All,
Doing some digiscoping at Dyke Marsh this afternoon when I flushed a
single snipe about 20 yards west of the footbridge on the dog leg.
Also played 20 questions with U.S. Park Police Officer who stopped me
near the Belle Haven parking lot to ask if I had a permit to be
photographing with a tripod on National Park Service property. I was
stunned, first because I didn't have the the aforementioned permit, and
because I have been digiscoping on the river for years now without
benefit of one.
One thing led to another, and the officer finally quoted the CFR to
me, which does state that taking motion or still pictures with a tripod
for commercial purposes requires a permit. I told the officer I was
digiscoping on the river for personal, not commercial, purposes, and
that I was therefore entitled to be digiscoping without benefit of a
permit. Looking at my tripod, the officer was obviously skeptical, but
he gave me a pass.
Danny, if you are lurking out there, your fellow officer was very
nice. But what's up with this? BTW, the officer said he had just been
transferred from downtown. I told him he better be picking up some
additional ticket books if he was going to be stopping birders on the
river with tripods and cameras. We had a good laugh about this and went
our separate ways.
Paul Kane
Falls Church, VA
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