The U.S. Forest Service's $1,500 photography fee

[melek]

Popular Photography reports that the U.S. Forest Service is considering enforcing a rule that will require commercial still and video photographers, including the media, to obtain a $1,500 permit for shooting.

However, the article also says that it isn't clear if the rule will apply to all photographers (pro and amateurs), and violaters face a $1,000 fine.

Apparently, the rule was put in place four years ago, and the Forest Service now wants to more vigorously enforce it.

Read the article here.

[PFMcFarland]

Yeah, that's been getting all blown out of proportion. If you want to take a film crew, equipment, roadies, models, and what-have-you into the Wilderness Areas, you will need the $1500 permit. These are places that are restricted to non-commercial usage, and the Forestry Service would like to keep them that way. It has nothing to do with someone in say a National Park like Yosemite, or if you're just taking photos for your own use. But because every idiot with a "smart" phone can post and re-post rumors on the Internet all over the place, the story got all wacked up, and now the Forestry Service is having to do a two-step backward to give the proposal more time to be explained properly.

PF