Jeff Ruch, a regional director for the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said the new rules are not only long overdue but also lack proper environmental studies to prove they would actually reduce disturbances to wildlife.
Ruch said one example of this in the plan is a requirement that seaplanes to fly a minimum lateral distance of 2,000 feet away from cattle ranches in Point Reyes National Seashore compared to 1,000 feet from nesting seabird colonies, peregrine falcon nests and marine mammal haul outs.
“Why would you want to give cows more serenity than you do to nesting sea birds?” Ruch said.