DURHAM, NC (September 24, 2014) – The U.S. Forest Service has once again raised the hackles of journalists and those who abide by the Constitution’s First Amendment by tightening restrictions on journalists and requiring permission and a paid permit in order to shoot photographs or video on federal wilderness lands.
According to new rules the Forest Service is trying to enact in November a permit that costs up to $1,500 will be required. And those who don’t get the permit could face fines of up to $1,000.
“There are a number of things that have NPPA and other news organizations greatly concerned about the most recent directive from the Forest Service,” NPPA general counsel Mickey H. Osterreicher said today.
“The first being the vague language used to somehow make editorial photography/filming ‘commercial’ in nature. There has always been a clear distinction between the First Amendment protections accorded to newsgathering. This policy limits far more speech and press than is necessary to achieve the government’s stated purpose. Not only does requiring a permit for ordinary newsgathering create a chilling effect on freedom of speech and of the press but granting the Service the ability to deny such a permit in the case of a journalist or news organization would, we believe, create an unconstitutional prior restraint on those newsgathering activities.
via Forest Service Tries To Require Expensive Photo Permits, Ditch First Amendment | NPPA.