K
Kathleen Martin
Guest
For anyone who enjoys any of Oregon’s state parks or the coast, this is important.
You have until 5 p.m. Friday, April 15, to offer your opinion on new rules regulating drones at our state’s most cherished and iconic geographic sites.
In 2021, with the guidance and assistance of Kenji Sugahara, CEO and president of Drones Service Providers Alliance, an advocacy organization for “around 20,000 commercial drone users,” the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department secured legislation (SB 109) to create new rules governing drone use in state parks.
Sugahara and Chris Havel, the department’s assistant director, told legislators that the bill was needed because of increased conflicts between drone users, the public, and wildlife.
But in a strange twist, the proposed rules could put even more drones in the air with even less ability to inform, regulate, or enforce laws that could minimize conflict.
Under these rules, recreational drone operators could launch their unmanned craft from anywhere in a state park that is not designated otherwise. No permit, no education, no oversight is required.
The “prohibition zones” described in the rule would be designated sometime in the future for each of the 280 parks, and include campgrounds and possibly areas of particular scenic, cultural, or wildlife sensitivity.
But prohibition zones do not mean drones can’t fly over or around these particular areas. Havel says once in the air, the FAA has jurisdiction. He said that even if areas such as bird nesting sites are protected by other laws, it is difficult to find local offending operators. Basically, say critics of the new rule, if a drone can launch most anywhere, then they will be able to fly most anywhere.
And that is just what drone operators are aiming for.
Across the country drone operators are working to free up airspace in places traditionally considered off limits to their fast-flying cameras.
Sugahara says Oregon has an opportunity to be “a national model” for widespread access to natural areas. He hopes if Oregon relaxes its rules, states like Colorado that now outlaw drones in most state parks will follow suit.
Sugahara thinks eventually, as technology makes drones quieter and easier to track and identify, drones will be so common they will be just a normal part of our landscape.
Sugahara was one of two private drone representatives on the Parks and Recreation Department’s rulemaking advisory committee. That committee met twice, once in November and once in January.
Continue reading: https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2022/04/11/as-drones-proliferate-oregon-parks-agency-is-considering-new-rules/
You have until 5 p.m. Friday, April 15, to offer your opinion on new rules regulating drones at our state’s most cherished and iconic geographic sites.
In 2021, with the guidance and assistance of Kenji Sugahara, CEO and president of Drones Service Providers Alliance, an advocacy organization for “around 20,000 commercial drone users,” the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department secured legislation (SB 109) to create new rules governing drone use in state parks.
Sugahara and Chris Havel, the department’s assistant director, told legislators that the bill was needed because of increased conflicts between drone users, the public, and wildlife.
But in a strange twist, the proposed rules could put even more drones in the air with even less ability to inform, regulate, or enforce laws that could minimize conflict.
Under these rules, recreational drone operators could launch their unmanned craft from anywhere in a state park that is not designated otherwise. No permit, no education, no oversight is required.
The “prohibition zones” described in the rule would be designated sometime in the future for each of the 280 parks, and include campgrounds and possibly areas of particular scenic, cultural, or wildlife sensitivity.
But prohibition zones do not mean drones can’t fly over or around these particular areas. Havel says once in the air, the FAA has jurisdiction. He said that even if areas such as bird nesting sites are protected by other laws, it is difficult to find local offending operators. Basically, say critics of the new rule, if a drone can launch most anywhere, then they will be able to fly most anywhere.
And that is just what drone operators are aiming for.
Across the country drone operators are working to free up airspace in places traditionally considered off limits to their fast-flying cameras.
Sugahara says Oregon has an opportunity to be “a national model” for widespread access to natural areas. He hopes if Oregon relaxes its rules, states like Colorado that now outlaw drones in most state parks will follow suit.
Sugahara thinks eventually, as technology makes drones quieter and easier to track and identify, drones will be so common they will be just a normal part of our landscape.
Sugahara was one of two private drone representatives on the Parks and Recreation Department’s rulemaking advisory committee. That committee met twice, once in November and once in January.
Continue reading: https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2022/04/11/as-drones-proliferate-oregon-parks-agency-is-considering-new-rules/
