By Pepper Fisher
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK – Last year at this time, the National Park Service and the FAA asked us the question, “What do you think about air tours over Olympic National Park?” Both agencies were seeking public feedback on a draft Air Tour Management Plan proposed for Olympic National Park, and now it’s been completed.
Air tours over the park do exist and have been going on for over 30 years, but they don’t happen every day. In 2017 through 2019 there were an average of 64 air tours per year reported at the park. That number does not include military overflights, which happen regularly. It also doesn’t include the fact that private pilots can fly over the park any time they want, as long as they stay 2,000 feet above the terrain.
The new air tour management plan for ONP was released on Tuesday. Park spokesperson Penny Wagner says a plan that’s been place since the year 2000 allowed 76 tours per year, but there was little or no oversight, and she says this new plan addresses that.
“This Air Tour Management Plan protects National Park resources and values by providing continued education and management oversight. Under this Air Tour Management Plan, 64 commercial air tours are authorized per year on a single route conducted over the park. The Air Tour Management Plan also includes conditions designed to protect natural and cultural resources and visitor experiences, such as the minimum altitude, aircraft type, day and time restrictions, and also restrictions for particular Park events.”
Wagner says tours can begin no earlier than 2 hours after sunrise, and must end 2 hours before sunset.
Only one company currently holds a license from the FAA to conduct tours. That company is Rite Brothers Aviation, flying out of Fairchild Airport in Port Angeles, and it’s their reported average over the years that has established what is now the maximum allowed tours of 64 per year.
Rite Brothers owner Jeff Well says restricting him to just 64 tours per year is frustrating because some years business is way up and some years it’s down, depending on weather, Covid, and other factors, so he says that 64-tour average is misleading. But he also pointed out that he flies higher than he’s asked to, and takes precautions to mitigate the noise of his airplane. The general public, he says, doesn’t always do that.
“The bottom line is that, when I talked to them, I said my goal is not to disturb anyone’s wilderness experience up there. I fly as high as possible, and we can still see everything really good without buzzing low and doing stuff. But what they failed to say in that press release is, it said nothing about general aviation aircraft that can go up there at any time, day or night. I can go get in my personal airplane and go fly up there, and as long as I stay the recommended 2,000 feet above the park surface, I can go anywhere I want.”
Wagner says what private pilots do is out of the Park’s hands.
“The Park does not control the airspace. That is the FAA. Except this Air Tour Management Plan now gives us authority to have these limits set for commercial air tours. But yes, those things are managed by the FAA.”
We asked Wagner to describe the kinds of comments they got over the last year on the public survey about commercial tours. She says many of them were based on misunderstandings.
“Many comments did voice concern over allowing air tours as a new use in the park. And so, there was some misunderstanding about that, because the commercial air tours have operated over Olympic National Park for more than 30 years without defined operating parameters. And some comments did voice concerns over continuing to allow air tours. Some comments were also related to military overflights rather than air tours. But this plan does not pertain to military overflights. And some comments also voiced concerns about impacts to birds and wildlife from the noise of air tours.”
The final air tour management plan is available at the NPS Park Planning site.