Good News for Outdoor Creators: Public Land Filming Rules Are Finally Clear

For more than a year, paddlers, cyclists, skiers, and other silent sport enthusiasts who like to document their trips in films and photos have been navigating a grey area, unsure whether the same filming and photography rules applied across every type of public land, from national forests to national parks, and designated wilderness areas. That uncertainty is finally over. The National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service, the three major land agencies managing public land across the Midwest and Great Lakes, have all now implemented rules required by a new law and clarified what is and isn't allowed.

Why the Old Rules Didn't Work

For years, the rules were a mess. Different agencies enforced different standards, and some flatly restricted filming and photography in certain areas. In designated wilderness and national parks, including areas like the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, both the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service once took the position that simply posting a video of a wilderness trip to YouTube was illegal. Photographers who wanted to shoot commercially in some areas faced permit fees that could run into hundreds of dollars per day, even if they were just documenting their own trip with a GoPro.

The EXPLORE Act, signed into law in January 2025, sought to address this through a provision known as the FILM Act. It was designed to standardize rules across all public lands and to base them on the activity's impact rather than the activity itself.

The Four Tiers for Creators

Now that the rules governing the law are finalized, creative silent sport enthusiasts have clear guidelines for filming, photography, and audio recording on federal land. The same four tiers now apply to federal land, regardless of whether the activity is commercial or noncommercial, whether it's a sunrise paddle on a Boundary Waters lake or a gravel ride through a national forest. 

1. Groups of one to five people, assuming the group meets all the required conditions, don't need a permit.
2. Groups of six to eight people need a free De Minimis Use Authorization on USFS land. NPS and FWS don't require this extra step — both treat groups of eight or fewer the same, with no permit needed, as long as the activity meets the conditions below.
3. Groups engaged in activities or events that are already permitted, regardless of size, in which the content creation is incidental to or documenting that activity, do not need a permit.
4. Groups of nine or more people (apart from tier three), or groups unable to meet the required conditions, need a permit.

The law requires the USFS to build a website to handle de minimis requests for tier two, with automatic issuance. Until that website is live, applications for tier two can be submitted in person at a field office, and the authorization must be issued immediately.

Conditions You Must Meet

Regardless of which public land agency manages the land, creatives must meet these conditions:

Doesn't impede or intrude on other visitors, and doesn't disturb natural or cultural resources or environmental/scenic values;

Allows for equitable allocation or use of facilities;

Occurs in areas open to the public;

Doesn't require exclusive use of a site or area;

Doesn't take place in a localized area that receives very high visitation;

Doesn't use a set or staging equipment — handheld gear like a tripod, monopod, or handheld lighting doesn't count as staging;

Complies with the unit's visitor use policies, practices, and regulations;

Isn't likely to add administrative costs for the managing agency; and

Complies with other applicable federal, state, and local laws, including drone regulations.

With guidance now in place across the region's major land agencies, paddlers, cyclists, skiers, and hikers no longer need to worry that posting a trip video or photo will trigger a violation regardless of the type of federal land that they are on. It's been a long time coming.