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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Need a permit to take a photograph on US National Forest Land? | |
This is how I construe it:
"45.51a - Permit Requirements
A special use permit is not required for still photography when that activity involves breaking news (sec. 45.5). A special use permit:
1. Is required for all still photography (sec. 45.5) activities on National Forest System (NFS) lands that involve the use of models, sets, or props that are not a part of the natural or cultural resources or administrative facilities of the site where the activity is taking place.
2. May be required for still photography activities not involving models, sets, or props when the Forest Service incurs additional administrative costs as a direct result of the still photography activity, or when the still photography activity takes place at a location where members of the public generally are not allowed."
"45.52a - Permit Requirements
1. A special use permit is required for all commercial filming (sec. 45.5) activities on National Forest System lands (NFS). A special use permit is not required for broadcasting breaking news (sec. 45.5)."
New language:
"45.1c—Evaluation of Proposals
A special use permit may be issued (when required by sections 45.1a and 45.2a) to authorize the use of National Forest System lands for still photography or commercial filming when the proposed activity:
1. Meets the screening criteria in 36 CFR 251.54(e);
2. Would not cause unacceptable resource damage;
3. Would not unreasonably disrupt the public's use and enjoyment of the site where the activity would occur;
4. Would not pose a public health and safety risk; and
5. Meets the following additional criteria, if the proposed activity, other than noncommercial still photography (36 CFR 251.51), would be in a congressionally designated wilderness area:
a. Has a primary objective of dissemination of information about the use and enjoyment of wilderness or its ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value (16 U.S.C. 1131(a) and (b));
b. Would preserve the wilderness character of the area proposed for use, for example, would leave it untrammeled, natural, and undeveloped and would preserve opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation (16 U.S.C. 1131(a));
c. Is wilderness-dependent, for example, a location within a wilderness area is identified for the proposed activity and there are no suitable locations outside of a wilderness area (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(6));
d. Would not involve use of a motor vehicle, motorboat, or motorized equipment, including landing of aircraft, unless authorized by the enabling legislation for the wilderness area (36 CFR 261.18(a) and (c));
e. Would not involve the use of mechanical transport, such as a hang glider or bicycle, unless authorized by the enabling legislation for the wilderness area (36 CFR 261.18(b));
f. Would not violate any applicable order (36 CFR 261.57); and
g. Would not advertise any product or service (16 U.S.C. 1133(c))."
It is confusing, or even poorly constructed because of:
45.1c5. "Meets the following additional criteria, if the proposed activity, other than noncommercial still photography (36 CFR 251.51), would be in a congressionally designated wilderness area:"
Never the less, all of 45.1c is about criteria for issuing a permit when one is required by 45.1a or 45.2a. Consequently unless one is using sets, models or props I am not seeing a restriction or permit requirement for general commercial photography in Wilderness or any other NFS lands. Incidentally, the definition of sets and props specifically excludes hand held and tripod photography:
"Sets and Props. Items constructed or placed on NFS lands to accommodate commercial filming or still photography, such as backdrops, generators, microphones, stages, lighting banks, camera tracks, vehicles specifically designed to accommodate camera or recording equipment, rope and pulley systems, rigging for climbers, and structures. Sets and props also include trained animals and inanimate objects, such as camping equipment, campfires, wagons, and so forth, when used to stage a specific scene. A set or prop does not include any of the preceding items when they are used to report breaking news, nor does a prop include a hand-held camera or a camera mounted on a tripod."
and the definition of "still photography" is even more favorable (and ridiculous, and a bit circular),
"Still Photography. The use of photographic equipment to capture still images on film, digital format, and other similar technologies on NFS lands that:
(1) Takes place at a location where members of the public are generally not allowed or where additional administrative costs are likely, or
(2) Uses models, sets, or props that are not a part of the site’s natural or cultural resources or administrative facilities."
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