Above: The U.S. Forest Service—all about that green.
UPDATE:
The Forest Service has issued a statement responding to the criticsm.The U.S. Forest Service proposed a controversial new set of rules that would require photographers and filmmakers to purchase a permit for up to $1500 to shoot in the 193 million acres of federal wilderness the agency oversees. Those found snapping photos or footage without a permit would face a fine of up to $1000.
While the rule is aimed at media and reporters, First Amendment advocates and some vocal politicians in Oregon are worried that the rule’s vague wording opens up problems for everyday hobbyist nature photographers taking snapshots with their smartphones. From The Oregonian:
“It’s pretty clearly unconstitutional,” said Gregg Leslie, legal defense director at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in Alexandria, Va. “They would have to show an important need to justify these limits, and they just can’t.”With smartphones blurring the lines between reporters and camera crews, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said the agency should tread more carefully. “The Forest Service needs to rethink any policy that subjects noncommercial photographs and recordings to a burdensome permitting process for something as simple as taking a picture with a cell phone,” Wyden said. “Especially where reporters and bloggers are concerned, this policy raises troubling questions about inappropriate government limits on activity clearly protected by the First Amendment.”
The Forest Service argues the rule is an extension of the Wilderness Act of 1964, which prohibits wilderness areas from being exploited for commercial gain. But opponents argue the new permitting system being suggested essentially gives the Forest Service the right to determine what merits news and what doesn’t, granting “the government license to censor potentially negative stories by simply not approving permits for those stories” as photography website PetaPixel puts it.
According to the rules, the only exception to the new permitting and oversight system would be media coverage deemed “breaking news,” like forest fires.
The new rules will be finalized in November, but in the meantime, the Forest Service is accepting public comment on the proposal here.
Here’s where the rules would apply in the PNW:
