Flying over wilderness areas

[GroovyGeek]

Will be heading out to AZ and NM in a few weeks, to do some drone and camera photography around hoodoos and bentonite. There are a couple of areas that look very colorful/interesting on Google Earth, that are designated wilderness. I clearly cannot take off/land from within the wilderness, but taking off from outside the wilderness is very feasible.

Previously my understanding of the law was that BLM controls the land and FAA the air, so taking off from outside the wilderness but flying over it is completely legal. However, a few sources suggest that in some instances the BLM has considered controlling the drone while it is over the wilderness area as "operating from" the area, even if you are physically outside the boundary.

Can anyone point me to authoritative discussions on the subject. To be clear, I have no plans to be an a-hole. The flights will be relatively high altitude, no animals will be harassed, ever. There is no private property in the vicinity, and I will stay away from all tribal land.

UPDATE: found this definitive document

https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/State-Local-Regulation-of-Unmanned-Aircraft-Systems-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Thus, while the “navigable airspace” extends to the ground, that does not mean that States are powerless to regulate UAS operations if they are not acting to regulate aviation safety or airspace efficiency. It is well established in the context of manned aircraft that Federal law does not preempt altogether any state regulation purporting to reach into the navigable air space; the same is true with respect to UAS.

And further down

If a law seeks to advance non-safety or efficiency objectives but affects where UAS may operate in the air, the question of whether the law is preempted will depend primarily on whether the law negatively impacts safety and on how much of an impact the law has on the ability of UAS to use or traverse the airspace.

The most relevant section is at the very end

Laws aimed at objectives other than aviation safety or airspace efficiency that do not impair the reasonable use by UAS of the airspace

Critically

Such laws could include those concerning [snip] protection of wildlife; using UAS for hunting or fishing, or to interfere with or harass an individual who is hunting or fishing; and law enforcement operations.

So it seems that this loophole is mostly closed as of 2023, unless you are willing to test the legality of "could", "may", etc. In any case the spirit of the law seems clear.

 

[mavic3usa]

IANAL but it's just the FAA trying to own the entire NAS but looking the other way when drone pilots are on the receiving end of the shaft by other parts of the government. Wait until you get there to see, you will be fine. BLM lands are public lands, it's belongs to the People not the government. As long as you don't try to build a house there and move in, you won't have any problems especially in the AZ.