Park Service "grounds" flying drones

Heading for a national park? Please leave your drone at home.

UAVDronesForSale on flickr.com

That's the word from the National Park Service. The agency's director has issued a "policy memorandum" that tells all park superintendents to quash the "launching, landing, or operating unmanned aircraft" on all lands under the Service's purview.

Seems like drones have created a number of problems in the nation's parks, and the agency wants to temporarily ground drones until new rules can be drafted that properly address the situation. What kind of problems?

Well, imagine being a visitor to Mount Rushmore last fall. You're sitting in the amphitheater, settling in for an evening ranger talk when suddenly, a drone buzzes low overhead. Park rangers somehow snagged the unwanted aircraft and "confiscated" it out of concern for visitor safety. That was last fall.

More recently, visitors to Arizona's Grand Canyon National Park had their appreciation of a quiet sunset interrupted when a noisy, unwelcome drone began an erratic flight, that ended with the little buzzer crashing into the canyon. Not far away, at Utah's Zion National Park, a herd of bighorn sheep were grazing when an unmanned aircraft popped in, buzzing between kids and their mothers.

Since rule-making is a time-consuming process and the Service is concerned about what might happen before a rule could be drafted, a stop-gap measure is now in place. Local  park officials will write up an order grounding drones, making sure the order is in harmony with laws, and letting the public know about the new shutdown.

Next, the park Service will propose a Service-wide regulation regarding unmanned aircraft. That process can take considerable time, depending on the complexity of the rule, and includes public notice of the proposed regulation and opportunity for public comment.

All permits previously issued for unmanned aircraft will be suspended until reviewed and approved by the associate director of the National Park Service’s Visitor and Resource Protection directorate. The associate director must approve any new special use permits authorizing the use of unmanned aircraft. Superintendents who have previously authorized the use of model aircraft for hobbyist or recreational use may allow such use.

Now if they could just do something to ground the smog that ruins the view in too many of our nation's treasures.

Now may be a great time to overnight in many national parks

daveynin on flickr.com

Want to take your RV into one of the U.S. national parks and overnight? Afraid you'll never find a spot? Unless you're planning on visiting one of the country's more popular parks, you may find your fears aren't warranted.

According to a story published by the Associated Press, overnighting in national parks is actually on a decline. It seems that "gateway communities," towns just outside the parks, are getting smart and fishing for tourist dollars. Fewer and fewer people are staying in the parks; rather, they're taking advantage of motel rooms with high-speed Internet and swimming pools, only driving into the park by day to make a visit.

Here are some statistics to show the trend. Back in 1998, national parks had more than nine million overnight camping stays. By 2003 that number had dropped to a little more than 8.5 million. Last year, 7.91 million overnight visits were had. Mind you, the stats for overnighting include all "inside the park stays," which include not only campgrounds suitable for RVs, but also back country areas where you won't be taking "Winnie" along.

Park rangers say there was a big inrush of overnighters back in 2009 and 2010 – up to 8.5 million. The thought is that the poor economy caused folks to turn to staying in the parks to save money. But with the economy getting back up on its feet, staying outside park boundaries is "the thing."

For RVers, in practical terms, if you want to secure a spot in one of the lesser-known parks, your chances of getting a spot are pretty good – numbers of overnight guests are down almost a third. But those big name parks? Well, expect you'll need to hit the reservation system. Don't be like us: We just casually "dropped in" at Zion midweek in 2012. We got sent packing in a hurry. But here's a suggestion: Want to see Grand Canyon's South Rim? There are plenty of great free places just outside the park on nearby Forest Service lands.