We appreciate your interest and concern for Yosemite National Park and can assure you that we intend to manage it in a manner that will preserve the outstanding scenery, wildlife, and other natural resources that have made Yosemite famous throughout the world. Sincerely yours, ROGERS MORTON, Secretary of the Interior. CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE Hon. ROGERS C. B. MORTON, DEAR SECRETARY MORTON: On July 31, 1974, the Superintendent of Yosemite National Park issued a permit to Universal City Studios, Inc., of Universal City, California, to film a motion picture "in the entire area of Yosemite National Park," for a commercial "television series" for "nationwide" distribution. As required by the Department's regulations on use of NPS areas for the making of films (43 CFR 5.1), the permit does not require that Universal Studios pay a fee for the use of the park. We understand that Universal Studios is a subsidiary of MCA, Inc., which is the NPS concessionaire at Yosemite. I. Enclosed is a copy of an article by Mr. Jack Morehead of the NPS entitled "Sierra' to bring NPS story to public." The article states that "Universal is making this film primarily for entertainment purposes." It also states that the National Park Service's Director, Mr. Ronald H. Walker, appointed Mr. Morehead as the "NPS liaison with Mark VII Universal Studios" for the filming at Yosemite. Mr. Morehead describes his duties as follows: "My job as NPS technical advisor to Universal for this series is not to tell them what incidents they can show. As long as the incident has happened in a National Park, or could feasibly happen, they have permission to use it. Instead, my function is to advise them as to how the National Park Service would respond to such an incident, to advise them in all technical matters, and to insure that the National Park Service is not portrayed in a negative manner." Conditions 2 and 3 of the above-mentioned permit state: "2. At least one Park Ranger will be on location when any filming is being conducted. This Park Ranger may be off duty and paid by Universal Studios but will have full authority from the Superintendent's office to stop any activity that is contrary to National Park Service policy or violates the standards of the National Park Service. "3. The Superintendent grants approval for the use of off-duty Rangers to help in traffic control visitor contact, public relations, and technical advisory duties during filming of the Park Ranger series. These men may be paid directly by Universal Studios if they are actually off duty. A separate memorandum, explaining the ethics and conduct to be followed by the Rangers, will be issued from the Superintendent's office." These conditions are in addition to those mentioned in 43 CFR 5.1. Presumably, Mr. Morehead is a Park Ranger who, according to condition 2, has "full authority. . . to stop any activity" that is "contrary" to NPS policy or "violates" NPS standards. This condition authorizes such a Ranger to exercise this "authority" when he is "off duty" and while doing so to be "paid by Universal Studios." Condition 3 of the permit authorizes other Park Rangers to perform "traffic control, visitor contact, public relations, and technical advisory duties" during such filming while they are "off duty" and while doing so to be "paid directly by Universal Studios." In essence, the NPS permit requires that Mr. Morehead and other NPS Park Rangers perform the "duties" mentioned in the permit whenever Universal Studios is filming this series. They have no choice in the matter. These are "official duties" for the NPS. But instead of the NPS paying the Park Rangers for the overtime work required by the permit, the NPS provides that the Park Rangers must, if required by Universal Studios, work on "off duty" hours and provides for payment of such work by Universal. We call your attention to Section 209 (a) of Title 18 of the United States Code, which states: "Whoever receives any salary, or any contribution to or supplementation of salary, as compensation for his services as an officer or employee of the executive branch of the United States Government . . . from any source other than the Government of the United States, except as may be contributed out of the treasury of any State, county, or municipality; "Shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both." It appears that NPS Director Walker, in his zealous effort to promote the National Parks and the Park Rangers, may have placed these Park Rangers in jeopardy of unwittingly violating this statute. Therefore, we request that you promptly halt all such payments by Universal Studios to these Park Rangers, and that the Department's Solicitor, in consultation with the Attorney General, review this permit and its conditions, to determine whether such payments by Universal Studios would violate 18 U.S.C. 209 (a ). Since the NPS created this problem, we think it would be improper for the Government to prosecute these Park Rangers. If overtime work is required to enforce the permit, then the NPS should pay the Park Rangers in accordance with Federal employee compensation laws and regulations. Of course, the NPS should require that Universal Studios reimburse the United States for all expenses incurred by the NPS whenever filming takes place, including reimbursement for salaries paid NPS Park Rangers during normal and overtime hours. Requiring payment of expenses incurred by the NPS is not inconsistent with the fee waiver provision of 43 CFR 5.1. II. We note that the permit has no termination date, and states that the dates for commencing and terminating the work under the permit are "indefinite." We fail to understand why the NPS issued a permit with no termination date, particularly when the regulations do not preclude renewals thereof at the option of the NPS. Furthermore the permit has no provision stating (a) that the permit is revocable at the discretion of the NPS, and (b) that revocation would not result in any liability to the Government. 1.Please explain to us why such termination, revocation, and liability provisions were not included in the permit. 2. Please provide to us the views of the Department's Solicitor as to whether, in the absence of such revocation and liability provisions, the permit is revocable by the NPS without liability to the U.S. III. 3. We understand that some filming has already taken place at Yosemite and that Universal's crews, actors, etc., have been housed at Yosemite during the filming. (a) Has MCA charged Universal or its employees the same rates it charges the public for accommodations, meals, etc., during each of these filming events? If not, why not? (b) Have these payments been included in MCA's gross receipts for which a percentage payment to the U.S. is required by the concession contract? If not, why not? IV. 4. We note that the Department's regulations concerning the issuance of permits "for the making of motion pictures, television productions or sound tracks" on areas of the National Park System and the National Wildlife Refuge System do not require that the NPS or the Fish and Wildlife Service give notice to the public about applications for such permits, including an opportunity for public review and comment on such applications. Unless there is some overriding reason for not giving such notice to the public, we think that the regulations should be promptly amended to require such notice. V. We request your reply to the above matters by October 18, 1974. HENRY S. REUSS, Chairman, Conservation and Natural Resources Subcommittee. Chairman, Subcommittee on Activities of Regulatory Agency of the Permanent Select Committee on Small Business. Enclosure. [Let's Make a Difference] "SIERRA" TO BRING NPS STORY TO PUBLIC (By Jack Morehead) Soon after Director Walker named me to be the NPS liaison with Mark VII Universal Studios, producers of the "Sierra" series being filmed in Yosemite, I sat down with two real experts in this kind of work. They were the FBI agents who acted as that agency's liaison during the nineyear running of the very popular TV series, "The FBI." They gave me good counsel and a lot of advice, but most important, they said, "Jack, the worst critics of this series are going to be your own rangers; the ones whose lives and experiences' are being portrayed. Our FBI agents used to watch that show and say, in effect: 'We never had that kind of case, week after week. We didn't do it exactly that way.' They nit-picked every little detail." But the public loved it, and "The FBI" became one of television's most suecessful series. It also became an unexpected boon for the FBI, the agents told me, because it opened doors more easily to their people by the public which came to respect and understand the law enforcement duties involved. Secondly, and equally important, it made a substantial difference in their recruiting efforts. Many highly qualified, excellent young men were "turned on" by the series and made application to the FBI. I came to this job from that of chief ranger in Yosemite, and I can tell you I certainly was not over confident nor even particularly enthused about my assignment. I have now been working with the filming crew and the actors for nearly five months. I have discussed the series, its problems, and its potential benefits with many people, both in Washington and the field. I have formed some opinions about the series and Director Walker has asked that I share these opinions with you in the hope that it will increase your understanding of what is going on and why the National Park Service has authorized Universal to make this series. First of all, most of us in the field would probably prefer that each weekly show be an hour-long documentary on how beautiful the parks are, how great and irreplaceable their values are, and how sensitive, intelligent, and skilled all we park employees are. Sorry-I don't think you're going to see that. Universal is making this film primarily for entertainment purposes. It has to sell to the American public (mostly urban people) therefore, it has to be exciting, dramatic (sometimes bizarre) and contain a certain amount of humor. Particularly in the first year, the show will be based on "action" episodes such as rock and river rescues, mountain climbing, scuba diving sequences, and so on. Comedy will be an important part of each show, as will a running bit with a permanent problem character, "Cruncher," the bear. The incidents portrayed are all based on actual happenings; however, they will be compressed in a way to provide more continuous excitement. In other words, a typical day in the life of a ranger probably would not provide enough excitement for a television series to sell. But, if you took all the exciting elements over a 10-year history of a particular park, you would surely have enough excitement to catch the public interest. My job as NPS technical advisor to Universal for this series is not to tell them what incidents they can show. As long as the incident has happened in a National Park, or could feasibly happen, they have permission to use it. Instead. my function is to advise them as to how the National Park Service would respond to such an incident, to advise them in all technical matters, and to insure that the National Park Service is not portrayed in a negative manner. Some things you will see are not entirely accurate. For example, the chief ranger in this series is portrayed almost like a park superintendent. In the series he will have control of maintenance, interpretation, and administrative functions whenever these are mentioned. The stars of the series, the park rangers, will be a superman composite of field ranger, skilled interpreter, research biologist, human psychologist, sociologist, and humorist. To us, they may not be entirely believable. Now as to benefits--it is my hope (and certainly that of Director Walker) that this series will be of positive benefit to everyone working in the National Park Service. If 40 million people, especially youngsters, can be made more aware of national parks and the park ranger, it is hoped that this alone will justify the series. The very fact that many urban people will recognize a park ranger and want to talk to him could be the most important factor. For example, it will be very interesting to see if there is a nationwide increase in the attendance at our interpretive programs because of this series. Don't laugh yet-it really could happen. Right now, many people coming to parks have never seen a park ranger and don't realize what a "hero" he is. This series could make that difference. Director Walker has expressed a great interest in feedback from the field, positive or negative, in this regard. You, as employees of the National Park Service, can be an important part in contributing to the benefit this series has to the Service. The biggest problem in the series right now is material for the writers. They need interesting exciting story material, but they need material that tells the public the positive aspects of our jobs. Universal is trying to stay away from law enforcement, as they feel there are too many cops and robbers shows on the air already. Unless a law enforcement related story is unique to park areas and could not be duplicated in a city, it would probably not be used. Whenever any group of Park Service people gets together, it seems there are stories swapped that should make fantastic filming material. Please submit any of these to Bill Everhart, WASO, for consideration. Don't sit back and gripe about what the show is not doing; instead, contribute to what you feel the show should do for the Service. It is easy to nit-pick; it is more constructive to provide input. Through Director Walker, I am asking you, as individuals, to make the difference. Hon. HENRY S. REUSS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D.C., November 20, 1974. Chairman, Conservation and Natural Resources Subcommittee, Committee on Government Operations, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. REUSS: This is in response to your letter of October 4, 1974, regarding the filming of the television series "Sierra" in Yosemite National Park pursuant to a permit issued by the National Park Service. We would like to first point out that the television series has been cancelled and, consequently, the permit issued to Universal City Studios, Inc. has been terminated. Your questions are addressed in the order presented. I. The termination of the permit obviates your request that we promptly halt all payments by the permittee to Park Rangers for services performed off-duty in connection with the filming. However, your comments regarding the appropriateness of Park Rangers working for the permittee during off-duty hours are significant, and we would like to respond to them. In the first instance, the Solicitor advises that the employment of off-duty Park Rangers by the permittee in this situation did not constitute a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 209(a). The functions performed by the Rangers were not duties officially assigned by the National Park Service, and Rangers were not required to accept the off-duty employment. However, in retrospect, it appears that at least some of the activities nerformed by the Rangers, particularly traffic control, perhaps should have been performed as a National Park Service function, with, as your letter suggests, the National Park Service being directly reimbursed for the additional expense. In this connection, I have asked the Director of the National Park Service to establish policies related to these areas. These policies will provide for the Government paying the salaries of the employees when traffic control and law enforcement functions are required. II. With respect to your questions concerning the absence of termination, revocation and liability provisions in the permit, we would like to point out that the permit issued is a standard National Park Service filming permit and that a $50,000 boud was required to be posted by the permittee to protect the Government's interests. The permit was for an indefinite period because the permittee's filming plans in Yosemite were not altogether finalized when the permit was issued. Particularly, the permittee did not know when filming would commence because of a pending actor's strike, and did not know the exact duration of the filming period because of the exigencies of weather and other physical factors. Also, it was not then known if the series would be extended beyond its initial 15 programs. Finally, our Solicitor has advised us that the permit issued to Universal Studios (now terminated) was revocable in the discretion of the United States without liability for such revocation, even in the absence of explicit provisions to that effect. In order to clarify this problem, however, we are in the process of revising our permit to specifically provide revocation, without liability, in the discretion of the Secretary. III. Enclosed please find a copy of a letter dated October 8. 1974, from the Yosemite Park and Curry Company stating that Universal Studios was charged full rates for rooms and meals at the concessioner's facilities in Yosemite and all such revenues were included in the gross receipts of the concessioner pursuant to the applicable concession contracts with the National Park Service. This letter, I believe, fully responds to your question concerning these matters. IV. You are correct in stating that the Department's regulations do not require public notice or opportunity for public comment on applications for filming permits within areas of the National Park System or the National Wildlife Refuge System. To the best of our knowledge, no Federal agency has such a procedure. We consider the notice procedure you propose to be unnecessary and unduly burdensome not only in light of the volume of filming permits issued, but in light of the thousands of permits issued every year to private citizens authorizing various special uses of parklands and refuges not inconsistent with our statutory responsibilities to preserve and protect such areas. The procedures you suggest would have the effect of making it administratively impossible to permit useful activities to take place in parklands or refuges as permitted by law. We hope that the above information responds to your questions concerning the Sierra series. Sincerely yours, Enclosure. YOSEMITE ROGERS C. B. MORTON. OCTOBER 8, 1974. JOHN GOOD, Assistant Superintendent, National Park Service, Yosemite National Park Yosemite, Calif. DEAR JOHN: In reference to your inquiry from Congressmen Reuss and Dingell regarding the meals and lodging rates paid by Universal City Studios filming company, I hereby certify that: The filming company has been charged and paid the full approved rate applicable to the lodging unit and rooms occupied. Furthermore, all meals have been charged and paid at the full approved menu rate. All revenues collected have been included in our gross receints pursuant to our contract with the Department of the Interior (NPS-WASO IX-63-2). If you have any further questions, please call. Sincerely, EDWARD C. HARDY, Chief Operating Officer. |