News Release

Air Tour Management Plan completed for Death Valley National Park

Ubehebe Crater, as seen from an airplane

NPS/Birgitta Jansen

News Release Date: August 19, 2022

Contact: Abby Wines

DEATH VALLEY, Calif. –  The National Park Service (NPS) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) completed an air tour management plan for Death Valley National Park on August 19, 2022. The plan establishes measures to protect park resources including natural and cultural resources, preservation of wilderness character, and visitor experience.  

“The purpose of the air tour plan is to ensure that park resource values, including natural sounds, wilderness character, visitor experiences, wildlife, and other natural and cultural resources, are protected in Death Valley,” said Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds.

The plan authorizes up to two air tours per year along a defined route over the park and up to a half-mile outside the boundary. There were two air tours reported at Death Valley National Park from 2017-2019.  

The operating parameters of the plan will be effective within 90 days from the date of signature on the air tour management plan.  

Death Valley is among 24 parks in the National Park System for which the agencies are developing air tour management plans or voluntary agreements. Each air tour management plan is developed to allow air tours to be managed in a way that is consistent with the NPS’s mission and the FAA’s authority to ensure flight safety. The plans meet the requirements from the National Parks Air Tour Management Act to mitigate or prevent significant adverse impacts from commercial air tours on the park and NPS’s obligation to protect the park's natural and cultural resources, wildlife, and the visitor enjoyment.   

The final air tour management plan is available at parkplanning.nps.gov/DEVA_Final_ATMP. Please visit this NPS site and this FAA site for more detailed information about air tour management plans.