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Senator Wyden of Oregon has put forward a vital amendment to the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000, which would help the Act meet its intended purpose by better protecting the opportunity for visitors to enjoy peace and quiet in our parks. Please call your Senators at 202.224.3121 and ask them to support the Wyden Amendment today!

After Nearly a Decade, Still No Air Tour Plans Completed

Imagine hiking with your family on a trail on an once-in-a-lifetime trip to a national park only to hear the sound of propeller blades overhead rather than hearing waterfalls, birds chirping, and leaves rustling in the wind. That is what many visitors encounter at dozens of national parks due to a lack of forethought and planning when it comes to the management of air tours. Congress passed the National Park Air Tour Management Act nearly a decade ago to address this issue, but the agencies responsible for planning where air tours can go have not produced a single plan. We need Congress to amend the bill to better protect park visitors.

National Parks  Air Tour Management Act

Passed in 2000, this law requires all commercial plane and helicopter tour operators to apply to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for authority to conduct commercial air tours. It also took a major step towards protecting Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Glacier National Park, and other parks by requiring the FAA, in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS), to develop an air tour management plan for every national park where air tours take place. The law does not apply to Grand Canyon National Park, national parks in Alaska, general aviation,
or commercial airline aircraft.

Bureaucratic Stalemate Continues After Nearly a Decade 

After ten years of deliberations, the FAA and NPS have not finalized a single air tour management plan, due to a bureaucratic stalemate between the two agencies. The dispute centers on the National Park Service’s authority to protect its visitors and resources.

The Council on Environmental Quality recognizes that NPS has the authority to examine the “effects of noise on national park areas,” whereas the FAA has expertise in aircraft and airspace safety and should ensure all authorized air tour operations are safe. The two agencies have initiated approximately six air tour management plans, spending considerable time and resources, but have failed to reach an agreement to even allow a public release of a draft plan.

Until air tour management plans are completed, park air tours are managed under “interim operating authority,” which sets flight limits for each park, but does not consider the on-the-ground impacts of the noise generated by those flights. 

Though intended to be short-term, “interim” management has become the rule for air tour management in all parks where they take place.

Furthermore, air tour operators continue to apply to the FAA and NPS for flight authority over parks that do not  have interim operating authority. The law requires an air tour management plan before determining if these flights can take place. The agencies should be given the authority to deny new flights if they will create a safety hazard or unacceptable impacts in a national park. This would also reduce the need for more long-delayed air tour plans.   

Through NPCA’s participation in the National Parks Air Tour Advisory Group, it has become apparent to us and to other participants that no air tour management plan will be completed unless Congress amends the bill to clarify the duties and jurisdictions of the two agencies.

NPCA Recommends that Congress:

• Should amend the National Parks Air Tour Management Act to specify that the NPS has the authority to evaluate noise impacts on park resources and the visitor experience, while the FAA has the authority to ensure aircraft and airspace safety;

• Should amend the National Parks Air Tour Management Act to authorize the FAA or NPS to deny requests to initiate new air tour operations without first completing an air tour management plan at parks that currently have no air tours if the FAA determines there is a safety risk or the NPS determines air tours would unacceptably impact park resources and the experience of visitors;    

• Directs, as recommended by the GAO, that the “FAA establish a procedure for operators to record and report the number of air tours they conduct over national park units.” This would provide the agencies with the necessary information to better manage air tours;

• Requires that air tour operators pay a basic fee to the Park Service for the privilege of flying over parks where appropriate. Failure to pay should trigger the suspension of their flight authority; and

• Directs the two agencies to release a rule detailing incentives for reducing total noise impact from aircraft by using new quieter technologies as mandated in the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of  2000.

If appropriately managed, air tours provide a unique way for visitors to view some of America’s most spectacular parks. However, air tours should not detract from the experience of other visitors on the ground.

The opportunity to listen to unobstructed natural sounds is an increasingly rare experience in America. We must insure our national parks provide the special experience they were intended to provide.

For More Information

Contact Bryan Faehner, Associate Director for Park Uses, at 202-419-3700 or bfaehner@npca.org. 

Want a reminder of what’s at stake? Listen to Natural Sounds in the Parks >

Read the Article in National Parks Magazine: "The Listener's Yosemite"