This petition is to attract the attention of the leaders of Churchill County regarding the increasing and detrimental use of “Propane Cannons” in our valley. Consideration for county residents’ quality of life and the value of their homes, which are being unnecessarily impacted by the level of sound emitted by these devices, needs to be addressed by our county leadership. Since their use first began a few winters ago, the number of cannons and the frequency of their blasts has been increasing. Cannons are used by local dairies to scare away starlings and other nuisance bird species. The blasts from these cannons hit up to 130 decibels and run most days from sunrise to sunset throughout the valley predominately from November through March. Their blasts occur up to 14 times per minute in some areas of the county, sounding much like a war zone.

These excessive cannons blasts are not necessary. Until the past few years, dairies operated without them. Furthermore, there are methods less disturbing to county residents for dispersing problem birds such as falconry, holographic tape, netting, electronically produced predatory and alarm bird calls, and changing of dairy feeding schedules to name a few.

Churchill County should go back to being a place of peace and quiet for its citizens to enjoy. Eliminating the use of cannons is necessary to protect homestead values and allow citizens to get back to the quality of life they enjoyed prior to their use. Please sign this petition if you wish to protect the peace and quiet of our beautiful valley.

If you have not heard these Propane Cannons where you live, we encourage you to still sign this petition to have Propane Cannons banned. Currently, there is nothing preventing a Propane Cannon from being installed near your home in the future.