HELENA — Montana’s congressional delegation has voiced opposition to a federal regulation allowing the U.S. Forest Service to screen and charge journalists wanting to film and take photographs in wilderness areas.

The Forest Service proposes to make permanent temporary rules requiring media, as part of normal reporting, to acquire a permit costing up to $1,500 to shoot video or photos in the nation’s 100 million acres of wilderness. The Forest Service would categorize media the same as people or businesses that take images for commercial purposes. The rules, which have been in place temporarily for four years, also allow agency officials to review permit applications before granting or denying a permit.