It is the first of its kind in the world.
This recognition acknowledged our community wilderness preserve for its quiet, solitude, and for its benefit to the wildlife by helping them find mates, find food and avoid predators.
A Quiet Conservation Area is an award granted by Quiet Parks International (QPI), a non-profit organization co-founded by Gordon Hempton. QPI is committed to the preservation of quiet for the benefit of all life. The Quiet Conservation Area is the first award of its kind recognizing vast tracts within a master-planned community, and is one of just 31 global locations in total to be assessed and meet the criteria for this distinction.
Current certified public Quiet Parks, a different category, include public lands in Belgium, Sweden, United Kingdom, Taiwan and Spain.
The word “noise” is pathologic in origin, with roots in the word nausea, or Latin for “seasickness” for the perils it can inflict on the mind, body and nature. As noted in an EPA report, noise is an ubiquitous by product of our modern mechanized society. Since it is difficult to find a device that does not produce noise, the number of noise producers in this country is gigantic. Alarmingly, there are fewer than 10 places in the U.S. where you can avoid noise pollution for longer than 15 minutes.
QPI sends teams to potential destinations for a minimum of three days at a time, listening for anything that might immediately remove an area from consideration — a siren, a shot, an aircraft flying overhead or audible elements in the distance. An area needs to meet its “gold standard” of quiet by demonstrating a healthy balance of bioacoustics activity with average noise-free intervals lasting several hours. After a recent three-day acoustic study, Desert Mountain’s Ranch and Trails met QPI’s standards.
The Desperados
To help preserve this and the surrounding land, the Desperados is a nonprofit organization committed to land, wildlife, and environmental conservation, as well as cultural enrichment in and around the Desert Mountain community. Born in 2016 to develop The Trails at Desert Mountain, the Desperados have since grown their philanthropic stewardship into the Tonto Foothills region, supporting 17 like-minded organizations dedicated to preserving the natural environment. Today, the Desperados are a 501(c)(3) organization comprised of volunteer leaders, active steward members and celebrated contributors all focused on furthering the Desperados’ mission.
The group recently announced two significant philanthropic grants to Carefree Park and to the Sonoran Arts League during a November 10th event at Desert Mountain. These grants will go toward supporting Carefree Park which is working to acquire and preserve the last remaining 48-acres of accessible Sonoran Desert in Carefree, Arizona. The Sonoran Arts League is an arts organization dedicated to actively advancing art, artists, and art education for the benefit of all those who appreciate the arts.
Desert Mountain and the Desperados recognize the value of quiet, and by having this award bestowed upon The Trails, it will benefit Members, the natural environment, and wildlife.
