Helicopters have their place, but the sky over Crater Lake isn’t one of them. Thanks to Ron Wyden, their racket won’t be disturbing the serenity of Oregon’s only national park – at least not for a while.
Back in 2009, a Bend-based company called Leading Edge Aviation proposed to run as many as 300 helicopter tours a year over the rim of the lake. Company officials said the helicopters would stay far away from the visitor center, would fly at least 1,000 feet above the lake and cause minimal disruption – “an RV on the rim road would generate more noise,” one of them claimed.
But people who loved the park weren’t buying that line. Fortunately one of the skeptics was Oregon’s senior senator, who immediately went into action to make sure the choppers stayed grounded.
It wasn’t easy. In February 2011 Wyden was able to get the Senate to pass a Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill making it clear that the National Park Service had the power to block the helicopter tours. But the Senate bill had to be reconciled with a previously passed House version, and wrangling over that consumed almost a year.
On Monday the Senate finally approved the reconciled version of the FAA bill, which already had been okayed by the House, and sent it to President Obama for his signature. It stipulates that the Park Service will be able to deny permission for helicopter flights without first producing an air tour management plan – “a bureaucratic hurdle,” as Wyden says, “that wastes park resources and is not required at any other national park in the country.”
Wyden says he has a commitment from the director of the National Park Service to “protect the fragile beauty” of Crater Lake. But there lies the rub: Future administrations might not feel so committed.
As Erik Fernandez of the conservation group Oregon Wild put it: “While we are optimistic that under Obama’s leadership the Park Service wouldn’t allow helicopters to buzz around Crater Lake, we are less optimistic about the Gingrich administration.” He might have added that there’s no reason to feel particularly optimistic about a Romney administration, a Santorum administration or a Ron Paul administration either.
Oregon Wild is backing a plan to designate Crater Lake and surrounding areas as wilderness – a step that would provide permanent protection not only against helicopter tours but also against ill-advised logging projects and other threats to the park’s ambiance, environment and wildlife. The wider protection makes sense because, as Oregon Wild argues, “The natural beauty of Crater Lake extends far beyond Wizard Island and the caldera [to include] spectacular roadless lands both inside and outside of the official boundaries of the park.” The wilderness idea enjoys the support of the National Park Service; it should get Wyden’s support too.
So we’re giving Ron Wyden one GLASS SLIPPER for taking an important step toward protecting Crater Lake from the helicopters. When he goes the distance and secures permanent protection for it in the form of wilderness status, he’ll get the other one.
This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2012.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
crater is not the only national park in Oregon. as said in first paragraph. and i don’t think we need any more regulation, like making ares around there a wilderness, but i do agree about not letting helicopters fly.
Pray tell, what is this other national park that you’ve found? Source readers want to know.
isn’t there a part of nez perce national park in the north east corner of oregon?
this does say (parks)
The following national parks can be found in Oregon: California National Historic Trail, Crater Lake National Park, Fort Clatsop National Memorial, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail, Nez Perce National Historical Park, Oregon National Historic Trail, Oregon Caves National Monument.
am i wrong or right?????????
hello———
hello— anybody there?????
pray-tell, you must have been mistaken,
Um, that’s a nice list of places that aren’t National Parks. They are managed by the Park Service, but they are not national parks. They are monuments, trails and historical parks. And there is a difference.
a very small difference. the difference i see is that NP’s are put into place by the president, and the NM’s are put in place by congress. here is a link. the only diff, is that on NM’s you can still do some forest work and still do work on the land. NP’s you can’t do anything to change it, you have to leave it as it is with no change, leave it natural. in the end there all ( Parks) whether it says monument or just park.
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/fs/monuments.htm