As many as 515 air tours a year would be allowed under Bryce Canyon National Park's air tour management plan/Rebecca Latson file

An air tour management plan for Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah calls for more than 500 flights a year to be allowed over the park and within a half-mile corridor outside the park boundary.

According to a park release the plan, which was released Tuesday and will take effect by mid-January barring any challenges, "establishes measures to protect park resources including natural resources, preservation of wilderness character, and visitor experience.  "

“The purpose of the air tour management plan is to protect tangible and intangible resources of Bryce Canyon, including natural sounds, wildlife, wilderness character, and visitor experiences of solitude and quiet as we allow visitors reasonable opportunities to experience these magnificent landscapes from the air,” said Bryce Canyon Superintendent Jim Ireland.

The plan does not, however, specify any decibel limit on ground-level noise from the overflights nor require that aircraft employ "quiet technology" to reduce engine noise. The Traveler has reached out to park staff to see how those issues would be addressed under the plan.   

Commercial air tours have occurred over Bryce Canyon for many years without defined operating parameters, according to the Bryce Canyon staff. The air tour management plan "protects national park resources and values by providing continued education and management oversight.  "

However, outside groups such as Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, have criticized the NPS and FAA for avoiding environmental reviews called for by the National Environmental Policy Act in designing the management plans. According to PEER, the agencies are claiming "categorical exclusions" -- claims that air tours won't have a significant impact on either the visitor experience or natural and cultural resources of a park -- for deciding not to follow the entire NEPA process

"As with Glacier (National Park), NPS and FAA took the average for the past three years and adopted it it as their plan. There were no noise surveys or studies, no NEPA compliance or serious consideration of alternatives," said Jeff Ruch, Pacific director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, in an email to the Traveler on Wednesday. "Unlike Glacier, there is no impending phase-out but instead provisions for potential new air tour operators to apply for new flights and routes.

"PEER has taken the position that the approach taken here violates the requirements of the National park Air Tour Management Act and, to that end, have filed two enforcement motions with the U.S. Court of Appeals. We are considering filing a third motion to strike down the now five ATMPs [Air Tour Management Plans] adopted outside of the NEPA process," he added.

Under the Bryce Canyon plan, up to 515 air tours per year may be flown over the park on defined routes. There were on average 515 air tours per year reported over Bryce Canyon National Park from 2017–2019, according to the park release.

Bryce Canyon is among 24 parks in the National Park System for which the agencies are developing air tour management plans or voluntary agreements. Each air tour management plan or agreement is developed to allow air tours to be managed in a way that is consistent with the NPS’s mission and the FAA’s authority to ensure flight safety, according to the park release.

The final air tour management plan is available at this site.