Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.
The Wilderness Act did not repeal the First Amendment, but the U.S. Forest Service’s new regulations for photography in wilderness areas do not honor that fact. Whether intentional or not, as written, the regulations, which seem intended to regulate the landscape altering armies of staff that attend the making of movies and commercials, also regulate news photography in a manner that includes, in my judgment, content control.
Although the new regulations provide more clarity than the old regulations, they also assert more government control of moving picture news photography in a way that’s troubling and just doesn’t seem well thought out. But it does seem consistent with the overly strict interpretation of the Wilderness Act that some within the Forest Service have used since 1964 to undermine support for wilderness preservation.
Television news operations that produce news documentaries are squealing the loudest, and with good reason. A news at five field team comprising a reporter and cameraman, or just a reporter doubling as a cameraman, is no more intrusive than a print reporter and still photographer or print reporter doubling as photojournalist. But a documentary crew can be larger, have more and heavier gear, begin to trample the land, and annoy other visitors. If the crew hires a packer to carry the gear, there’s the added impact of a string of horses or mules.
Consequently, the on-the-land impacts of making a news documentary are legitimate concerns for wilderness managers. But content control is not. If moving picture news photography requires a permit for which the issuance is conditioned on the agency’s approval of content, the agency is asserting the power to impose prior restraint on the press, a direct violation of the First Amendment. Human nature being what it is, there will be Forest Service bureaucrats who deny permits to suppress news reporting. That’s the concern of the National Press Photographers Association, which is raising the alarm and encouraging its members to comment on the new regulations by the 3 November deadline.
Everyone — and that includes bloggers — with an interest in preserving First Amendment rights in wilderness should consider visiting the Federal Register and submitting comments on the regulation.