Two-Person News Crews Exempt From National Parks Location Fees

 

By William Campbell

LIVINGSTON, MT (May 5, 2006) – New National Park Service rules authorizing the collection of location fees for video, film, and commercial still photography projects will not apply to “two-person news crews,” the Department of Interior announced this week.

The change in the new rules came after Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) raised the issue with the NPS. The modification to exempt two-person news crews was made to the new regulations, which take effect on May 15, 2006.

In late April the NPS Office of Public Affairs announced that they would implement “location fees for commercial filming and still photography” in May. Before this, film and video permits were required in National Parks but there were no location fees. Administration charges to issue the free permits had ranged from no cost at all up to $200 per project.

But the new rules will apparently still apply to commercial and feature crews that exceed two people. A crew using talent, a producer, and an audio engineer will still be required to pay location fees under the new regulations.

"If the situation is such that it's a 'breaking story' and it is unreasonable or impossible to issue a permit, the news crew will be able to film without one, subject to the directions of the ranger on duty" said Lee Dickinson, Special Park Uses Program Manager for the National Park Service. "If the shoot can be planned for, then a permit will be issued. In the case of news coverage there are no charges or fees, since the activity is constitutionally protected."

The National Park Service is working on a definition of “news” and how the fees may be applied to current affairs and news magazine coverage that use talent and large crews.

The new rules appeared in the Federal Register (Vol. 71, Number 71) published April 13, 2006. “This is a first step in a process of departmental regulations that will apply to the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” Dickinson said.

The NPS provision to the new rules was issued May 4 and it reads in part:

"Commercial videographers, cinematographers, or sound recording crews of up to two people with only minimal equipment (i.e. a camera and a tripod) working in areas open to the public are required to obtain a commercial filming permit and are subject to appropriate permit terms and conditions and cost recovery charges but are not subject to location fees."

The new location fees start at $150 per day and – with monitors and other charges – could exceed $500 per day.

The new rules are modeled after the existing film permit regulations and fee structures that are used by the Bureau of Land Management and now will be applied to all federally operated National Parks.

“Public lands were set aside in order to conserve and protect areas of untold beauty and grandeur, historical significance and uniqueness for future generations,” NPS director Fran Mainella said in the announcement. “Often, it’s the magnificence of these same lands that attracts filmmakers. This revised regulation will allow the Park Service to collect reasonable fees for use of federal lands as a result of both commercial filming and certain still photography activities.”

The park service said the change in rules and charging new fees was the result of a recent General Accounting Office (GAO) report that recommended NPS “expedite the implementation of revised regulations and implement collection of location fees.”
Still photographers will not be required to obtain a permit or pay location fees unless they are using props, models, and lighting. Commercial still shoots in the National Parks will require a permit and be subject to the new location fees.

The final draft departmental regulations will be published in the Federal Register within two months and will be open to public comment for at least 30 days.

Campbell, an NPPA member since 1978, is a producer, videographer, photojournalist, and president of Homefire Productions. He's shot and produced television segments for NBC, ABC Nightline, CNN, and the National Geographic Channel, and the one-hour documentaries "Season of the Grizzly" (2003), and "Sole Survivors: The Yellowstone Bison" (2004).

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