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Isle helicopter tours
say Bush decision won’t
have much effect

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By Treena Shapiro
Star-Bulletin

President Bush has temporarily blocked Federal Aviation Administration regulations for sightseeing flights over national parks, as part of his administration's review of all recent federal agency proposals.

However, observers say that voluntary rules already in place at Hawaii Volcanoes and Haleakala national parks mean the hold on new federal rules will not have much of an impact in Hawaii.

For six years, Hawaii air tour operators have had a voluntary signed agreement with the National Park Service to minimize impact on tourists at the parks.

In addition, in 1996 -- after two helicopters were forced to make water landings on the same day -- more stringent safety measures were adopted, along with the stipulation that air tours cannot be within 1,500 feet of the ground and geographic features.

Since that time, Haleakala air tour operators give tourists a view of the crater without flying into the park.

"From the south wall of the Haleakala crater, we just show the park from one point and make our turns away from the crater," said David Chevalier, president of Blue Hawaiian Helicopter. "We give a good view into it, but we don't fly over it.

Chevalier also is chairman of the Helicopter Tour Operator Committee and a member of the national environmental and industry working group that helped draft the the proposed FAA rules for the overflight regulations. He said the voluntary agreement at Haleakala was the model for the rule that would go into effect at parks across the country.

The proposed rules, awaiting the Bush administration's OK, would add "some teeth ... in terms of enforcement," he said. The Hawaii agreement is voluntary.

Don Reeser, Haleakala superintendent, said that conditions have greatly improved since the days before the agreement, when helicopters flew into the park and down into the crater, but the interim agreement could be adjusted further.

"Our mission is to preserve a natural quiet in the crater, but there is still noise in the crater. There are still helicopter flights. The sound disrupts (visitors') wilderness experience. I think they would be happier with less noise."

At Hawaii Volcanoes, Superintendent Jim Martin said that the current agreements will do until the Bush administration settles in and makes its decision on the FAA rules. "We can certainly live with that for a while," he said.

If the regulations are not adopted by the new administration, however, the consensus reached during two years between air tour operators, environmental groups, the National Park Service and the FAA will go to waste.

"It would be kind of sad to see all this work and collaboration not come to something," he said.