Call To Action: Oregon State Parks

We need your help today! We need to set the model for drones in state parks across the nation.  Even though this is only for parks in Oregon, it can impact how drones are treated at state parks across the US.  

There are some people who want to ban drones from Oregon State Parks and the Parks Department needs your help.  Oregon State Parks is on record as stating they do believe drones are a legitimate form of recreation and belong in their State Parks. Kenji is on their committee and helped write the new rules. The proposed rules are welcoming of drones, but there are people who want to change that.

The agency has proposed rules that allows take-off and landing of drones everywhere except where they determine through a process that we can’t.  Our opponents want to change the language to ban drone take-off and landings except where they say it’s ok. This means each park manager has to go through a process for each of the 280 state parks just to allow drones.  In the meantime, all parks will be off limits.  That’s a ban.  Some park managers might think it’s too much of a pain and not even create a map.  

Also, if we’re relegated to “drone zone” areas only, that defeats the entire purpose of flying in an state park. State parks and seashores are an image maker’s nirvana. If we wanted to be restricted to certain areas, why spend the time and energy to go to a state park to do that. We can do that in our own backyards. Oregon State Parks are beautiful, as are other states’ parks. We want to be able to fly there and take beautiful images to share with our friends and family.

By the way, this isn’t really for commercial operations. Commercial drone flights already have an established process. DSPA’s main goal is to defend the rights of commercial Drone Service Providers. But we are also hobbyists as well. So we feel it’s a good time to use our membership to help out hobbyists as well.

There are certainly areas we don’t need to fly in. Areas such as campgrounds, crowded parking lots, and of course wildlife sensitive areas, but we should be able to enjoy our hobby outside of those areas. And the Oregon Parks and Recreation leadership feels the same way.

We need to fight against the organized anti-drone crowd by commenting on the proposed rule and saying the proposed rule is great. It’s a compromise that is welcoming of drones as a legitimate form of recreation.  Comment now!  They want the language changed. They want to ban or severely restrict drones in the parks. They are organizing their “troops”, we need to do the same to counteract their efforts. Your voice matters greatly.

Visit here: Oregon Parks and Recreation.

Open the link for “Take-off and Landing of Drones”, then click on the tap to submit a public comment.  

Be professional and polite, and let them know how much fun you have with drones. Thank them for proposing a balanced rule, and tell them that you support the rule. Thanking them is very important. Public officials get a lot of flack from people who reach out to them, a little gratitude goes a long way.

Our special edition newscast with AUVSI and FPV Freedom Coalition here:

All comments are due by April 7, but please do it now! Do it while it’s fresh in your mind.

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