Helicopters must move - Supreme Court refuses to hear case of Pigeon
 Forge sightseeing business
 The helicopters are on their way out of Pigeon Forge.
 The decision, received Friday by the state attorney general, supports
 Tennessee court rulings upholding a state law that bans helicopter
 landing pads within nine miles of the Great Smoky Mountains National
 Park boundary.
 "That ends the legal proceedings as far as this case is concerned.
 The helicopters will be moving out of Pigeon Forge," said Steve
 Marshall, attorney for Bobby Riggs, who asked the Supreme Court to
 hear his case.
 Riggs' M-Helicopters is one of three sightseeing helicopter busi-
 nesses located within nine miles of the park. The other two are
 Scenic Helicopters in Pigeon Forge and Rainbow Helicopters in
 Wears Valley, less than a mile from the park boundary.
 Rainbow Helicopters advertises on its business telephone recording
 that all its flights enter the national park.
 All three businesses have long been the source of complaints from
 neighbors and businesses in the areas near the helicopters'
 heliports.
 Rainbow has been the target of complaints from park users who argue
 the peacefulness and solitude of the park's back country has been
 interrupted by the helicopter sightseeing flights.
 Bob Miller, spokesman for the national park, said the ruling "will
 help park users significantly in terms of finding that natural peace
 and quiet within the park."
 Miller pointed out that the ruling does not restrict any aircraft
 from flying over the park. However, he said, "heliports have to be
 nine miles away. That means flights to the park have to be signif-
 icantly longer and thus more expensive. It should reduce the number
 of flights significantly."
 Neither the state law or the Supreme Court ruling affect heliports
 used by emergency, law enforcement or research aircraft.
 Don Barger, regional spokesman for the National Parks and Conserva-
 tion Association, rejoiced at Friday's Supreme Court decision but
 also cautioned that the issue of park overflights has not been put
 to rest.
 "My principle concern is people not think, 'Oh great, the problem's
 solved.' This is a temporary fix."
 The good news, said Barger, is that a more permanent fix is in the
 legislative pipeline.
 U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,
 have sponsored national legislation that would give the National
 Park Service significant control over flights inside national park
 boundaries.
 A commission has been working to come up with compromises that
 will accommodate both parks and aircraft operators.
 Charles Maynard, director of the Friends of the Great Smoky
 Mountains National Park, is a member of the national commission.
 Knoxville News Sentinel 22 Nov 97
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