Uncrewed Aircraft Systems | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Launching, landing or disturbing wildlife by Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (drones) on national wildlife refuges is prohibited. UAS operators should not rely solely on applications such as AirMap, DJI Go or B4UFly to determine if a location is legal for UAS use. Such applications do not always capture accurate locations of public lands where UAS use is prohibited. Contact the refuge manager if you have questions. The use of UAS on or from refuge-administered lands for the purpose of taking commercial photography requires a permit in accordance with 43 CFR 5.1-12

OPM-11, DOI Use of Uncrewed Aircraft Systems, January 2023

U.S. Department of the Interior policy information on UAS.

Date Enacted

Oct 1, 2001

Citation

50 CFR 27.34 and 51

More information

50 CFR 27.34 - Aircraft

50 CFR 27.51 - Disturbing, injuring, and damaging plants and animals

You are exiting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website

You are being directed to

We do not guarantee that the websites we link to comply with Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act. Links also do not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

I Understand. Take me there.