Environment $1000 Fine For Taking Pics in National Forest

Lots of exaggeration and blind assumptions in this story. First of all there are not 193 million acres of wilderness, that is the number for the entire national forest system. The designated protected wilderness areas are much smaller.

Secondly, anybody who uses a wilderness area for any reason must apply for a wilderness permit that assures that they will follow leave-no-trace rules including no vehicles, small groups, packing out garbage, and no large equipment. Commercial interests must pay a higher fee because they are using public land for profit and must be vetted to insure that they do not damage the wilderness in the process because they are not just hiking. This applies to all commercial interests (timbermen, geologists, researchers, etc), not just professional photographers.

The rule only applies to commercial photographers, not to the 34 million hikers cited in the story. Regular hikers and horseback riders can shoot all the photos they wish. It was implemented because some commercial interests wanted to take entire film crews with vehicles, a crowd of people, lights, generators, and large equipment into the protected areas. The permits allow the Forest service to allow appropriate photographic work while excluding photographic work, especially film crews, that causes much greater impact on the area.

Now, the amount of the permit fees is subject to discussion. But the laws about use of protected wilderness areas require the Forest Service to require permits from users and set rules appropriate to preserving wilderness areas in their natural state.

Protests are coming from commercial photographers and filmmakers who feel themselves inconvenienced, not from the many ordinary hikers and campers that enjoy the wilderness and wish it to remain wilderness. They don't want to encounter film crews flown in by helicopters setting up generators and damaging fragile ecologies for the sake of a commercial profit.