Sure here you go .. From the Dept of Fish and Wildlife :
"
It is illegal to fly a drone over an endangered fish hatchery or other federal lands like national wildlife refuges because the activity is prohibited by law, specifically ---
50 CFR 27.34/51---"
Just tryin to keep our members out of trouble and out of the news...
Thanks for those citations. I'm relieved to inform you that I was not in violation of either 50 CFR 27.34 or 50 CFR 27.51 because:
1) They apply only to national wildlife refuges. The hatchery is not located within the boundaries of a national wildlife refuge. It is not designated as a refuge by perimeter fencing or signage on the ground, it is not denoted as such on the current air sectional map or any other map, and it is not designated as such on the Air Aware app.
2) If it were a national refuge, and it is not, then 50 CFR 27.34 does not generally prohibit overflights, only flights which might harass wildlife. Otherwise, it prohibits only ground operations like the landing and launching of aircraft.
3) I did not launch or land within the hatchery's boundaries. Rather, I launched, operated, and landed my drone on adjacent public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. There are no general restrictions pertaining to the launching, landing, or operation of drones on the public domain. Air Aware designates the airspace above them and the hatchery as clear airspace.
4) I was not flying at an altitude that any reasonable person might conclude would disturb wildlife, least of all, fish.
5) There is no reference in the regulation to fish hatcheries, whether dedicated to the propagation of endangered fish or not.
6) If it were a national refuge, and it is not, the USF&WS has no authority to regulate use of the nation's airspace above refuges. That's the province of the FAA. Under 14 CFR 107.45, the FAA acknowledges and adopts other agencies' restrictions and prohibitions relating to the operation of aircraft on their lands, but like those other agencies, it does not expressly forbid overflights. The land-managing agencies can't prohibit overflights, because they lack jurisdiction over the airspace, and the FAA, for whatever reason, hasn't.
7) 50 CFR 27.51 broadly concerns various harms to plants and animals on national refuges (injuries, spearing, poisoning, destroying, and unauthorized collecting). It's not even remotely germane to this discussion.
The precise wording of regulations matters. One shouldn't read more into them than is there.
