skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Drones are a 'No-Go' in National Parks

play audio
Play

Friday, August 29, 2014   

WEST GLACIER, Mont. - If you're visiting a national park in Montana this weekend, leave the drones at home. Unmanned aircraft are banned at national parks - a move the National Park Service initiated in June and that now has been finalized.

Drones primarily have been used to take photos and videos. Park Service spokesman Jeffrey Olsen said the decision came out of concern for the safety of people and animals.

"They crash often," he said. "If somebody is standing in the way when one crashes, people are going to get hurt. They've been used to harass wildlife."

Olsen said there had been cases of aerial drones disturbing and scaring animals, such as bighorn sheep.

Drones may not be grounded for good, however. The National Park Service said it will spend the next 18 months drafting rules for drone operation in parks, as well as deciding which areas to designate as appropriate for drone use.

Olsen said the Park Service hopes that, with time, drone operators will gain more experience using the devices safely.

"It's a new activity," he said, "and the park rangers in the field could tell that people did not have very much or any experience with these unmanned aircraft."

Olsen said anyone cited for using an aerial drone inside a national park could face a misdemeanor charge and a fine of up to $5,000. The National Park Service has said it eventually may use the technology to help locate people stranded or injured at parks, or use the devices to monitor fires and drought.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021