Flying your drone in National Parks, forests or wilderness areas each have different rules:
- You cannot fly your drone in National Parks.
- You cannot fly your drone within 400 feet of a National Monument
- You can fly your drone in a National Forest (but may need a permit) and
- You cannot fly your drone in a Wilderness Area
Can I fly my drone in National Parks?
The short answer is no. In 2014, the National Park Service issued Policy Memorandum 14-05 that stated “launching, landing, or operating an unmanned aircraft from or on lands and water administered by the National Park Service within the boundaries of [insert name of park] is prohibited except as approved in writing by the superintendent.” In 2017, the FAA expanded this restriction to flying a drone within 400 feet from the boundaries of 10 national monuments and other national landmarks. Get the full list of the restricted locations here.
So, flying a drone in national parks or within 400 feet of a national monument is not allowed could land you in some legal trouble. In fact, the National Park Service website says that the “violation of the ban is a misdemeanor with the maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $5,000 fine.”
Can I get a waiver or permit to fly drones in National Parks?
At this point, I’ve only heard that this is possible. I’ve never actually seen a waiver issued to a commercial drone pilot. The National Park Service does allow for permitting of commercial photography and videography, and the cost of that permit depending on the size of your operation. But again, I’ve never actually seen this applied to drone flights.
Another thing that could be a (partial) solution to this issue is providing a limited amount of drone permits or waivers on a given day or set of days. The National Park Service could limit the number of permits in a certain park or limit the permits to a small set of areas within certain parks. This could be a great source of revenue for the Park Service and it could also help deal with any sort of back log that the National Park Service is dealing with for requests to fly.
Why restrict drone flights in National Parks and Monuments?
The main concern of the National Park Service is the visitor experience when they come (potentially from a long way) to enjoy natural landscapes. This is obviously an issue when drones can be pretty loud. But it is also an issue when drones crash in National Parks and can have an effect on the natural landscapes themselves. Here are a few incidents to prove my point:
- This guy crashed his drone into the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone
- This guy, who managed to retrieve his drone after crashing it in the Grand Canyon
- Someone who apparently landed on Lincoln’s head at Mount Rushmore
- Or this DC resident who was flying their drone near the Washington Monument at night
Obviously these are just the people who got caught and their mistake was publicized. I’m sure it has happened more often than we realize.
What about flying a drone near a National Park?
This is an interesting question that is actually addressed by the National Park Service. If you launch and land your drone outside of a park boundary, the National Park Service says that it “has no authority outside park boundaries; the unmanned aircraft operator would have to get the permission of the landowner.”
And while this may be the case, the National Park Service is quick to point out that “unless an unmanned aircraft pilot obtains special permission through the FAA, use of unmanned aircraft must remain line of sight.” In other words, don’t get your hopes up about launching your drone outside of Yellowstone and finding all of the favorite spots from the air because your drone will probably be beyond line of sight. To me though, this is just evidence of how many other beautiful places you can get drone footage without having to worry about this ban.
It’s also interesting though that the National Park Service points out a few places where their jurisdiction over National Parks could cause problems for people flying “near” a National Park. Specifically, the National Park Services points to three federal regulations that might apply to a drone pilot looking to skirt their drone restrictions. You can violate federal regulations if you:
- Pursue or harass wildlife or create an intentional disturbance with wildlife activity
- Knowingly or recklessly create a nuisance by causing unnecessary noise given the circumstances, or
- Flying your drone in “non-developed” areas that restrict the use of devices with motors or engines without a permit.
While these regulations aren’t necessarily geared towards flying drones, you can definitely see how they might apply in the right circumstances.
What about flying a drone in a National Forest?
This is another interesting question. There is plenty of National Forest land, which is governed by the U.S. Forest Service and is not subject to the National Park Service restrictions on flying drones.
The U.S. Forest Service has a page on their website providing “Tips for Responsible of Recreational Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or ‘Drones’ on National Forest Systems Lands.” So, clearly you are able to fly your drone in National Forests as a recreational drone pilot. Just follow the normal rules outlined on the page I linked to above and don’t fly in a Wilderness Area (which we’ll cover in a second).
But can commercial drone pilots fly drones in National Forests?
The Chief of the U.S. Forest Service drafted a memo back in 2014, which everyone calls the Tidwell memo (link goes directly to the memo). This memo doesn’t really talk directly about flying drones, but it does talk about engaging in commercial activity in National Forests. It also mentions that
commercial photography only requires a permit if the photography takes place at locations where members of the public are not allowed, or uses models, sets, or props.
Commercial film and photography permit fees should be primarily viewed as land-use fees. If the activity presents no more impact on the land than that of the general public, then it shall be exempt from permit requirements.
So, it sounds like you’re able to fly your drone, even as a Part 107 drone pilot, so long as you are filming in a place where the general public is allowed and you don’t use any “models, sets of props.” If you plan on doing any of those things, you would need to get a special use permit.
I’ll also briefly mention that you should NOT FLY near any wildfires, as this can prevent the National Park Service from putting the fire out quickly and effectively. The good news here is that a temporary flight restriction (TFR) is usually issued around a wildfire and drones are unable to fly inside a TFR. Check out our article on TFRs here.
Can I fly my drone in a Wilderness Areas?
Wilderness areas have another interesting twist. Because the Wilderness Act restricts the use of “motorized or mechanized equipment,” drones are not allowed because they obviously have motors. Just like the National Park restriction though, the Forest Service does not have the jurisdiction to restrict or ban the flight of drones in the National Airspace.
Despite this, it is my opinion that you should respect this restriction. While the Wilderness Act was put in place to minimize the effect that manned vehicles have on these pieces of land, the other part of the equation here is that people go to Wilderness Areas to get away from everything. I don’t think it is too much to ask to fly your drone somewhere else. Also, if you look at how much of the National Forest land is considered a Wilderness Area, it’s not a lot.
