A memorandum signed by Mr. Jonathan Jarvis (Director of the National Park Service) will require 401 parks to write rules prohibiting unmanned aerial vehicles on the 84 million acres of public lands and waterways in the United States: "We embrace many activities in national parks because they enhance visitor experiences with the iconic natural, historic and cultural landscapes in our care. However, we have serious concerns about the negative impact that flying unmanned aircraft is having in parks, so we are prohibiting their use until we can determine the most appropriate policy that will protect park resources and provide all visitors with a rich experience.”
He alluded some implications of allowing UAVs, such as flying around the faces on Mount Rushmore, harm nesting birds, or flying around climbers: “Imagine you’re a big wall climber in Yosemite working on a four-day climb up El Capitan, and you’re hanging off a bolt ready to make a move, and an unmanned aircraft flies up beside you and is hovering a few feet from your head with its GoPro camera running. Think about what that does to your experience and your safety."
