Public invited to share views through Dec. 1
SALEM, Ore— The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) will livestream a virtual meeting Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. to present draft drone take-off and landing classification criteria to be used in future park drone use maps. The agency will then invite the public to share their views on the criteria from Oct. 23 through 5 p.m. on Dec. 29.
The meeting will be livestreamed on YouTube for the public at https://www.youtube.com/@oprddirectorsoffice5783/streams. Attendees who want to ask questions during the Q&A portion of the meeting must register beforehand at https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_IbQe3Wx0QXCzXTcPDvcq0A .
Additional information and a feedback form is available online at https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/PRP/Pages/PRP-drone-workgroup.aspx.
Although the formal rulemaking process for drone take-off and landing began in 2021, the agency temporarily stopped in April 2022 to form a work group and explore the matter in more detail. The work group included various partners including conservation groups, drone users, state and federal agencies and met from June 2022 through the summer of 2023. OPRD’s region resource and GIS staff, alongside park managers reviewed the draft criteria and applied them to three sample areas, one from each region of state parks.
Feedback will be reviewed by agency staff and the work group as part of a final report to the OPRD Director Lisa Sumption, who will then decide whether to direct staff to resume public administrative rulemaking or do more work on the proposals.
Here is the draft “drone criteria” table for review and feedback:
ORStateParksDrone-criteria-table
Individuals who require special accommodations to view the meetings should contact Jo Niehaus at least three days in advance of the meeting at 503-580-9210 or jo.niehaus@oprd.oregon.gov .