It鈥檚 a quiet early morning in Rocky Mountain National Park. As hikers walk on the Upper Beaver Meadows trail, artist Garrison Gerard stands at a nearby stream. He takes out a small buoy-like microphone connected to a cable. He鈥檚 holding what's called a hydrophone.
鈥淲hen we put it in there, it's going to hear every little bit of sound,鈥� he said.
He lowers the cable into the water and puts on his headphones. Instead of hearing the sound of water flowing, the hydrophone picks up the vibrations in the water. It sounds kind of like a xylophone, making little 鈥減link鈥� noises that start as small bubbles and get louder and deeper.
鈥淲hen you move it over rushing water, it's 鈥� not to be clich茅 鈥� like a symphony of sounds,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can play like a whole piece just moving around and just hearing the sounds of the different parts of the river.鈥�
was on a seven-year hiatus due to needed repairs at the cabin and a change of leadership, but this summer, it's back.
Gerard was one of the six artists selected. But his 鈥渁rt鈥� is different from a painting or a photograph. He records natural sounds of the earth and .
In order to collect the sound, he conducts an acoustic survey. In theory, it鈥檚 simple: he goes on an extended hike and listens to what鈥檚 around him. He carries a variety of different microphones, from the buoy hydrophone to a geophone, which is a microphone with a spike on the end that he buries in the ground to measure the vibrations of the earth.
鈥淥ur neighbors around the cabin probably think that I'm crazy. They see this person out with headphones on, wandering with cables over rocks and stuff,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t's like (they鈥檙e saying), 鈥楥an't you just like, you know, paint the scenery, like all the normal artists?'"
But his sound surveys tell him a lot about the level of biodiversity in an area and how it has changed over time.
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Scientists have used hydrophones to in oceans. They have used another device called Audio Moths to listen to and track . The devices have also been used to help solve crimes, such as .
Gerard isn't looking for poachers. He's focused on ways to 鈥渓isten through the park鈥� and learn how the landscape responds to things like the number of elks bugling in a particular area.
He recently used a geophone to see how tourists alter the sound of the land. It sounds like people marching in the snow.
鈥淲e're used to a step being pretty quiet, but you hear how much noise it actually makes in vibration underground,鈥� he said.
He wants more people to think about what they鈥檙e hearing. After spending two weeks at the park, he had one main observation.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just so busy, and there's so much constant road noise,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ot that that's bad. People should come and enjoy it, but just thinking about what impact does that have on the soundscape?鈥�
Rocky Mountain鈥檚 picturesque landscapes, unique biodiversity, and close proximity to Denver have made it the nation's , with about four million visitors annually in .
鈥淚t's hard to disperse people away from that park,鈥� said Tracy Coppola with the (NPCA). 鈥淚t's such a crown jewel.鈥�
While visitors are enjoying Rocky Mountain, they鈥檙e also leaving a detrimental footprint. The park needs to spend more than on repairs and upgrades 鈥� the most of any national park in Colorado. The money would be used for trail maintenance, additional parking, and sewer improvements.
Additionally, before the was put into place, Coppola said the public was not able to have "rich interactions" with rangers and the overall esteem of the park was impacted by overcrowding.
Now, park officials have worked to manage the influx of people with the new system. Even with the increased crowds, the , and Coppola believes the system has made for a better visitation experience overall.
But this is not a "one and done" system, Coppola said. The park is still adapting and it鈥檚 a difficult balancing act.
鈥淲e want these places to continue to be celebrated and accessible, but then we also want to protect the park,鈥� she said.
Yet artists have painted and photographed these crown jewels for more than 150 years and even played a big role in their protection.
鈥淎rtists like Thomas Moran and William Henry Jackson actually produced artwork that helped inspire Washington D.C. to establish parks like Yellowstone and other early national parks,鈥� said Shari Orr, the program manager of the Volunteers-In-Parks program with the National Park Service, which oversees the Artist-In-Residence program.
The relationship between artists and political leaders continued through the years, leading to the creation of .
Rocky Mountain鈥檚 program is one of the oldest, beginning in 1984. Selected artists stay at a cabin in the park for two weeks. They host community programs, work on their art, and engage with the public.
鈥淲e want to help people understand more about the resources that we're protecting, whether that's natural spaces, cultural spaces, historic spaces, and we want them to walk away with a meaning that's personal to them,鈥� Orr explained.
It doesn鈥檛 matter if the artist makes quilts, creates a comedy sketch, or . Orr said such creative mediums amplify a message of conservation in ways that are more transformative than reading a park sign.
鈥淵ou're really going from visitor to, like, a steward of this resource and of this special place,鈥� she said. 鈥�(We hope) that they're walking away hopefully a more informed person and maybe a better person because of those reflections that they've had.鈥�
That鈥檚 what Joe Norman wants to do. He鈥檚 a Loveland-based steel sculptor who was also selected for a residency.
Many of his works feature two pictures or words that are mixed together but distinct from a certain angle. From one side, you may see the word 鈥渞age.鈥� Walk to the other side, and you see the word 鈥渉ope.鈥�
鈥淚f I had to summarize it (my art) in one word, it would be the word, 鈥楢nd,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淚 like the idea of making sculptures that have more than one thing in them, to say, there's a spectrum in this idea.鈥�
Similar to Gerard, Norman鈥檚 main focus for his residency is exploring the role of wilderness and whether people are managing and interacting with it appropriately. He wants to talk with park rangers and visitors about how they interact with the outdoors and whether they wrestle with the notion of humans improving or degrading the landscape.
鈥淚 think that's still a question. I'm not really sure we can,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 hope we can, but, you know, jury's still out.鈥�
He wants to create a sculpture that starts a conversation about conservation while the idea is fresh 鈥� and within the park's boundaries.
鈥淧hotographers are very good about transporting someone to a place that they're no longer at,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think I'm more interested in having people ask questions about the place that they're in while they're there and they see the sculpture.鈥�
Once he creates a piece, there鈥檚 no way to tell how it impacted people, but Norman knows it will serve an important purpose.
鈥淵ou could sit down and read the script of The Godfather, or you could watch the movie The Godfather, and they're two completely different experiences,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f we want to discover our place in the world like we need writing, we need art. If we start curtailing one of those, I don't think we get a full picture of what we're actually doing here.鈥�
Back at the park, Gerard is walking around with his microphone and headphones. Within a few minutes, he hears the rhythmic buzzing of bugs and new chirping noises.
鈥淚t gets me even more interested than normal in learning about what bird species that is, the insect species,鈥� he said. 鈥淓ven the plants 鈥� every plant makes a different sound as the wind goes through.鈥�
Gerard hopes his work will remind people of their influence on the soundscape, and help them form a deeper connection with the park鈥檚 ecosystem.
鈥淚 think that in taking the time to listen and taking the time to hear what's around us, it really changes how we approach everything,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t just, I think, helps reframe your thought that we're a part of this web that's all related to each other.鈥�
Norman is finishing up his residency, and Garrison Gerard finished his a few weeks ago. Their work will be viewable online or in the park next summer.
This story is part of a collaboration with Rocky Mountain PBS.
This story was updated on Monday, August 26th at 11:15 am. KUNC 暗黑爆料 clarified quotes by Tracy Coppola on how Rocky Mountain National Park has benefitted from the Timed Entry System.
