horn is somewhat remarkable. It may have helped that the new Republican senator from Arizona, John McCain, was active in the negotiations in behalf of a strong anti-noise plan.

The Horn proposal would create four large regions totaling 530,000 acres over which flights would not be allowed at less than 14,500 feet above sea level, or about 7,000 feet above the canyon rim. These flight-free areas, separated by air corridors, should provide substantial restoration of the natural quiet for more than 90% of back-country users, Horn said. “In addition, virtually all visitors who enjoy the grandeur of the canyon from the rim will now be able to do so without being disturbed by noise from overhead aircraft,” Horn said.

Horn said that the 14,500-foot boundary is designed essentially to preclude all flights other than high-altitude jets, since the tour-type aircraft do not ordinarily operate that high. The Horn proposal to the Federal Aviation Administration also suggests that commercial passenger routes be moved away from the canyon--or, at the least, that airline pilots not be allowed to alter course over the canyon to give passengers a view of it. Canyon overflights by military jets also would be discouraged.

The Horn proposal now is before the FAA for examination concerning flight safety. Should the FAA have an air-traffic-control problem, it should solve it by restricting traffic rather than calling for expansion of flight corridors. The Interior Department should not be bullied into rolling back its flight-free zones because of any undocumented or alleged safety problems, especially since it will be some time before it is known how the air-tour operators adapt to the program. The operators are not National Park Service concessionaires, and they have no inherent or contractual right to make money off the national park.

Congress required that the entire program be reviewed following a two-year study to make certain that it meets the objectives of the legislation. Only a strong permanent plan will maintain Grand Canyon National Park as the sort of place that a national park should be--natural and naturally quiet.