President's Perspective: We need to preserve our sites
Most of us take our "right" to fly model airplanes as a given, but in reality that "right" doesn't exist. Flying our model airplanes is a privilege that has been earned by the hard work and efforts of those who preceded us. Modelers in the past have defended that privilege by opposing restrictive legislation and by supporting their organizations' efforts to secure more frequencies. More recently, modelers in the Northwest have had to take a strong stand against legislation in Oregon that would make model aircraft flying an excluded activity on all agriculturally zoned property in the state. AMA has provided legal, financial, and many other forms of support in these fights. There is no doubt that assisting modelers in these contests is what the AMA should do.
Generally, we have been successful, but that record has taken a significant blow recently. Galeville, N.Y., has been a significant flying site on the East Coast for about 30 years. Like many sites we use around the country, Galeville is owned by the federal government and was part of a military installation. Modelers—primarily Free Flighters in this case—from all over the East Coast used this site regularly with the permission of the controlling agency.
As with many military sites around the country, this one is being declared excess to the needs of the military and has been turned over to the General Services Administration (GSA) for disposal. The GSA has strict rules to follow when disposing of properties: other military uses have first dibs, then other federal agencies, then state and local governments, and only then does the property become available to the private sector. This list is not exhaustive, but it gives an idea of the pecking order. When another federal agency wants a piece of property, under GSA rules it generally must be offered to them, and there is no straightforward way to force a public hearing on the subject.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has taken an approach of applying for nearly every piece of vacant land declared excess by the military, with the purpose of making many into wildlife refuges and thereby barring nearly every other use. In the absence of a way to force hearings on such actions, we are often powerless to stop them—even when we have used the land for model flying for many years. The hunting and fishing lobby recently won a court concession allowing them access in certain circumstances, but it applies only to activities that directly rely on the wildlife present at these sites. Still, there is some glimmer of hope. Please don't be lulled into thinking this is only an East Coast problem; it threatens flying sites across the country.
What we should consider
I think it may be time for the AMA to spearhead an effort to change the laws to protect modelers from the wholesale loss of flying sites on federal property. A number of years ago Vince Mankowski researched lobbying by 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations and found, to the surprise of many, that 501(c)(3)s are not totally barred from lobbying; they are limited as to what percentage of their budgets can be directed to this use. If my memory serves me right, the guideline was about 10%. Even if it were only 5%, we could create a significant effort on this subject. It is important that we verify what the current rules are before we act, but I believe we should take whatever action the law allows to change this situation.
Whatever we do, I can't imagine a more effective way to get our point across than to organize a letter-writing campaign to all the members of Congress from our individual states. How such a campaign would be organized is a matter to be decided after finding out what the law allows us to do. I would hope all AMA members see the need to support this type of effort and will answer the call when it goes out. If every AMA member wrote letters to their two senators, their congressional representative, and the chairperson of the committee that oversees the GSA, it would total nearly 500,000 letters. I can't imagine that being ignored.
Immediate instructions
- Do not take action yet.
- Wait until we have researched whether letters are the right approach and what the letters should say.
- Please be prepared to help AMA support modelers nationwide once we provide guidance.
Until next time,
Dave Brown AMA President
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
