Re: CPC: State Parks, Insurance, and Rules.

[Steve]

Thanks brad!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone

Discover Paragliding! wrote:

Since last season, I have been spending a great deal of time working with the Oregon state parks, trying to get the beach rules sorted. Last November, I was fortunate enough to be invited to be on an 8 person advisory board for the Ocean Shore Commission to work on Section 21 of the Oregon Parks shoreline rules. Section 21 is the part where they set up what the current rules for activities on the Ocean Shores are. Section 16 came shortly after that, which is the permit process, involving the who, the how and the how much $$ for issuing a permit for Ocean Shore Activities. (Section 10, and a few others that I was not involved in also underwent significant revision this winter.)

Not sure if I have posted this to the CPC list yet or not, but here is the rule describing aircraft that was used to prohibit PPG flying on the entire coast: (If you fit this definition of aircraft, you couldn't land here.)

836.005¹

Definitions

 

(2) "Aircraft" means any contrivance used or designed for navigation of or flight in the air, but does not mean a one-person motorless glider that is launched from the earth’s surface solely by the operator’s power.

 

Pasted from <http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/836.005>

Fortunately, the parks was not inclined to look at this rule verbatim, and only used it to stop the problems with PPG that they were having at the time. If enforced to the letter, Towing and Tandem flights would also have been shut down.

Now I have to say that through all my dealings with the parks, I have never got the feeling that they are in any way against us and our activities. They are actually quite supportive. While the law above is still in the Department of Aviation division, the state parks/ocean shores rules have now been revised to read:

Other Vehicle Provisions

(12) Powered aircraft, airborne vehicle or other aircraft may take off or land on the
ocean shore in an emergency or by special-use permit according to OAR 736-016, which
can be issued by a park manager, natural resources specialist or a designated department
employee.

This was huge, but it still hasn't solved all the problems. Towing, for example, will now require an annual permit on the Ocean Shores. Organized and consistent training programs will likely require a permit as well, provided that they are not conducted on the north side of Cape Kiwanda which has PG and HG in the park charter. Large groups coming together for a planned fly-in will also be required to have a permit. (Oceanside fly-in for example.) Not that this last bit is new, but the rules have been significantly clarified.

In all of our discussions, one of the things that they fell slightly short of requiring, but were always happy to hear about was our third party liability coverage that we carry as USHPA members. It's really hard to quantify how important our organization is in providing us with this coverage. The state parks is just one land owner, but how many sites would be jeopardized by a loss in this coverage. I have to say here that Mark is volunteering for a really crap job here. No one really appreciates it when he quietly succeeds, but there are a lot of 'waves' when he encounters a problem like the current one. (I can't at this time say I'm decided on how to proceed with that issue, but just wanting to share the magnitude of the problem.) I'll quote Mark here by saying "We use our insurance coverage almost every time we fly. Fortunately though, we rarely need to file a claim."  We really need to understand that better.

For training purposes, we are most certainly going to have to get an annual permit to continue our operations here. One major stumbling block that is yet to be resolved is the insurance requirements. If it weren't for the Rogallo membership insurance, we would likely be closing our business right now. (Thanks Mark and all!!!) When it comes to Powered Paragliding on the beach, the knee jerk reaction from one of the members working on section 16 was that a $4 million liability policy should do just fine. That is not going to be the reality, obviously, and I do get the feeling that we are going to be able to eventually get the PPG privilege back again, but it is not at all going to be the way it was before last summer. That's a thing, both good and bad.

Please note that the beaches are still closed to PPG flying, and any solidarity we can show in not flying PPG's over the beaches at this time will go a long way towards getting things re-opened. In my recent travels to California, I made it a point to ask all the PPG pilots I could the following question:

"Did you know that the offshore rocks on the Oregon Coast are bird and wildlife sanctuaries, and that we are specifically prohibited from flying near them?"

Not once did I get a yes for an answer. This is a BIG problem for flying PPG out here. Not just the sanctuaries, but many other 'site' restrictions and are not known in the community. We are working on a plan, a complicated plan, but at least the powers that be are encouraged by the sound of the plan. (The environmentalist side of me fully supports the state parks position on this one too.)

There is a lot more chatting to do, and I intend to follow it through. One of these days, I fully intend to complete my 300+ mile PPG flight from the Washington border into California. No, losing the flying privileges on the beach here wasn't just a business loss for me (though that part hurt), it was really  a personal loss. Truly my favorite PPG flying site is right here, one mile from my house. Determined and undeterred I stand. :-)

Just some info, but this has been keeping me busy this winter. Once it's all finished and sorted. I plan on going after that pesky 836.005 definition and have it changed to something more favorable and in line with the State Parks rules. That's going to be another interesting process, I am sure.

One small victory I get to brag about: Kite buggying has long been one of those grey areas, similar to paragliding, neither permitted or really even addressed in the rules. Now though, Maren and I can take our kite buggies out to the beach, knowing that it's specifically permitted by the Ocean Shore rules. There's something else to do in a good westerly blow. Come on down and go for a ride sometime! :-)

Brad

PS - I was going to wait to share this info until April after this all passes final review with the Department of Justice and becomes official, but the timing of current issues it seemed appropriate to share the process now. Looks like it's on track for a speedy completion of the process though. We should know for sure in the next few weeks.

--

See you up there,

Brad and Maren
Your 'Couple' of Instructors
www.DiscoverParagliding.com
503-861-2772 (W) 503-440-0733 (c)