North Carolina Division of Cultural and Natural Resources ban of Pilot Mountain book(s)
o---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Avis, Malcolm S <scott.avis@ncparks.gov>
Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Subject: RE: [External] Media Permit Request, not a commercial request!
To: jackmac2013@gmail.com <jackmac2013@gmail.com> Cc: Anthony, Jason <jason.anthony@ncparks.gov>
Mr. McKelvey,
My name is Scott Avis and I’m the Northwest District Superintendent for NC State Parks, Superintendent Anthony’s supervisor. I’m emailing to discuss your request via Special Activity Permit dated April 24, 2025 to collect oral histories at Pilot Mountain State Park on the July 4th weekend. Superintendent Anthony and I have spoken at length about your request. I support his decisions thus far pertaining to your request, but I’d like to offer you a bit of clarification about our thinking.
NC State Parks is open to the public but operates according to set rules. In particular, 07 NCAC 13B .1101 prohibits commercial enterprises within State Parks. State Parks recognizes your right to exercise your First Amendment right to free speech and is willing to grant your permit request to collect oral histories, but the right to free speech is not limitless. Speech may be limited on park property by way of reasonable time, place and manner restrictions which limit when, where and how you exercise your rights. All the restrictions that Superintendent Anthony has requested you abide by meet these criteria and are crafted based on your particular circumstances and the staffing and resources at the park. For convenience, I'm copying those restrictions below:
You may set up your table in the grassy area at the southeast corner of the summit parking lot. The location is indicated by the red dot on the attached map.
You have requested to conduct your activity over the course of four days from 7am to dusk. We typically do not issue commercial permits at the summit area on weekends or holidays between the hours of 10am to 6pm. This is our policy, and we require commercial photographers and such to adhere to it. However, I will give a little leeway here and allow you either 8am-noon or 4pm-8pm each day. You may pick your preference.
As you wrote, you are not allowed to approach anyone. People may freely come to you.
You are not permitted to record – by tape or any other audio/visual means – anyone while on park property. You may take notes on paper, laptop, etc. there audio/visual means – anyone while on park property. You may take notes on paper, laptop, etc.
You may not promote or have copies of your existing book(s) for sale. The park does is not a commercial venue. You may tell people who approach you that you are collecting oral history stories for a book you are in the process of writing and post a sign at your table to that effect so that people know why you are there.
Finally – regarding newspaper or TV – we do not wish to be involved in any media coverage, and since you are requesting to conduct this activity over the busy July 4th weekend, I would ask that you do not contact the media to publicize it, as this would encourage additional visitation to our park during the holiday. Extra visitation during already busy times creates an additional burden on our staff and the natural resources of the park. I can assure you that we are already stretched to our max on weekends as it is.
To be clear, State Parks is not restricting your ability to pass out business cards to those individuals who freely and independently approach you. Nor is State Parks restricting your ability to seek the names or contact information of those individuals in order to preserve your ability to contact them for additional information going forward.
You referenced in your previous emails that you consider yourself a journalist and wish to be treated the same as other journalists who come onto Park property. However, your proposition to collect oral histories from Park visitors about long-ago events in order to include them in a book that you intend to sell for profit is a commercial enterprise prohibited by 07 NCAC 13B.1101 and thus requires a Special Activity Permit. Selling and promoting your books also falls squarely within this rule and is within Superintendent Anthony’s power to require compliance in order to permit your activity.
As for selling your books at the Park, State Parks is under no obligation to sell your books at Pilot Mountain State Park or elsewhere. Parks works carefully with our vendors to curate a set of offerings that align with the needs and educational mission of the State Parks. Unfortunately, we do not find your books align with those needs or mission and we will not sell them in NC State Parks. There are many other venues open to you to pursue selling your books and we implore you to utilize those instead. In addition, please note that the Government and Heritage Library is also under the umbrella of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources like NC State Parks. The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources has informed me that they will object to any effort to add language to book covers about the book being a part of the catalog of the History of North Carolina at the Government and Heritage Library as this may be seen as an endorsement from the state government, which the State is prohibited from doing.
We sincerely appreciate that you are such an avid user and supporter of Pilot Mountain State Park. While we appreciate your zeal for the park, we also hope that you can respect NC State Parks decision in this matter. If you agree to comply with Superintendent Anthony’s reasonable conditions, please let him know and he will approve your permit after payment of the permit fee. If not, please let him know and we will consider this matter closed.
Sincerely,
M. Scott Avis
Northwest District Superintendent