June 30th, 2009
Summer is a wonderful season to visit One Square Inch of Silence in the Hoh Rain Forest. This is the driest time of year and the trail is easily travelled. There are plenty of places along the nearly level 3.2 mile hike to OSI for you sit and listen peacefully to the presence of everything—including the distant echoes of Roosevelt Elk and the tall winds that roll up the valley almost 300’ overhead. On the links page you will find information about current weather, nearby accommodations, and camping opportunities. Don’t forget to stop in the ranger station and let them know that you treasure this place and you want the acoustic environment of the park saved. (The current park budget for both natural quiet and natural soundscape management is zero.) Your voice for silence DOES count because visitor feedback helps determine management priorities.
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April 13th, 2009
One Square Inch of Silence recognizes that Wednesday, April 29th is International Noise Awareness Day. OSI will be at New York’s Central Park on Sunday, April 26th, 2009, noon to 4:00 pm to combine noise awareness with quiet places protection for Earth Day events led by the Central Park Conservancy. Authors of the new book, One Square Inch of Silence (Free Press, 2009), Gordon Hempton and John Grossmann, will be on hand to meet visitors and discuss the need to conserve quiet places.
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January 7th, 2009
One Square Inch of Silence has continued to expand and attract wide spread public support. What began less than four years ago on Earth Day 2005 by a single person, has now touched the lives of millions, thanks to newspaper, magazine, and television coverage. Media outlets as far away as Italy, Germany, and France have spread the news of One Square Inch and its pioneering role in preserving endangered natural silence.
It is my hope that Olympic National Park will indeed be recognized as the “Listener’s Yosemite”, a place of profound aural solitude. In 2008, Olympic Park received a new park superintendent, Karen Gustin, and a new General Management Plan that will guide the park’s development for more than a decade. However, its soundscape and the park’s extraordinary natural quiet are scarcely recognized and no natural quiet or soundscape management plans exist. There’s not even a sound level meter on hand; not one dollar in its budget slated to protect this valuable natural resource. It will be up to public outcry to protect this last great quiet place.
One Square Inch of Silence now has a Board of Directors and is in the process of filing for 501-C3 non-profit, tax-exempt status. It is the subject of an upcoming book, also called One Square Inch of Silence, due out in March 2009 from Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster. In it, you can visit One Square Inch through text, images, and audio CD and also experience the extraordinary wonder that is the Hoh Rain Forest. You’ll then travel with me across America on an historic sound safari, as I listen to the land and Americans I meet, in search of vanishing silence and the impact of ever spreading man-made noise. Finally, my co-author John Grossmann and I meet with government officials in Washington, D.C. to press for a One Square Inch of Silence-spearheaded campaign to preserve natural quiet. In 2009, we hope that Washington Senator Maria Cantwell will introduce legislation into the 111th session of Congress to designate a 20-mile radius no flight zone over One Square Inch, helping to federally sanction the world’s first quiet sanctuary.
Meanwhile, the FAA seems to be routing more and more flights directly over Olympic National Park. On December 10, 2008, jet noise broke the natural quiet and then continued for more than 30 minutes—a disappointing “record” in my years of monitoring and also a reminder that unless action is taken soon we will lose this treasure forever.
Please speak out for silence by supporting the One Square Inch Foundation.
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July 2nd, 2008
OSI has received an outpouring of public support due to the recent attention by ABC’s Nightline and Ode Magazine. We look forward to making continued progress at saving the quietest place in the lower 48. For those of you who are planning to walk the quiet path to OSI, you can find directions on the links page, or send us an email for answers to your specific questions.
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February 26th, 2008
OSI is now accessible with the re-opening of the Hoh River Road. This comes just in time with the first annual OSI board meeting on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week at Kalaloch Lodge inside Olympic National Park. We look forward to announcing the results of this meeting on our next news posting.
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February 1st, 2008
Olympic National Park has announced that the Hoh Road is closed outside the park boundary because of flood damage. There is currently two feet of snow at the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center. Weather and snow conditions permitting, the road is expected to open by the end of February.
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September 18th, 2007
The three month, 10,000 mile trip across the United States to Washington, D.C., was completed with the safe return of the OSI stone to the moss covered log 3.2 miles up the Hoh River Trail.
You can view photographs of Silent Journey: One Square Inch to Washington, D.C., in either pdf format (5MB) or PowerPoint (12MB). Text descriptions and place names have been omitted to keep the experience quiet, but just for now. Silence will have a voice in an upcoming book where readers can listen to the American landscape and read what fellow Americans have to say about the need to preserve natural quiet. All expenses were paid by the publisher, Simon & Schuster.
During this journey more than 6,000 comments were received by the OSI website. These comments are in the process of review. Thank you for your support!
Your donations are still needed to save the natural quiet of Olympic Park. Please give generously. Your contribution does make a difference.
Click here for hiking directions to OSI.
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March 30th, 2007
The original OSI stone (pictured on this website) is currently making a 106 day tour across America to Washington, D.C. Stops will include Washington State, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and Maryland before reaching our Nation’s Capital. The stone will be returned to Olympic Park in September; meanwhile, another stone temporarily rests on the moss covered log deep within the Hoh Rain Forest protecting silence over 1,000 square miles. Public access to the Hoh Rain Forest is not yet available but expected sometime in early May.
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January 12th, 2007
Please be advised that public access to OSI site in the Hoh Rain Forest is not possible at this time due to a series of severe storms that began in November and resulted in multiple washouts to the Hoh River Road. Site monitoring has temporarily ceased and will resume when access is possible. Access is expected to be restored late April or early May when an announcement will be made here. Anyone planning a hike to OSI is advised to call Olympic Park road conditions phone number at 360-565-3131 to confirm access to the trailhead. Meanwhile, OSI is proud to announce a successful 2006 with increased cooperation by airlines, increased public support, substantially increased revenues, wider press coverage and an opportunity to contribute to the Draft General Management Plan of Olympic National Park.
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October 1st, 2006
One Square Inch has continued to receive attention by the Press. Western Journey (the magazine for AAA members) and HUSH magazine provide prominent coverage in this month’s issues. The added publicity has increased public appreciation for Olympic Park’s unmatched aural solitude. Fall is an ideal season to enjoy an inspirational walk to the OSI stone and the Jar of Quiet Thoughts. The side path to the stone is now marked by white flagging making it easier to find than ever before. A small herd of elk frequent the area and naturally maintain the path.
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