The Department of Interior's proposed rules for permitting photography on federal lands was the subject of a Congressional hearing this week.
The proposed regulations (to my reading) would require freelance still photographers to seek a permit from the National Park, Forest Service or BLM
and provide liability insurance to the Federal agency......and the agencies could decide not to provide the permits for numerous reasons...including what the agency might regard as "inappropriate."
PhotoAttorney (
www.photoattorney.com) seems to have pretty good reporting on the subject.
For those of us that enjoy the American wilderness as freelance photographers, this is an issue that we should get informed about and communicate our feeling to our elected representatives. If we assume the Department of Interior's final regulations will only apply to Hollywood movie production or some other "big stuff", or will have simple and easy permits, or won't be used to further restrict access, we are dreaming.
Mike Coffey
