Flying Over Marine Sanctuary But Not NOAA Designated?

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EDIT: I am just going to do my best to avoid accidentally flying in to the airspace above the Marin Sanctuary.

Is it legal to fly below 1,000 feet AGL in the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary if it is NOT designated in Magenta? The area I wish to fly is adjacent to an area designated in BLUE (solid line and dotted line parallel to one another), which means it is a Boundry of Agency Areas.

I will be photographing a house and as far as I can tell, the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary starts right past the back fence of the house.

On the sectional chart, I see areas marked in MAGENTA that have the warning about not flying below 1,000 AGL. But I don't see any clear messages about the areas that are designated in BLUE.

I will be flying in the town of Inverness and the house borders the Tomales Bay. If you look at the image of the sectional chart I wrote the word HERE in red text to designate more or less where I will be flying.

I see that the FAA has published the following, although i can't find out exactly where the original source is:

Section 4. Bird Hazards and Flight Over National
Refuges, Parks, and Forests

7-4-6. Flights Over Charted U.S. Wildlife Refuges, Parks, and Forest Service Areas

b.
Pilots are requested to maintain a minimum altitude of 2,000 feet above the surface of the following: National Parks, Monuments, Seashores, Lakeshores, Recreation Areas and Scenic Riverways administered by the National Park Service, National Wildlife Refuges, Big Game Refuges, Game Ranges and Wildlife Ranges administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Wilderness and Primitive areas administered by the U.S. Forest Service.

What do they mean by "requested" to maintain a minimum altitude of 2,000 feet AGL? Do they mean it is "optional" to maintain 2,000 feet AGL?

I don't PLAN on flying over the sanctuary but as I mentioned, the sanctuary appears to literally start on the other side of their backyard fence.


inverness-sectional-chart.png
 
Last edited:
Use Aloft / B4UFLY to make your determination. This is the official FAA guidance. I did a hard look and can see that the protected area covers the whole of Tomales Bay but very closely follows the shoreline so there is a good chance you can fly without incident where you indicated but you will have to look for yourself.

DJI does not have any of this area marked off as a no-fly zone so you should have no trouble taking off. Its good practice to keep your operation as low key as possible in sensitive places like these even if you determine that you are in the right. Often there are local "know-it-alls" who will confront you or call the authorities which at the least will ruin your schedule while you explain why you are right to fly. Preplan the shots, get the drone in the air and get your work done before anyone can interfere.
 
Use Aloft / B4UFLY to make your determination. This is the official FAA guidance. I did a hard look and can see that the protected area covers the whole of Tomales Bay but very closely follows the shoreline so there is a good chance you can fly without incident where you indicated but you will have to look for yourself.

Thank you for the reply. Yes, in general I ALWAYS use B4Ufly before launch, but for some reason, I thought that the FAA went out of their way to say that it ISN'T official. Maybe I read that when they first launched the B4UFLY app or something and their policy has changed.

DJI does not have any of this area marked off as a no-fly zone so you should have no trouble taking off. Its good practice to keep your operation as low key as possible in sensitive places like these even if you determine that you are in the right. Often there are local "know-it-alls" who will confront you or call the authorities which at the least will ruin your schedule while you explain why you are right to fly. Preplan the shots, get the drone in the air and get your work done before anyone can interfere.

Thank you again for the good advice.

Yes, many / most of the people who live out in that area now are people who lived in San Francisco and are trying to enjoy nature now. And I agree that pre-planning is always a good practice.
 
Usually, there is only ONE owner of airspace, and here in the USA it is the FAA. That's why it is a felony to shoot down or interfere with any craft flying in US skies, including registered UAVs. Landing and Taking off from certain places have a different set of jailers.
 

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