Should Walden Pond be quiet?

by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition

Photo credit: Abigail Harrison

Should historic Walden Pond, beloved of the writer Henry David Thoreau, be kept quiet? That’s the request of a petition on the Change.org website asking Massachusetts to promulgate state rules about quiet in its state parks.

As the petition points out, many people visit Walden Pond to enjoy nature, as Thoreau did two centuries ago. Walden Pond is in a glacial bowl, so sound reverberates. Unlike the beach, there are no ocean waves to drown out anthropogenic sounds. Amplified sound is different from natural sounds like people talking or children singing. It can be annoying. Annoyance is stressful and stress is bad for health.

I was unable to find information about whether smoking is prohibited at Walden Pond State Reservation but the restrictions include no fires. Why do I mention smoking? Unwanted noise has been called “the new secondhand smoke.” Having to hear someone else’s unwanted amplified electronic noise is just like having to smell and breathe someone else’s secondhand smoke. Both are annoying, and both are health hazards. According to the EPA, secondhand smoke is a carcinogen with no known safe lower level of exposure. Noise is unwanted and/or harmful sound.

People over age 40 probably remember when smoking was ubiquitous, in workplaces, stores, restaurants and public transportation. To please customers, some establishments started offering smoke-free areas, but unfortunately the secondhand smoke couldn’t read the signs. After the EPA designation of secondhand smoke as a Class A carcinogen, those advocating for smoke-free environments were seen as health advocates, and the country quickly became smoke-free. It’s hard to remember how much smoking was a part of normal everyday life until one watches a movie set in the 1960s, like the 2024 movie “A Complete Unknown.”

We hope the petition organizers are successful and that existing regulations banning amplified sound in Massachusetts state parks are enforced at Walden Pond. A quieter park, as part of a quieter world, will be a better, healthier and more enjoyable park for all.