US National Parks and NFZ

[Mavic Magic]

As I understand the latest firmware keeps us from flying in NFZ associated with airports. Does anyone know if this works the same way in national parks? I am going to a national park next week and I have heard it's legal to fly into but not take off or land in a national park. Maybe it was take video and photos looking into while remaining physically outside the park boundaries. I found a lot of information out there but much of it seemed contradictory. It's probably already been discussed somewhere in here already so please point me to a post or comment if you want.

 

[mkp2020]

I have not attempted to fly within a National Park, but looking at DJI's Geo Map they do not appear to have any yellow authorization zones or red NFZ's at the parks I checked.

 

[liquidxtc13]

Not wanting to be a nitpick , but this question should probably be asked in the 'sUAV Rules & Regulations' board, not in CrystalSky ;-)

 

[Mavic Magic]

Yeah I saw that. Tried to edit the location of my original post but wasn't able to. My mistake.

 

[tcope]

US National Parks are not NFZ... so they have never shown up on DJI's GEO map. I don't see any change to this. I was outside Arches National Park about a month ago (about 1/2 mile outside). I did get a warning but this appears to be because I was within 5 miles of an airport.




Warning was _VERY_ annoying. Despite clicking on the two boxes stating I had autho, it kept popping up very few seconds and covered most of the screen.

 

[F6Rider]

If you go to the US National Parks website you will find that drones are not allowed to be launched or landed within the park boundaries. I wanted to fly in Kings canyon NP and was told by a Ranger an emphatic 'NO' This does not mean you can't launch from outside and fly over the park and return to land.

 

[mojpoj]

The rule you are looking for in regards to National Parks is a bit more complicated...

Director Jarvis issued a memo in 2014 that directed Park directors to put into their compendiums, verbiage that drones are not allowed to take off, land, or be operated from within park bounds. That was memo 14-05 (google it). That memo cites the authority under 36 CFR 1.5 (park use) as the authority to shut down drone operations as drones were deemed a "new use". The memo conventiently had a FAQ section that spells out you ARE allowed to take off / land / and operate from outside, and fly into the parks.

Problem is, they effectively put up a 1/2 mile (approximate visual limit) wall inside of all US National Parks, which also effectively restricts access to FAA airspace for about 16 million square miles.

I have personally flown into the Petrified National Forest (Sept 2017) after getting permission from the gift shop at the entrance to take off (private land), we were camping in the parking lot..

Check it out at minute 14:20

I flew with both the DJI App and Litchi, neither one squawked or warned about being in the park. The drone disconnected once, but it came straight home. Would have been great to fly in Mesa Verde and Canyon de Chelly on this trip, but couldn't risk it. I also flew over Horseshoe Bend National Park, check the other videos, but there were a lot of people and fixed wing plans kept coming out of no where, so I kept my distance.

For any LE persons, in all cases mentioned, I maintained under 400' AGL at all times, and never flew the drone out of sight. To the best of my knowledge, I was legal in all regards, although that's getting harder to be sure of!

 

[The Ghost]

Nice video & it’s great to see you & your family living the American dream. I was out west a month ago to many national parks. I did take off inside Sequoia National Park early one morning for 10 mins but that’s all. Didn’t want to chance it. Did get some good video of RedRocks amphitheater Near Denver Colorado. After a hr flying park ranger came & said not allowed to fly. Very nice about it though. Glad I was finished anyway. God bless America! [emoji111]️[emoji256][emoji573]

 

[Franks my Dog]

I have no opinion on the advisability of the U.S. situation being in Canada, but would caution everyone to be careful treading close to the fine line of legality (I.e. take-off/land outside)
Yes the airspace is under FAA control (here it is NavCanada) not Parks, but if a Ranger decides to write you anyway, be prepared; the NPS and the FAA WILL band together in court, and they will employ tactics similar to those already used elsewhere, including Canada. They will manipulate the charges to keep pulling you into court, lawyer in tow, over and over until you’re bankrupt fighting the charge. You may be “right” legally, but are you prepared to be homeless from standing on a principle? The city I live in has a by-law prohibiting take-off, landing or overflying any municipal property. If charged, it’s a mandatory court appearance. Of COURSE they can’t prevent you from overflying...they know that. They CAN issue you a ticket and make you take a day off to attend court. If you want to mount a reasonable defence, you’ll need a lawyer, and they aren’t cheap. You may be self employed or have an understanding boss, but odds are you’re going to lose pay for at least some of the time your waiting. Wait you do, losing pay, and paying an attorney, your parking, etc. Only to find after waiting for 6 hours to appear before the Court, the charges have been withdrawn. Did you “win”? Maybe, but it is an expensive, hollow “victory”, and one you’ll think about VERY carefully about repeating.
It’s VERY unfair, VERY unfortunate, but a VERY real possibility. The few “I can do what I want” pilots have put the vast majority of those willing to play by the rules, between a rock and a hard spot. The Gov’t feels they have to get a handle on things, and this is a very effective way to do that.
I respectfully suggest you give this a second to think about, while getting ready for your flight

 

[beachcombing]

I have no opinion on the advisability of the U.S. situation being in Canada, but would caution everyone to be careful treading close to the fine line of legality (I.e. take-off/land outside)
Yes the airspace is under FAA control (here it is NavCanada) not Parks, but if a Ranger decides to write you anyway, be prepared; the NPS and the FAA WILL band together in court, and they will employ tactics similar to those already used elsewhere, including Canada. They will manipulate the charges to keep pulling you into court, lawyer in tow, over and over until you’re bankrupt fighting the charge. You may be “right” legally, but are you prepared to be homeless from standing on a principle? The city I live in has a by-law prohibiting take-off, landing or overflying any municipal property. If charged, it’s a mandatory court appearance. Of COURSE they can’t prevent you from overflying...they know that. They CAN issue you a ticket and make you take a day off to attend court. If you want to mount a reasonable defence, you’ll need a lawyer, and they aren’t cheap. You may be self employed or have an understanding boss, but odds are you’re going to lose pay for at least some of the time your waiting. Wait you do, losing pay, and paying an attorney, your parking, etc. Only to find after waiting for 6 hours to appear before the Court, the charges have been withdrawn. Did you “win”? Maybe, but it is an expensive, hollow “victory”, and one you’ll think about VERY carefully about repeating.
It’s VERY unfair, VERY unfortunate, but a VERY real possibility. The few “I can do what I want” pilots have put the vast majority of those willing to play by the rules, between a rock and a hard spot. The Gov’t feels they have to get a handle on things, and this is a very effective way to do that.
I respectfully suggest you give this a second to think about, while getting ready for your flight

You are basing this opinion on nothing, unfortunately.

As noted above, the memorandum (To:) spelling out the ban SPECIFICALLY says this "The NPS has the authority to regulate or prohibit the use of unmanned aircraft from or on lands and waters administered by the NPS. As a result, the compendium closures required by the Policy Memorandum only apply to launching, landing, or operating unmanned aircraft from or on lands and waters administered by the NPS within the boundaries of the park. The closures do not apply to launching, landing, or operating unmanned aircraft from or on non-federally (e.g., private or state) owned lands located within the exterior boundaries of the park. The closures do not apply to the flight of unmanned aircraft in the airspace above a park if the device is launched, landed, and operated from or on lands and waters that are not administered by the NPS."

 

[Franks my Dog]

Keep polishing those rose coloured glasses....i’m aware what the regulations say; very similar to the regs here. What i’m Suggesting is to be careful...it’s a slippery slope, treading close to violating federal regulations. When walking that narrow path, it’s wise to be aware that those enforcing the laws will also stand on the edge, and there is more than one way to lose the fight. There have been people charged on both sides of the border, some successful, some not. The stats in Canada show a marked increase in enforcement actions being taken in the past year, and i’d Be surprised if the same isn’t true south of the border too.

 

[ac0j]

when you are limited by VLOS, and altitude, how much of a view are you really going to get from taking off just outside the park boundaries? It is safer to just figure they are NFZ's and leave it there. What national park hasnt been photographed from every possible angle already anyway?

 

[Just_nick]

when you are limited by VLOS, and altitude, how much of a view are you really going to get from taking off just outside the park boundaries? It is safer to just figure they are NFZ's and leave it there. What national park hasnt been photographed from every possible angle already anyway?

Because it's apparently better to spend time photographing things than it is to actually live in the moment. My memories of hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon with my friends are MUCH better than the few photos and videos we took on our adventure. Alas, this is something most people don't really realize, kind of like trying to record a concert on Snapchat rather than just enjoy it while you're there.