Gov. Otter takes on feds over wilderness filming

Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter on Wednesday chastised the U.S. Forest Service for forbidding the state's educational broadcasting network from sending a cameraman into a central Idaho wilderness area. Idaho Public Television, licensed by the federal government as a noncommercial TV station, wanted to film students doing conservation work in the 2.3-million-acre Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area for its "Outdoor Idaho" show, which has filmed in wilderness areas in the past. But Frank Guzman, the Salmon-Challis National Forest supervisor, told the station this month that "this sort of filming is commercial, and thus not allowed in the wilderness." Otter urged Guzman to reconsider what he termed an "ill-advised decision." "The claim that IPTV is a commercial entity is patently absurd and defies common sense," Otter wrote Guzman. "IPTV is owned by the state of Idaho and is an agency of the State Board of Education. IPTV is a noncommercial entity." The federal 1964 Wilderness Act forbids most motorized and mechanized transportation inside wilderness preserves, aiming to keep them pristine as possible. According to Forest Service rules, however, camera crews aren't excluded during breaking news events, in order to protect 1st Amendment free-speech rights. But National Forest managers are instructed not to issue authorization for commercial filming "unless clearly necessary for realizing wilderness purposes," according to Forest Service guidelines. Idaho Public Television wanted to send a lone cameraman down a wilderness trail for several hours on Monday to film 15 participants in a Student Conservation Association program meant to train future land managers...more

Its ok to keep the Border Patrol out, but all hell breaks lose when you deny access to the greenie media types.