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Please correct me if I am mistaken, but Base jumping is only illegal in National Parks correct? Meaning that a State Park would be ok. The only way I can think of it being illegal is if the park has implemented some kind of ban. Am I wrong? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

It varies from state to state, and in some states from park to park.

You'll need to look up the law for the specific state you're thinking of.

Where exactly would be a good starting point? Call up Park services and inquire about specific parachuting laws?

Having been arrested and charged in a California state park I can tell you that California is a no go... I got charged with unsafe or dangerous activity in a state park.

That would be one way, which will probably work.

Most state laws are also on line, so you could find them and read through them to try to sort it out. What state are you interested in?

I tried looking them up online, however haven't been to in depth with it just yet. I was curious about Texas at the moment.

New York and New Jersey are both online. Both require permits or approval from administrator-

http://nysparks.com/...RulesRegulations.pdf

http://www.nj.gov/...es/rules/njac7_2.pdf

New Jersey-

7:2-2.22 Restricted recreational activities
(a) A person shall not engage in the following recreational activities on State Park Service lands and waters without specific approval of the Assistant Director of the State Park Service, or the Regional Superintendent or their designee:
1. Parachuting;


New York

Section 372.7 Activities requiring a permit.
The following activities shall require a permit:

(e) Aviation. The voluntary introduction, launch, takeoff or landing or any aircraft, parachute, hang glider, ultra-light, balloon or other weight- carrying machine or device designed for flight in or navigation of the air other than in an emergency


Google is a wonderful thing.

Any one know what the situation is in National Forests?

Also what if you exit from say, a national park, but land outside the boundary?

To my knowledge, National Forests are viewed the same as BLM land. That said, not all National Forest rangers are aware of this, so watch your back.

With regard to your second question, if you exit outside a National Park and land inside, courts have interpreted that to be a breach of the aerial delivery statute (see: U.S. v. Albers et al. 9th Circuit, 2000. At section three). We actually have a case involving this issue going on right now (on which I can't comment further at this time).

However, if you were to exit inside a National Park and deploy your canopy outside said National Park, that would likely be another issue (although the NPS may not see it that way if you got caught).

Finally, there's also the issue of jumping national monuments, which I believe to be a no-no. I haven't dealt with this directly; somebody who has more knowledge on the subject can chime in.

As I recall people have been prosecuted for jumping from exit points inside a national park but landing out side the park, other side of the river.

Lee

Yes, there is a place in Moab where you can launch inside and land outside -- and still get charged with aerial delivery.

National monuments are still occupied by NPS forces and thus are no different legally than jumping in national parks. Ditto for NRAs -- National Recreation Areas -- such as Lake Powell, which have much less regulatory tyranny than NPs and monuments, and in the case of Lake Powell even have specific permission for aircraft to land on the water at any time without a permit -- but NPS still arrests you anyway and their actions were upheld some years back by the clowns on the 9th Circus of Appeals who said a parachute is a parachute is a parachute (stellar legal reasoning, yes?) and ruled against the fact that NPS' own regs define a parachute as an aircraft.

You will note the NY state law parrots the NPS aerial delivery reg... this is common at the state level -- many state constitutions, for example, have "Bill of Rights" provisions that are worded almost exactly like their federal counterparts.


44

If this happens to anyone, let me know; I'd be interested in handling the case. Similar laws have been eviscerated through collateral attack. In other words, big fucking wingsuits provide new challenges for courts spuriously interpreting the 'aerial delivery' statute.

I don't think you have a prayer. Talk to some of the people from the lake powell cases. They had an even better case and were just shit on. You will have lost before you have even walked into the court room.

The incident I'm thinking of was old but if you want to test it, any one can direct you to the exit point in question. It's actually a very nice jump with a nice landing area.

Lee

 I regularly launch and fly my speedwing in a CA state park in full view of park service. They specifically told me I was good to go. So there appears to be some differences, as Tom was saying, between parks within the same state.

I visited a state park in AZ a few months ago. The ranger at the front gate told me that people had been caught and charged for jumping there.