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Without a press release or public announcement, the U.S. Forest Service quietly updated its filming and photography rules, which are now in effect now, bringing its policies in line with the EXPLORE Act, but leaving a critical question unanswered.
https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/forest-service-updates-filming-and-photography-rules/
Without a press release or public announcement, the U.S. Forest Service quietly updated its filming and photography rules, which are now in effect now, bringing its policies in line with the EXPLORE Act, but leaving a critical question unanswered for anyone who wants to document their time in a Wilderness Area. This update follows a year of delay after the EXPLORE Act passed. Last year, I reported on the EXPLORE Act and how the delay in implementation of the law across U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lands was impacting small-scale creators, especially on lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), such as on the Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota and within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Now a Word From Our Sponsors. More After the Break. The New Rules The new rules align with the EXPLORE Act, and the USDA, unlike the National Park Service (NPS) and other Department of Interior (DOI) agencies, implemented even the optional rules. The new USFS rules create four tiers for content creation (filming, photography and audio recording) regardless of whether or not it is commercial or noncommercial. Here’s the list of the conditions that content creators must follow: Hand-carried equipment, per the law, includes “equipment (such as a tripod, monopod, and handheld lighting equipment).” The biggest change for commercial creators is that they’ll no longer pay a daily fee as long as their group stays under five people, or six to eight with a free De Minimis permit. The other significant change is that content creators documenting a permitted activity don’t need a separate permit regardless of group size. This is a welcome shift for photographers covering events such as adventure races, fastest known time attempts, and weddings. Noncommercial creators in groups of five or fewer will find little change; no permit is required as long as they meet the conditions. Those traveling in larger groups, however, will now need either a free De Minimis authorization or a full permit depending on size, which may be new for some. The rules appear on the USFS main website, though some individual unit websites haven’t been updated yet. Check the main USFS site for the current rules. The Wilderness Loophole – Is Filming Allowed in Wilderness Areas? The Wilderness Loophole is back (I covered this in more depth in my last article). USDA and the USFS, unlike DOI and NPS, have decided to invoke the Wilderness Loophole provision of the law, and from their website it isn’t exactly clear what content creation type will be allowed. The USFS website says that “Proposals to create content in designated Wilderness areas require additional information and undergo an additional level of screening. If you propose to film in designated Wilderness, contact the local Forest Service office.” The emphasis on “create content” is mine, because the law defines “Content Creation” in a specific way: Content creation.—Regardless of distribution platform, any video, still photograph, or audio recording for commercial or noncommercial content creation in a System unit shall be considered to be a filming or still photography activity under this subsection. So, if you want to film yourself with a GoPro canoeing in the Boundary Waters or any other wilderness area under USFS management, you’re going to need to contact the local Forest Service office. It’s also unclear whether the additional screening applies only to video or to photography and audio as well. Regardless, it applies to everyone, not just commercial creators. Are There Still Mixed Messages? One of the ideas behind the Film Act provision in EXPLORE Act was to standardize the rules across all public lands, but we still have different implementations of the law, due to the ability of agencies to determine if they want to require De Minimis Use Authorizations and due to the Wilderness Loophole. The USFS opted to require De Minimis Use Authorizations for groups of six to eight people. The DOI (NPS) did not opt to require De Minimis Use Authorizations. This requires groups of six to eight people to file a permit application that is immediately and automatically approved — adding paperwork steps for both creators and already-strapped local offices for no practical outcome. Wilderness Areas still give us mixed messages. NPS (and DOI agencies) treats wilderness areas the same as other public areas, but the USFS is treating them separately and is requiring additional information from the content creator and requiring an additional level of screening. The criteria for that screening isn’t publicly available at this point, so we don’t know if it will be uniform across the country or vary based on the local office. It seems to apply to everyone, including a random grandma who wants to film or photograph her grandson while on a canoe trip in a Wilderness Area. Because of the vagueness of the policy, we don’t know what will be allowed on USFS managed Wilderness Areas, such as in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. What’s Next The USFS still hasn’t published the criteria it will use to screen content creation requests in Wilderness Areas, which means local offices could apply different standards depending on where you are. That’s a problem worth watching, because paddlers and hikers have always documented their trips, and it’s not clear yet whether the new rules will treat that documentation as a bureaucratic problem to be managed or a reasonable use of public land to be allowed. I’ve reached out to the Superior National Forest for clarification and will update this story when I hear back. Now a Word From Our Sponsors. More After the Break. We may earn commissions if you shop through the links in this article.
The Man Who Went Shopping For Dining Chairs and Accidentally Bought Stonehenge.
On September 21, 1915, a British barrister named Cecil Chubb was given a very simple task by his wife, Mary. She sent him to a local auction in Salisbury with strict instructions: buy a nice set of dining chairs for their home.
But as Chubb sat in the auction house, he got distracted. "Lot 15" came up for sale, a 30-acre plot of land featuring a crumbling, dilapidated ring of ancient rocks.
@VisionaryVoid
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/19/trump-coin-24-karat-gold
If you do nothing else today, look at the picture approved for a 24 karat Trump coin to be officially minted to celebrate the US's 250 birthday.
"Yes, yes he does."
Bluesky Reveals Massive Hidden Investment
Today #Bluesky revealed that in April 2025 they received a whopping $100M venture capital investment lead by Bain Capital Crypto and that they KEPT IT A SECRET.
https://bsky.social/about/blog/03-19-2026-series-b
So the answer to the big mystery Who Owns Bluesky? (https://mastodon.online/@mastodonmigration/116025246450023071) is finally out. Crypto VCs.
Now, we should be asking why did this company that prides itself on transparency and "decentralization" decide they needed to hide who owned the company?
"Donald continues to do what he’s always done: push the envelope to see what he can get away with. If nobody stops him (which they almost always never do), he pushes further and gets away with more. On those rare occasions when he’s thwarted, he doesn’t course correct like a mature human being; he doesn’t come up with a different strategy. He doubles down."
~ Mary Trump
#Trump #Iran #war #death #destruction #stupidity #MalignantNarcissism
/6
LOL this is the problem with relying on AI tools, as well...
"...His core argument: Tesla is asking humans to supervise a system that is specifically designed to make supervision feel pointless. As he puts it, an unreliable machine keeps you alert, and a perfect machine needs no oversight, but one that works almost perfectly creates a trap where drivers trust it just enough to stop paying attention.
The research backs this up. Psychologists call it the “vigilance decrement”, monitoring a nearly perfect system is boring, boredom leads to mind-wandering, and drivers need 5 to 8 seconds to mentally reengage after an automated system hands control back. But emergencies unfold faster than that...."
Former Uber self-driving chief crashes his Tesla on FSD, exposes supervision problem
https://electrek.co/2026/03/17/former-uber-self-driving-chief-tesla-fsd-crash-supervision-problem/
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