Congress in 2000 passed the National Parks Air Tour Management Act governing scenic flights over national parks outside Alaska and the Grand Canyon National Park, which obtained its own flight plan in 1987. It directed the National Park Service to work with the Federal Aviation Administration to craft the flight plans.
Not until the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) sued to compel the agencies to prepare ATMPs — and won in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Court in 2020 — did the agencies kick into action. Of the 23 parks requiring ATMPs or voluntary overflight agreements, 20 now have them, and the remaining three plans are expected to be completed by the end of this year.
