Who needs a Commercial Film Permit in a National Park - Still Depends
Filmmaker and producer Tom Opre films a hunting scene in central Montana. Tony Bynum Photography
Commercial Film Permits in National Parks and other Public Lands. Tom Opre Filmmaker. Tony Bynum Photography
Who needs a commercial film permit in a National Park? Well, for now, no one, concludes one federal judge, and now the National Park Service (NPS). As of February 11, 2021, the NPS website (confirmed by me in a message left on my phone by a representative of the NPS) no one needs a permit.
As of January 22, 2021, the National Park Service is no longer collecting application or location fees, or cost recovery for filming. NPS Website (confirmed by the NPS in a message left on my phone on February 11, 2021).
Remarkably, as of today, the NPS is NOT issuing or even asking for you to fill out a permit application. Wow. I’ll say it again, Wow!
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly Rulling
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia declared that the statute and enacting regulations that require those engaged in “commercial filming” to obtain permits and pay certain fees are unconstitutional. The court also found that the permit rules restrict speech in public forums, including the many National Park locations that are already considered traditional public forums such as the National Mall. The court found that the rules were content-based restrictions on speech, subject to strict scrutiny. Likewise, she found, the regulations and underlying reasons offered by the government—namely obtaining a “fair market” payment on top of any administrative costs—do not meet that scrutiny. “The government may not impose a charge for the enjoyment of a right granted by the federal constitution, including the First Amendment right to free expression.” Judge Kollar-Kotelly wrote.
"Mr. Price’s filmmaking at these parks constitutes a form of expressive speech protected by the First Amendment," she writes in the opinion, adding "the creation of a film must also fall within the ambit of the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of expression. To find otherwise, would artificially disconnect an integral piece of the expressive process of filmmaking."
The Judge said that her ruling applies to National Wildlife Areas and public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Her final statement leaves room for a new permit and fee system possibly based on other criteria.
In issuing this injunction, the Court observes that a more targeted permitting regime for commercial filming, which is more closely connected to the threat posed by large groups and heavy filming equipment, may pass constitutional muster in the future.
You can the entire decision here: Judge rules film bill unconstitutional.
How does this apply to the Department of Agriculture - Forest Service?
This is a hard question to answer directly. I can tell you that after my recent call with a Forest Service supervisor they told me “we’re looking into it, and are not sure how it’s going to affect our permit program.” My guess is that the USFS special use permit program WILL be affected and will be reworked.
What NOW?
Going forward:
I recommend anyone engaged in commercial filming call their local park service, BLM or National Fish and Wildlife Service office for the latest. I suspect at some point there will be a new permit system for commercial filming in National Parks and other federal public lands.
I also recommend that if you’re planning a shoot on Department of Interior lands (BLM, NPS, FWS), you do your level best to follow all other rules and regulations. I would avoid filming in popular/busy locations and I would do everything I could to avoid displacing wildlife, other people, damaging any resources, and absolutely DO not trespass!
Call your senator and representative and tell them you heard about the ruling and you would like to know what they plan to do. Ask them to please look into it, and better,
I can’t tell you what to do if you have content already in the can that you captured without a permit.
Current Film Permit Podcast - Tony Bynum and Brian Call a.k.a, “Gritty.”
Tony Bynum and Brian Call discuss Filming on federal Public lands and the recent federal judge’s ruling that current film permits and fees are unconstitutional and issued an injunction.
Other sources
The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) has been leading the legal charge on changing the federal permit program. I found its article helpful and interesting to read. And the Kurt Repansheck over at the National Parks Traveler sight did a great write up as well.
Tony Bynum talks with Randy Newberg - Podcast - photography, public lands, conservation
Podcast with Tony Bynum and Randy Newberg - photogrphy, hunting, conservation, and telling your story about your public lands experiences.
Photography, the business of photography, conservation, hunting and public lands and telling your story
I'm excited to share with you this podcast with me, Tony Bynum and Randy Newberg. In this podcast, I share my story about my photography business. We discuss conservation and public lands issues facing us today.
One important element of my photography business is story telling. I discuss the finer points of telling your story and why it's important to the future of our public lands in American.
Randy, provides his views, his own personal story about his life and what's important for all outdoorsmen and women who use or care about our public lands. Randy Newberg Unfiltered - Hunt Talk Radio.
#OurWild - My Story for Protecting Public Lands
#OURWILD
The #ourwild campaign is about real people telling their public lands stories. This #ourwild video, produced by The Wilderness Society, is part of my public land story. I'm a father. I'm a hunter. I'm a photographer, friend and advocate for keeping the public domain in public hands. I am firmly against selling, or trading the public domain to the states. I'm not a preservationist, I'm a conservationist, which means I believe in using the natural resources, not locking them up. I also believe some places should be off limits to extraction. I'm for sensible, reasoned, and smart use of our public resources.
As a hunter and photographer, I support hunter education in the form of learning the history of conservation in America, in addition to how to be safe with a gun. For example, in order to bow hunt in Montana, during the early elk season, you have to have a special permit and pay an extra fee for it. In order to receive that permit you must go through an approved educational course that includes the history of conservation, the history of bowhunting, and the people who were instrumental in creating of the modern bow.
Conservation and resources management are more important than ever. Resources are limited and as we've seen our appetite, or demand for them is limitless. I believe that all children should be taught the history of conservation.
Conservation and Environmental Reading List
Here is a list of Authors, and titles worth reading.
Aldo Leopold - A Sand County Almanac
Rachel Carson - Silent Spring
Marc Reisner - Cadillac Desert
Henry David Thoreau - Walden
Wendell Berry - The Unsettling of America
James Lovelock - Gaia
Edward Abbey - Desert Solitaire
Vine Deloria - Spirit and Reason
#OURWILD Photographs
Please help by making your story known. You can also take action here, on the #ourwild page. Leave a comment or share this post and together we can insure that our children have #ourwild. #keepitpublic
Tony Bynum
The Ansel Adams Act- "to restore the first amendment rights of photographers"
The Ansel Adams Act of 2015. H. R. 5893. To restore the First Amendment Rights of Photographers.
Man photographing Glacier National Park winter scene. The Ansel Adams Act would return restore first amendment rights to photographers on public lands. ©tonybynum.com
Exert from the bill:
"Prohibition on Fees, Permits, or Insurance.--No Federal
Government agency shall require fees, permits or insurance as a
condition to take still or moving images on Federal lands, National
Parks and Forests, and public spaces, whether for private, media, or
commercial use.
(d) Prohibition on the Seizure and Forfeiture of Photographic
Equipment.--Federal law enforcement officers or private contractors
shall not seize any photographic equipment or their contents or memory
cards or film, and shall not order a photographer to erase the contents
of a camera or memory card or film"
As a photographer this interests me a great deal. Years ago I tried to make the argument that the Professional Outdoor Media Association ( the only national traditional outdoor media organization, and I honorably and proudly serve as an executive member of the Board of Directors), should push the first amendment rights of photographers when our "rights" are infringed. Much like the National Rifle Association pushes the constitution rights of Americans to own guns. I was denied support in exchange for my support of a bill that would require photographers and videographers to pay a yearly fee for access to our public lands for filming and photography. That bill never became law, although Murkoski of Alaska introduced the bill and Montana's senator John Tester worked hard crafting it.
Today, there's a new bill that shall be referred to as the, "Ansel Adams Act." Its purpose is to return first amendment, constitutionally based rights back to photographers. While the bill does not address video and it will have to define the word "photography" so there's no confusion, it's a step in the right direction. Technology is changing everything and unless our laws keep up with the changing world, we will continue to lose rights, and congress will continue to build it's power over us in exchange for big money from special interests.
I would like the bill to go a step further and add some language about video and the number of people that can be grouped together. In the past, regulations have applied to two or more people leaving being outdoors collecting digital media to the pursuits of a single person acting alone.
If you would like to read the short bill, you'll find the bill, the "Ansel Adams Act," at this address.
I recommend you contact your house and senate members and refer them to the Ansel Adams Act by showing that you support this bill. Share the bill broadly via social media, and if you have the time and capacity, write about it on your own blog.
How do you feel about this bill? Does it make sense, would you support it?
Tony
Montana Nature Photographer Tony Bynum and Science Teacher Stacy Dolderer Dive Deep into the Montana Prairie in Search of Wilderness Characteristics
When Erin Madison, (@GFT_EMadison) outdoor writer for the Great Falls Tribune (@GFTribue) called us to do an interview about the Montana prairie project we worked on recently, we were happy to say yes! As many of you know, my partner Stacy Dolderer and I spent several months bouncing around the prairie lands of Montana last summer. It may not sound like much to most of you, but taking on the challenge of inventorying millions of acres of public lands to find areas that contain wilderness characteristics was to us, an awesome opportunity. Could there be a better project for a full time outdoor, nature, wildlife, and adventure photographer, and Stacy, a science teacher, to undertake? Why we did it, and what we found is contained in this great piece by, Erin Madison, titled (link to full article) "Beautiful in it's own way: Photographer, teacher spend a month recording Eastern Montana wonders." Here are some additional Montana photographs captured by Tony Bynum along the way.
I hope you enjoy the read as much as we did telling the story!
Tony Bynum and Stacy Dolderer