Hanscom aircraft noise hurts wildlife — and us
I can’t imagine Thoreau would be in favor of interrupting his beloved solitude so that CEOs can jet off to a business meeting.
This is a response to the April 17 letter titled “A Thoreauvian view of Hanscom growth?”
As a conservation biologist and somewhat of a Thoreauvian myself, I spend a significant portion of my free time exploring Acton’s fields, forests, and wetlands. My wife and I have been grateful to live at the southern edge of Estabrook Woods these past six years — a regular haunt of Thoreau himself. It has been a sanctuary for us and the myriad wildlife we’ve encountered.
I, for one, have not appreciated the constant drone of jet travel above our heads. There is much in the scientific literature that documents the negative effects of noise pollution on wildlife. To increase the capacity of Hanscom Field for the sake of the wealthiest and most privileged among us would be a stain on Acton’s environmental legacy, and that of Thoreau.
To quote Henry in 1845: “After the evening train has gone by and left the world to silence and to me, the whip-poor-will chants her vespers for half an hour.”
I can’t imagine Thoreau would be in favor of interrupting his beloved solitude so that CEOs can jet off to a business meeting or their vacation home. The air traffic from Hanscom is a far cry from the sound of the daily train that passed through the “deep cut” in Thoreau’s time.
Ryan Williams
Monument Street
