Mount Rainier is one of four parks with a proposed plan for managing air tours/Gary Vogt

Editor's note: This updates with comment from PEER and Death Valley, Everglades, and Olympic national parks.

More than two decades after initial steps were taken, and after a federal judge ordered action, the National Park Service and Federal Aviation Administration finally are seeking public input on air tour management plans proposed for some of the country's national parks.

On Thursday the two agencies published the plan details and meeting dates for Everglades, Death Valley, Olympic, and Mount Rainier national parks. There was no announced deadline for proposed air tour plans from the other 20 parks required to develop them.

To encourage broad public participation, the agencies will livestream the meetings on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Comments may be submitted through the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment website.  Updated information on meetings and comment  periods will be announced through the publication of notices in the Federal Register.   

“The purpose of the air tour plans is to ensure that park resource values, including natural sounds, wilderness character, visitor experiences, wildlife, and other natural and cultural resources, are protected in national parks where air tours occur,” said Ray Sauvajot, associate director for natural resource stewardship and science in the National Park Service. 

It was 20 years ago that the National Park Air Tour Management Act of 2000 was implemented and required the FAA, in coordination with the NPS, to set limits on overflight numbers, timing, and routes to protect park resources and the visitor experience. After what some saw as intransigence, in May 2020 a federal judge ordered the National Park Service and FAA to complete air tour management plans within the next two years for several parks. 

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility brought the lawsuit that the judge acted on. 

“These air tours are noisy and usually low-flying, adversely affecting both wildlife and park visitors, as well as residents in gateway communities,” PEER General Counsel Paula Dinerstein, who argued the litigation, said at the time in a statement obtained by the Traveler. “This lawsuit was needed to protect national parks from being loved to death by incessant overflights.”

According to PEER, through the past 20 years the FAA has "been issuing interim approvals that essentially have grandfathered-in existing flight levels. The FAA has also sought voluntary agreements with tour operators who had little reason to consent to reduced flights because they had no reason to fear mandatory restrictions, until now."

Dinerstein, noting that the court order requires FAA and the NPS to agree on management plans but does not speak to the quality of those plans, said a year ago that "national parks cannot limit overflights, no matter how damaging, without cooperation from the FAA, which has heretofore not been forthcoming, absent a court order.”

On Thursday, Jeff Ruch, the Pacific director for PEER, said that "while it is good that the process has started now, the agencies have no time to waste."

"Through this process, superintendents and the public have a chance to reclaim the skies of national parks from air tour operators," he added in an email. "A note of concern is the absence of a National Park Service director. These plans are supposed to be the joint product of NPS and the FAA – an agency whose mission includes the promotion of civilian air travel. Without a director, the parks may be relegated to the children’s table in plan formulation. This imbalance makes public participation in the formulation and review of these plans even more important."

At Death Valley, officials said the park, "at over 90 percent wilderness, is a great place to come to experience natural quiet and solitude while hiking or camping. While commercial air tours are in conflict with those values, limiting it to just two per year allows for a diversity of recreation including flightseeing, while still protecting the experiences of the nearly two million visitors per year who come to Death Valley National Park."

The proposal calls for helicopter tours at Death Valley to be allowed above 1,000 feet above ground level, while air tours in airplanes would be allowed above 1,500 feet. The air tours also would be limited to seven flight routes, all of which avoid flying within a mile of especially sensitive locations, such as Timbisha Village and Scotty’s Castle.

Everglades National Park long has allowed air tours. One commercial air tour operator, Wings Aero Tours, is permitted to conduct up to 674 flights at the park each year, though the three-year average of reporting data from 2017 to 2019 indicates the company conducts an average of 64 commercial air tours per year.

“We welcome and encourage anyone who is interested in air tours over the park to share their input on the proposed Air Tour Management Plan for Everglades National Park,” said Sabrina Diaz, deputy superintendent for Everglades and Dry Tortugas national parks. “The draft plan is based on current operations and reported air tour levels at the park. Its purpose is to ensure that all park resource values are protected by mitigating or preventing impacts on natural and cultural resources, visitor experiences and tribal lands.”  

Olympic National Park's proposal would allow for up to 64 air tours per year, which was the average number of flights conducted annually from 2017-2019, according to the staff.

“The draft plan is based on current operations and reported air tour levels at Olympic National Park. Its purpose is to ensure that park resource values, including natural sounds, wilderness character, visitor experiences, wildlife, and other natural and cultural resources, are protected," said Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum.

NPS and FAA officials say "(P)ublic feedback is vital in developing proposed air tour management plans for national parks across the United States."

“The FAA looks forward to working in partnership with the National Park Service, tribal leaders and community groups,” said Kevin Welsh, executive director of the FAA's Office of Environment and Energy in a release Thursday. 

The agencies hope to complete all air tour management plans by the end of August 2022. 

An important part of the process is the inclusion of tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, a release from the agencies said. The agencies are consulting with tribes that have tribal lands within or adjacent to national parks with air tours, and with tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations that attach historic and cultural significance to resources within these parks.

You can visit this NPS site and this FAA site for detailed information about air tour management plans. Links to meeting notifications, recordings, and slide decks (where applicable) will be posted to the NPS site.

The 24 parks affected by this action are:

1. Arches National Park, Utah
2. Badlands National Park, South Dakota
3. Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico
4. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
5. Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona
6. Canyonlands National Park, Utah
7. Death Valley National Park, California
8. Everglades National Park, Florida
9. Glacier National Park, Montana
10. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area; Arizona, Utah
11. Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California
12. Great Smoky Mountains National Park; Tennessee, North Carolina
13. Haleakalā National Park, Hawai’i
14. Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, Hawaiʻi
15. Lake Mead National Recreation Area; Arizona, Nevada
16. Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
17. Muir Woods National Monument, California
18. Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota
19. Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah
20. National Parks of New York Harbor Management Unit; New York, New Jersey
21. Olympic National Park, Washington
22. Point Reyes National Seashore, California
23. Rainbow Bridge National Monument, Utah
24. San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, California