Court Upholds Ban On Air Tours Over Mt. Rushmore and Badlands: Sept. 6, 2025

Here, the agencies noted that air tours pass over a prime area for bighorn sheep lambing in the Badlands Park and that 70% of the sheep in the Park were lost in 2021 due to disease. As to the peregrine falcons, the agencies noted that a pair nested in Mount Rushmore Park in 2020 had four offspring, none of which survived. The agencies noted both species are susceptible to noise disturbance and that stressors such as air tour noise could impact their populations. The fact the agencies did not determine whether air tours directly caused the species’ population losses in the Parks, or that different flight altitudes and patterns may cause less harm, does not make the agencies’ Plans arbitrary or capricious.

See ruling here.