Bob CollinsYou’ll want so save this for the cubicle today.
Last evening I was reading a CBS News story about the National Parks Service’s Natural Sounds Program, which presented this map this week showing the quietest (and at night: darkest) areas of the country.
No real surprises here. The darkest blue regions represent where noise is below 20 decibels.
Minnesota? A noise wasteland?
Not really. I stumbled on this with a little research: The Nature Soundmap, which is produced in Australia and documents — and provides audio of — natural sound around the globe.
There are four audio pieces from Minnesota: Baby raccoons in Foley, dawn on the Fiske Lake Trail, sunset on Frog Pond in the Chippewa National Forest (the swans fly in at 3:50), and 12 minutes of midnight loons on Wagner Lake.
Wisconsin is represented by sandhill cranes and other critters in Crex Meadows Wildlife Area.
North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa are all shut out.
Give a listen and recalibrate. You can thank me later.
Related: MinnesotaSoundscapes.com.
