National Park Service plans to ban drones over 84 million acres
The National Park Service on Friday announced it was moving to ban drones on all its lands.
The move comes amid growing concern about hobbyists using drones to create dramatic videos.
The ban would cover more than 84 million acres of public land. The director of the parks service cited safety concerns as well as potential harm to wildlife.
“Imagine you’re a big wall climber in Yosemite working on a four-day climb up El Capitan, and you’re hanging off a bulb, ready to make a [difficult] move, and an unmanned aircraft flies up beside you and is hovering a few feet from your head with its GoPro camera running,” Jonathan Jarvis told the Associated Press. “Think about what that does to your experience and your safety.”
The move comes several months after Yosemite National Park banned unmanned aircraft in that park. There are numerous videos on YouTube in which drones are used to take videos Yosemite’s scenic beauty.
Officials are now drawing up the ban for the entire system.
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