By Keep Sedona Beautiful
Sedona, AZ — Ask anyone why they love Sedona and you’ll hear about our clean town, the red rocks, the trails, the dark skies and the quiet. Natural silence is a key part of the Sedona experience. But not long ago, that quiet was under serious strain.
For years, residents were subjected to intrusive noise from helicopter tours passing over homes and neighborhoods. The aerial views that make helicopter tours popular came at a cost on the ground: the steady thrum of rotors disrupting daily life, outdoor recreation and the natural soundscape that defines Red Rock Country.
Rather than accept the status quo, the community came together to find a solution. Encouraged by Keep Sedona Beautiful, a multi-agency team including the Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau, the City of Sedona, Yavapai County, the Sedona-Oak Creek Airport Authority and KSB negotiated with local helicopter tour operators to change how, where and when tours fly.
In June 2020, the first-of-its-kind voluntary agreement, known as the Sedona Fly Friendly Agreement, was reached. Under the agreement, participating tour operators adopted flight practices designed to dramatically reduce noise in residential areas. Tours no longer fly over the City or over resorts and neighborhoods outside city limits. The agreement also established minimum altitudes for helicopters flying in various areas, keeping aircraft higher where noise intrudes most.
The agreement goes further. Tour helicopters do not hover above or near sensitive archaeological sites, and operators observe the same care near sites sacred to Indigenous peoples and near historical heritage sites. Tours fly only between 8 a.m. and dusk, and takeoff and departure routes from the Sedona Airport were adapted to reduce perceived noise. The agreement is reviewed and revised annually, ensuring it continues to serve the community as conditions change. You can access a map of these restrictions at bit.ly/3QFlOVf, which links to the KSB website.
Notably, all of this was accomplished voluntarily, proof of what’s possible when a community, its agencies and its businesses work together in good faith. Reducing helicopter noise was one of the tactics identified in the Sedona Sustainable Tourism Plan adopted by the Sedona City Council in 2019, and the Fly Friendly Agreement brought that goal to life.
The initiative has significantly reduced helicopter noise over Sedona’s neighborhoods. Many residents who once experienced regular overflights now enjoy the natural quiet that attracted them to Sedona, demonstrating that responsible tourism and quality of life for residents can go hand in hand.
Occasionally, violations of the agreement occur. When they do, residents play an important role in keeping the system working. If you experience a flight that appears to violate the agreement, such as a helicopter over a residential area, report it to the Sedona-Oak Creek Airport Authority through the Aircraft Sound Reporting Form at www.sedonaairport.org/noise-abatement. If you’re able to take pictures of the violation, include them with your report. All reports are reviewed by Sedona Airport management, and this feedback helps monitor compliance and address problem areas.
Residents need to understand the agreement’s scope. The Fly Friendly Agreement applies only to helicopter tour operations. It does not include fixed-wing airplanes. The Federal Aviation Administration has exclusive authority over the regulation of airspace, flight paths and minimum safe altitudes. No local government or organization can mandate where or how high fixed-wing aircraft fly. This is precisely what makes the voluntary Fly Friendly Agreement so remarkable. Where regulation wasn’t an option, cooperation succeeded.
The Fly Friendly Agreement demonstrates how various interests can come together to protect the qualities that make this place extraordinary. The agreement reflects Keep Sedona Beautiful’s long-standing commitment to reducing noise pollution as part of its mission to protect and sustain the scenic beauty and natural environment of Sedona and the Verde Valley. Thanks to this collaborative initiative, the sounds residents hear today belong here: the wind, the birds, the rustling of trees and the quiet itself.
To learn more about KSB’s work on noise pollution and other initiatives, visit www.keepsedonabeautiful.org.
4 Comments
After the meeting about helicopters hosted at a local church a few years ago, the pilots have done a tremendous job flying in a respectful manner (not that they were doing a bad job before).
I live in the Chapel area and I am surrounded by the main sites they fly over. Before the meeting, I “complained” to the airport a few times each year. Since the helicopter meeting I have not complained even one time.
Thank you KSB and pilots!
When I moved here the helicopters were above every trail in and around Sedona and I frequently saw them landing next to or hovering above archeological sites. This has changed since the meeting but you cannot say things weren’t a problem before because they most certainly were thanks to the tour companies putting money and profit over safety and silence.
The tour helicopters are still flying below the rims of our many canyons in the Dry Creek area. They are noisy as ever, intruding on the solitude of our wilderness areas. I don’t believe they are hovering at archaeological sites like they used to do. But they still scream through the canyons very close to these sensitive archeological sites, causing tremendous noise impacts, especially in the Boynton Canyon and the Long Canyon areas.
The helicopter noise is much better than it was but the light aircraft noise is at times incessant and getting more than a minute of natural silence anywhere in the Sedona area is very rare even in the deepest backcountry. We have a very long way to go to be able to claim that it’s possible to experience the true Sedona soundscape any longer. Aside from the helicopter agreement the skies above Sedona are a free for all with almost constant fixed wing aircraft noise, most of it unnecessary and just a tiny handful of people having fun while their activities degrade the experience for thousands on the ground. Time for a friendly fly agreement for fixed wing aircraft?