Hang-gliding

 

·        With regard to workshop question number 2, Title 36, Part 2.17 of (?) federal regulations: unpowered, non-motorized aircraft should be recognized as an acceptable recreation use.

·        NPS regulations do not ensure that hang gliding will continue within the existing national forest.

·        Hang gliding has a long history and record of success in the region. Pilots have established records for flight distance and duration here.

·        Protect existing hang gliding take-off opportunities and landing areas.

·        Want continued space for "silent flight" - (e.g. hang gliding).

·        Want to make sure recreational users are not shut out - keep areas open. Hang gliding, mountain biking, hunting, etc.

·        Not only is the impact light when silent soaring is taking place, but the number of soaring pilots is small, and the times when atmospheric conditions permit soaring are limited. Silent soaring is possible only on days when the atmospheric conditions are right, and then, only during limited times of day. At most sites, the only source of lift is thermal currents. Because thermals do not develop until the sun has heated the ground for a number of hours, it is usually impossible to soar in thermals before about 11:00 a.m. on a summer day, or before 1:00 p.m. in winter. Although expert pilots are those who can stay aloft longer, flights average about an hour. Consequently, there is a very narrow "window" of time when soaring takes place each day, between 11:00 a.m. and sundown, and then only on days that are suitable. It is possible to soar without thermals at sites where a steady wind blows into a ridge at right angles, producing a wave of lift above the ridge. These are frequently coastal sites on the Pacific Ocean, such as the Trancas Canyon site, which was lost when NPS took over the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Finally, the number of soaring participants is small. SHGA is the largest soaring club in Southern California, with about 200 members, and about 120 who fly regularly. Even at our Kagel Mountain flying site, where we own the LZ, the most heavily used soaring site in California, it is only on weekend days that one can expect to see hang gliders in the air for most of the afternoon, and as always, it depends on the weather. Silent soaring is a historical recreational use of the San Gabriel Mountains that has a very light impact, and which is virtually imperceptible to other users. This use should not be prohibited, but should be fostered by the same policy that encourages other outdoor recreational uses of National Parks and National Recreation Areas, and to the same extent. In the event that National Park Service Regulations become effective in the San Gabriel Mountains, the prohibition on silent soaring should never go into effect there. Loss of sites in the past twenty years, most of the sites where hang gliding has been taught or practiced have been lost. In just the last ten years, at least ten sites have been lost in Los Angeles County alone because of real estate development and other causes. No new sites have been established. Launching from Mount Wilson in the Angeles National Forest, for example, there is only one place where it is permitted to land within a 5:1 glide of the launch, Victory Park in Pasadena, and only on pre-scheduled weekend days when, by paid permit, the Park closes two soccer fields to permit landing. That is only one LZ, unavailable at most times, in the 45 square miles surrounding mile-high Mount Wilson. That LZ also recently was lost, so that Mount Wilson is no longer available as a launch site. In the past year, real estate development has swallowed up the LZ for the historic Lake Elsinore hang gliding site, and development is presently threatening Andy Jackson Air Park in San Bernardino. Because sites are so scarce, we believe we must vigorously preserve those few that remain. Since many of the remaining sites are in public lands, we believe it is critical to the very survival of our sport that silent soaring be fostered in our public lands. We are gravely concerned that designating these lands a National Recreation Area will unwittingly outlaw silent soaring there. We oppose any proposal that would bring about that result. The application of National Park Service Regulations to the San Gabriel Mountains would outlaw the sports of hang gliding and paragliding in an area where it has been practiced for nearly four decades. This is because under National Park Service Regulations, Title 36 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 2.17(a), "The following are prohibited- (1) Operating or using aircraft on lands or waters other than at locations designated pursuant to special regulations. In the definitions section, § 1.4, "operating or using aircraft" includes powerless flight. When the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area was established and the NPS assumed the management of those lands, it applied NPS regulations, including §2.17(a), which prohibits unpowered flight, and effectively expropriated the Trancas Canyon flying site, the last coastal hang gliding site in Los Angeles County. Two of the three proposals of the SGWMSRS call for the designation of these lands as a "National Recreation Area," which carries the potential for outlawing our sport in one of the few areas where it can still be practiced. The hang gliding and paragliding ("silent soaring" or "free flight") community needs to preserve the few remaining sites in California where silent soaring sites have not been gobbled up by real estate development, or lost when the National Park Service has assumed control of lands. Moreover silent soaring should be accommodated in the National Park System as a low-impact, low-visibility recreational use. It should not be treated the same as powered aviation. There is no reasonable land use policy to be served by lumping hang gliders with Lear Jets. Outside public lands, real estate development in California and nationwide has drastically reduced the number and variety of sites where hang gliding and paragliding have been possible. Despite a long history of successful silent soaring on public lands, persons unfamiliar with silent soaring confuse it, and its participants with other sports that they deem to be "thrill sports," simply because it involves a measure of risk to its participants. However, silent soaring should never be confused with sports that involve recklessness, create noise and pollution, damage the land, frighten and injure wild life and damage riparian areas, sometimes in a manner that seems careless, immature and inconsiderate of other users. On the contrary, pilots of hang gliders and paragliders undergo extensive flight and safety training in order to obtain their pilots' licenses. They invest substantial sums of money in training and equipment, and they are generally more mature than most dirt bikers, OHV enthusiasts, snowmobilers, and other users that run their powered vehicles over the land. The San Gabriel Mountains are one of the few precious remaining sites where silent soaring can be practiced. We believe that the proper approach is to evaluate the impact of silent soaring on the land and on other National Park users. Because other users are rarely, and barely aware of our presence, we believe our use of public lands should be permitted and welcomed to the same extent as other recreational uses. Accordingly, the SHGA feels strongly that: 1. The designation "National Recreation Area" is worthwhile and desirable to the purpose of preserving these treasured lands for recreational use for the public. 2. These lands should never be designated "National Recreation Area," if 36 CFR §2.17(a) would be applied to prohibit silent soaring on those lands. 3. There is no reason why 36 CFR §2.17 (a) is necessary or desirable to prohibit silent soaring in the San Gabriel Mountains. Any enabling legislation or regulatory changes should exempt silent soaring from that prohibition on these lands. 4. As a general matter, grouping hang gliding and paragliding with a prohibition on powered aviation has no reasonable justification in public land management policy. The NPS regulation should be amended to eliminate the prohibition of "unpowered flight" as applied to hang gliders and paragliders. 5. The blanket nationwide prohibition of "unpowered flight," set forth in 36 CFR §2.17 is unnecessary and undesirable. The decision whether to permit silent soaring in any individual National Park or National Recreation Area should be a decision committed to the discretion of the administrator of that facility. The regulation should be changed to allow silent soaring except where individual Park administrators decide to restrict it for reasons unique to their particular Park or Recreation Area 6. Individual National Park and National Recreation Area administrators should be informed by a national policy that recognizes that silent soaring has a low impact on the land and that liability concerns have been evaluated at the national level and have been found to be manageable. 7. Silent soaring should be included and fostered among other recreational uses of National Parks and National Recreation Areas. VI. SILENT SOARING HAS VERY LIGHT IMPACT ON PUBLIC OR PRIVATE LANDS Silent soaring is an activity that neither damages the land nor infringes the solitude of those who wish to enjoy a wilderness experience without any awareness of other recreational users. Silent soaring poses no threat to wildlife. The only wildlife we affect are soaring birds, and our only effect is that we sometimes share rising thermal currents, soaring aloft with them naturally. Where preserves for the breeding of endangered wildlife are present, landing zones are made available away from them. Silent soaring does not physically degrade the forest as do, to various degrees, hiking, bicycling, off-road motoring, skiing, snowmobiling, fishing and hunting. Our activity truly adheres to the goal, "Leave no trace." Silent soaring poses no threat to riparian areas. Wet areas absorb the sun's energy and do not produce thermals, as do bare rocks and earth. Consequently soaring pilots generally have little reason to frequent riparian areas. Silent soaring produces no conflicts with other users. It makes no noise, and emits no exhaust, smoke, dust or vapors of any kind. As a recreational use of public lands, silent soaring has no similarity to noisy, polluting, destructive off-road vehicles, such as snowmobiles, dirt motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, which are frequently accommodated by administrators of public lands, often at great expense. For example, the recently enacted Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Mountains Wild Heritage Act, despite its name, creates three off-road recreational vehicle areas. We cannot dismiss the possibility that industry lobbying has more to do with those accommodations than sound land use policy. Any future proposals with respect to the San Gabriels, would infringe or destroy the existing recreational opportunities of foot launched, powerless silent soaring - - hang gliding and paragliding in one of the few areas of Southern California where our sport can still be practiced. Our use of public lands produces virtually no impact whatsoever. Our sport is being strangled by voracious land development and it is crucial to save the few sites that remain where we can launch and land. The inadvertent application of NPS Regulations to these lands would kill our sport in the San Gabriels, and the businesses that service our sport.

·        While some indication exists that alternatives of the plan envision things like bike riding in semi-urban open space, nothing is said about the opportunities in the forest, many of which have been severely curtailed or eliminated (hang gliding, nude sunbathing, shooting, archery, and how the trail system would be administered to deal with the competing demands of bicycles, horses, and foot hikers). What about other legitimate uses of the forest? (E.g. mining).

·        We are concerned that the implementation of one of the three proposals that have been discussed might put National Park Service Regulations into effect in the San Gabriel Mountains. Since 36 C.F.R. § 2.17(a) prohibits aviation in National Parks and National Recreation Areas, such a result would effectively outlaw hang gliding and paragliding in the San Gabriel Mountains, where it has been practiced for nearly four decades . We are sure that no one intends such a result, and we request that you assure us that it will not occur inadvertently.

·        An NRA should add healthful recreational opportunities, not eliminate any current opportunities. It should be clear that the NRA's intent is not to reduce any existing lawful recreation –ranging from hang-gliding off mountains to driving off-road vehicles on designated trails - but rather to create and promote new low-impact recreational opportunities.

·        A national recreation area should improve the recreational experience of visitors while protecting and preserving the mountain's natural resources. An NRA should be designed to promote and expand healthy, non-motorized recreational opportunities. Detail how non-motorized users might benefit from an NRA, including fishers, equestrians, picnickers, sightseers, birders, mountain bikers, hikers, and other who constitute 95% of the visiting public. Make it clear, however, that a national recreation area will preserve existing legal recreational opportunities in existing areas where they take place, including hang gliding and off-road vehicles trails.