National Monument Becomes Latest NPS Unit To End Overflights

Here we go again... as aviation sees more and more of our freedoms restricted...  Commercial overflights at Canyon de Chelly National Monument in northeastern Arizona will be prohibited under at Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP) put together by the FAA and the National Park Service (NPS). Canyon de Chelly joins about two dozen other national park units that have or are in the process of curtailing commercial overflights.

The plan, which takes effect in 180 days, forbids commercial air tours over the park and within one-half mile outside its boundary to reportedly protect 'natural and cultural resources,' sacred Navajo tribal areas, wilderness areas, and visitor experiences (but not those experienced by air...).

Canyon de Chelly is located in the Four Corners region within the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona and is among the most visited national monuments in the U.S. Its impressive, soaring sandstone cliffs are spectacular with many examples of ruins and ancient rock art, and has been home to Native Americans for millennia.

Park Superintendent Lyn Carranza said, "Prohibiting commercial air tours protects these lands’ cultural and spiritual significance to the Navajo Nation. Canyon de Chelly National Monument’s Air Tour Management Plan honors the unique nation-to-nation relationship regarding decisions affecting the park and helps to preserve one of the most important archaeological landscapes in the Southwest."

The ATMP was developed through a so-called collaboration of the NPS and FAA along with consultations with the Navajo Nation. Each ATMP is developed to manage air tours in a way that is consistent with the mission of the NPS, the purpose of each individual park, and the authority of the FAA with regard to 'aviation safety.'

FMI:  www.nps.gov/