Something isn’t right here.
Early in the morning three days ago the north end of Antelope Island was slow for birds so I decided to head south to check out the remote and relatively new South Island Road. This time of year bison bulls have separated from the rest of the herd as they wander the island in small groups and I saw quite a few of them on the north end. But the cows and their many calves tend to stay in one large herd, usually in a more remote part of the island, so one of my goals was to locate them and see how they were doing. I was particularly interested in checking out the young calves.
I drove south past Garr Ranch and finally located the cows and calves near the end of the very rough and washboardy South Island Road. They were in a massive but spread-out herd on both sides of the road – perhaps 300? of them. Some were actually on the road so it was slow going as I maneuvered my way past them in order to get to the far end of the island.
Coming back, with the morning sun more behind me, it was a beautiful, peaceful and pastoral scene when I came upon the herd once again. I wish I had taken photos but I didn’t. I stopped and watched them for a while and then eventually wound my way through the spread out herd, drove past Garr Ranch and headed back toward the north end of the island.
I’d driven a mile or two past the ranch when I spotted something really weird-looking on the road in front of me. At least I thought it was on the road but it was actually just above the road. Because of this curve in the road and a slight hill, all I could see at first was the top of whatever it was. As we approached each other it turned out to be an incredibly noisy paraplane (powered parachute or PPC) hugging the road and coming my way.
Because the pilot was hanging down from the parachute, I could see part of his contraption before he could see my pickup. But the instant he saw me he turned sharply to his left and headed east toward the nearby shoreline of what used to be part of the Great Salt Lake. This photo was taken through my dirty windshield with my smaller zoom lens just as he was turning to head east. And then he turned south again and followed the old shoreline toward Garr Ranch.
At this point my concern was that he knew where the bison cows and calves were and might harass them in his incredibly noisy paraplane so I turned around and followed him from a distance. It was early in the morning on a week day and I knew there was no one else down there to witness what might occur.
As he followed the shoreline he dipped down a single time to perform a “touch and go”. This photo was taken while his wheels were on the ground for less than a second. I continued to follow him to the ranch.
He flew over Garr Ranch and continued south toward the herd but I decided it was useless to follow him further because the road south of the ranch is incredibly rough with potholes and washboards so I could only drive it at about 5 mph. It would take me too long to get to the herd but the last time I saw the paraplane it was headed straight for where the bison were. He may or may not have known they were there.
In the end I don’t know what he did or didn’t do down there.
As I drove back to the north end of the island I decided to report what I observed to one of the State Park managers. But he told me, in obvious frustration, that paraplanes on the island are legal which kind of blew my mind. With only a single, highly regulated exception drones on Antelope Island State Park are strictly prohibited so how does it make any sense at all that paraplanes are allowed?
Most of the 42 square miles of Antelope Island are remote and rugged with bison, pronghorn, deer and coyotes roaming the entire island. I hate to think of how much wildlife harassment goes on when there are no witnesses.
I wish I had a higher opinion of my own species but experience has taught me otherwise.
Ron
You’ve assumed the worst of the powered paraglider going near the herd, yet had no issue with driving through the herd yourself, twice.
“You’ve assumed the worst of the powered paraglider going near the herd”
Chris, I know it’s asking a lot but you might want to actually read what I wrote before making such an accusation. I assumed no such thing. What I said was “In the end I don’t know what he did or didn’t do down there.”
And if you’re claiming that my driving stop and go, no faster than 2-3 mph, as I waited for bison to move off the road before proceeding would be comparable to an incredibly noisy PPC buzzing the herd, well more power to you but it just doesn’t fly.
Hiss and spit.
And sadly I share your opinion of our species.
Agree. That’s just wrong.
Having been there so recently and enjoyed visiting Garr Ranch, viewing the bison herd and even the ride down that incredibly rough, washboard-y road, I cannot tell you how disturbing this is to me! And no, there is NO sense to allowing such a contraption (not just noisy but likely also super-smelly and polluting) to enter the airspace at such a low level, let alone touch down, on a protected state park like this! I wish events like this were rare, but I know they’re not. Some idiots have been flying drones near the tower at UCBerkeley where one falcon chick has just fledged and another is ready to go. 🤬
Chris, that sounds like it might be harassment. If so I hope they’re caught and prosecuted.
Unfortunately, they’re very hard to track/trace and, even though it’s illegal to fly on the campus, it’s actually been happening for at least several years now. Very lucky there’s been no collision yet, and fingers X’d it stays that way. Though I would love to see a Peregrine take down one of those suckers! 😒
Apparently there is software that can be used to make drones incapable of flying in certain areas. A person mentioned that they were going to fly their drone over a recent (as in this past Wednesday) fire near Albuquerque but the government had set that area as a no-fly zone.
Sounds like some rebellious letter writing is in order. Attention needs to be given to what is already an endangered area.
Damfuls!
Arwen, if there’s software that does that it’s new to me. I know people are often cited and prosecuted for flying drones in fire-restricted no fly zones.
I’m wondering if there might be a Facebook interest group for “powered
parachute” or “powered paraglider” people in the area ? I’m not a Facebook
member, so I couldn’t check this out. It seems to me that a post on such a
group’s page would be a good, direct educational move, if Ron or a member of his posse could figure out how to direct it……..
Kris, as far as I know this guy did nothing illegal so I’d prefer not to push it in their forums. As long as they’re not harassing wildlife they have the right. I just wish they didn’t.
Yes, I found out they were legal last year when I reported one. I think there needs to be a change if they are becoming more frequent and definitely if they are harassing wildlife.
It is often easy to find out who they are, they post video on Youtube.
April, I think there needs to be a change whether they’re becoming more frequent or not. Those noisy contraptions should have no place in a State Park teeming with wildlife and where visitors go to find peace, quiet and a more natural experience.
Time to talk to your legislators, Sierra Club, Audubon, more local conservation organizations.
Nancy, that’s part of the reason I decided to publish this post. My posts get around…
There was an article recently in the Washington Post about the dire condition of the Great Salt Lake. It’s not hard to draw parallels between that and this greedy self-entitled bozo.
Lyle, the lake has been getting a lot of attention lately. Too little too late in my opinion. I hope I’m wrong.
I completely understand your vexation with the above.
Yup, it was and still is frustrating.
SFB is the long and short of it…… 🙁 Critters (and us) don’t need that. Glad you got to see the Bison and calves before the “jerk” headed there. A neighbors father had one tho it wasn’t as noisy as it seems that one was. His last ride (he quit) got him entangled in power lines….. 😉
Judy, with all the wind you have up there I would think flying PPC’s would be a very dangerous activity.
I don’t know that this guy was necessarily a jerk but the fact that he’d fly one of these noisy contraptions on the island doesn’t speak well of him.
Many just don’t “think” before they do something like that – just seems like a neat way to see things, which it is BUT!
Yes, it is dangerous to fly a PPC in winds over 10 mph, which is why thoughtful experienced sport pilots fly in the mornings and late afternoons when windspeeds are usually forecast to be under 10 mph. If you have binoculars or zoom lens, you might be able to see the PPC’s license N-number, it’s required on all PPCs. They can be traced here: https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberInquiry
You did the right thing by reporting the incident and let the authorities handle it (if they could). There was nothing else that you could do…………..
Gary, I could tell that the manager was frustrated by the situation but he said they “looked into it” and the PPC’s are legal on the island. Apparently state park officials have little or no say in what is and isn’t allowed on the island. But he also said that any incidents of wildlife harassment wouldn’t be taken lightly.
That’s not a paraglider, it’s a powered parachute. A paraglider has no motor. My ex and I flew over many beautiful places in a powered parachute, yes it’s noisey, we usually stayed 500 ft minimum above land. When I did ask govt officials for permission to fly over certain areas (national parks are no-fly zones, but other govt designated areas are murky), they couldn’t find anything in their books that specifically addressed powered parachutes. It’s a small group of folks who fly powered parachutes; the group we flew with were cognizant of “good manners” such as not flying near a herd of livestock or birds etc.
Thanks, Terri. I knew that would be confusing. I’ve now edited my title and text.
“I wish I had a higher opinion of my own species but experience has taught me otherwise.”
I totally agree!!
Sad, isn’t it Dick.