Clinton Gets Bill to Increase Fees for Parkland Filming

National parks have served as backdrops for Hollywood westerns, sci-fi flicks and car commercials. Now, like a star on a popular sitcom, the U.S. government wants to increase its take from entertainment industry use of these and other federal lands.

The House on Monday sent to President Clinton a bill to reverse a policy dating to the Harry S. Truman presidency that has exempted producers from paying fees to film at national parks and wildlife refuges. The administration has expressed support for the measure.

Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.) introduced the bill three years ago after a constituent asked why producers can film at national parks for no more than the permit fee.

“To the surprise of virtually everyone, we found that the park service and the Fish and Wildlife Service had been forbidden by regulation to collect such film fees since 1948,” Hefley said. “No one knows why.”

Other federal agencies--for example, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service--charge up to $3,000 per day for use of their land for filming.

The bill passed, on a voice vote, with the support of the Motion Picture Assn. of America. It won approval in the Senate last November.

Rich Taylor, vice president of public affairs for the Motion Picture Assn., said the industry is “happy to see in place a clear fee structure so we may be able to budget and fairly compensate the parks for use of their unparalleled vistas.”

Hefley said: “It is indeed rare when a measure is endorsed by those who will be paying its fees.”

The measure directs the departments of Interior and Agriculture to establish a “reasonable fee,” based on factors such as the size of a film crew and the duration of the shoot. The bulk of the proceeds would go back to the park where the filming occurs.

“We want people to film in our national parks,” Hefley said. “At the same time, we don’t want our public lands to be turned into sound stages.”

The bill also prohibits commercial filming, taping and photography in areas where such activity could cause environmental damage, disrupt public use of the land, or cause health or safety concerns.

In the last three years, the National Park Service has issued about 4,500 film permits.

The haunting desert dunes of White Sands National Monument in New Mexico were used in “Star Wars.” Hanalei and Huleia National Wildlife Refuges in Hawaii were used for the opening of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was filmed at Devil’s Tower National Monument in Wyoming.

And Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area land was the setting for “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.”