|
Dear Colleague:
I ask you to join in opposing Amendment #33 to H.R. 3935, the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act (FAA reauthorization), to be offered in the full House
by Congressman Gosar. This proposal would preempt and reverse two decades of careful effort to balance competing interests in utilization of our precious national parks and degrade the very qualities that cause our parks to be one of our most valued national
institutions.
The specific threats to our national parks that this amendment would materially worsen arise from accelerating overflights of commercial tour helicopter and small aircraft operations.
These arise from hundreds to thousands, in some cases over ten thousand, overflights a year. That is fundamentally incompatible with the entire concept of a national park on several fronts.
Congress sought address this threat in the National Park Air Tour Management Act in 2000, in which we required every national park with air tour operations to have a plan in place
to prevent significant adverse impacts to natural and cultural resources, sacred and ancestral sites and visitor experiences. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Park Service, current air tour operations in places like Hawai‘i
Volcanoes National Park, which is currently burdened by over 11,000 flights every year, “resulted in unacceptable impacts to the Park’s natural and cultural resources, wilderness character, and visitor enjoyment.” Protecting our national parks and visitors
is paramount and should come before considering any commercial air tours in a park.
While the National Park Service and FAA have undergone years-long processes to develop Air Tour Management Plans for our national parks, unfortunately this amendment would undo
that work by locking in current air tour operations and placing commercial interests on par with the preservation of these national treasures.
Specifically, the Gosar Amendment would:
-
Require the National Park Service to consider “economic viability” of commercial air tours when determining whether the use should be allowed in a park. This would put a commercial interest’s
ability to make money on par with the preservation mission of our national parks.
-
Force the National Park Service and FAA to continue commercial air tour operations in a park regardless of
future impacts to resources, visitor experience, noise intrusions or safety. This puts commercial air tours above
long-term preservation efforts of each park.
This amendment not only misunderstands the core purposes of our parks but would preempt a long process which is nearing conclusion. I urge you to reject it.
If you have any questions, please contact me or email Kainan Miranda in my office at
Kainan.Miranda@mail.house.gov.
With aloha,
Ed Case
Member of Congress
|
