The National Park Service and Federal Aviation Administration are seeking public input prior to releasing a draft of a court-ordered air tour management plan for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
The National Park Service and Federal Aviation Administration are seeking public input prior to releasing a draft of a court-ordered air tour management plan for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
To date, 12, of 24 U.S. national parks have completed drafts of the management plans and released them for public comment, 22 years after the Air Tour Management Act of 2000 went into effect and almost two years after a federal judge ruled in favor of a suit by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (HICoP), which petitioned the court to compel the FAA and NPS to enforce the law.
Unlike the dozen parks with completed air tour management plan (ATMP) drafts, HVNP is seeking comment on four alternatives — one keeping the status quo on tour aircraft in the park and three that set various restrictions on flights over the parks — prior to a draft ATMP.
“The reason is, we have a lot of air tours, and Hawaii Volcanoes and Haleakala (on Maui) have always been a little more complicated due to the number of air tours and our sensitive resources,” said Danielle Foster, an environmental protection specialist for NPS.
Of the parks that fall under the legislation, HVNP has the most air tours — mostly by helicopter but some using fixed-wing aircraft — an average of 11,376 flights yearly between 2017-2019.
The public commentary period runs through 7:59 p.m. Hawaii time April 1. The four alternatives for a draft ATMP and the link to comment on those alternatives are available at https://bit.ly/3tdVqC1.
A more detailed story will appear in Tuesday’s Tribune-Herald.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
