Bob Wick Wilderness Specialist Washington Office rwick@blm.gov UAS and Wilderness June 2017
FAA has jurisdiction over airspace Land mgmt. agencies regulate takeoff/landing and ground-based human control of UAS on lands under our jurisdiction. Work through FAA for air-based restrictions (such as during wildfire incidents) Part 107 Fed. Aviation Regs. (FAR) released in 2016 regulates use of UAS between 0.5 and 55 lb. Must fly below 400 feet, line of sight, daylight only, under 100 mph, Class G airspace; otherwise additional authorization/faa waiver needed Pilots Recreational: age 13 and over, no training or certification required -- Commercial: need to pass ground school certification test & be licensed anyone getting compensation is commercial to FAA commercial for wilderness act purposes Airspace, Jurisdiction and UAS/Drones
Sectional Charts -- Pilot Maps ID airspace classes, restricted airspace, ground hazards, airport info etc. IDs National Parks, Refuges, BLM and FS Wilderness (incomplete) FAA Advisory Circular 91-36D Fly 2000 ft AGL above Fed protected areas (incl. Wilderness) Downside: Not used much in UAS world, at least by Rec. pilots
Apps for UAS Users Used by recreational and commercial UAS users (B4UFLY, AIRMAP, Hover etc) Show no-fly zones NPS Units (especially parks) restrictions well covered FWS, BLM &FS wilderness not up to date. Wilderness not shown as no fly areas DOI OAS open to agency input/data to share with FAA, apps and manufacturers restrictions must be clearly based on law Example B4UFLY app screens
Public UAS Use Within Wilderness Casual public use on-ground control prohibited within wilderness (motorized use). Aircraft so no takeoffs/landings or dropping materials Wilderness overflights from adjoining BLM lands. Some tools avail no agency wide UAS specific policy or limits: -- Manual 1626 Travel and transportation includes craft travelling on or immediately over the ground Long-term intent to have specific UAS-based implementation, not to fit UAS into existing OHV designations -- 43 CFR 8320 Supplementary rules and temporary restrictions in specific locations What about UAS operating from pvt lands impacting visitors, wildlife etc? Remember UAS appropriate on many BLM lands!
Partner, Contractor & Permittee Use NGOs, universities etc. doing non-commercial work to benefit wilderness? Prohibited use so MRDG, NEPA required. OPERATIONAL CONTROL is the key word regarding agency liability and whether partner/contractor needs to meet agency/oas aircraft & pilot requirements For safety & liability treat like an aircraft regarding approval for use work with aviation folks NGOs, non profits & volunteer organizations doing work directed by BLM? Work with your unit aviation mgr. Volunteers treated like employees. No UAS use in near future since training won t be available Commercial Use: outfitters, comm. filming etc. (prohibited use + commercial use = not permitted in wilderness) Grazing = Congressional Grazing Guidelines. Emergencies etc.
DOI Largest govt. UAS user (excepting DOD) and given most latitude by FAA DOI OAS (Office of Aviation Services) Procures/owns all department aircraft and certifies all DOI pilots Field employee certification & use has expanded greatly in last year DOI UAS Overview Need FAA commercial and DOI pilot certificate -- via a 32 hour course and check flight DOI OPM Manual 11 is policy manual for UAS use. Most Common DOI approved UAS System for field locations = 3DR Solo Approx. 5 lb., 15 minutes per battery, Could carry unit and batteries into wilderness ½ mile range Holds a variety of small camera payloads (must be approved by OAS too) Project scale for these UAS s is in the hundreds of acres not for large-scale surveys
BLM UAS Program Highest number of pilots in DOI, about ½ of DOI missions Centralized pilots till past year 70 pilots trained & BLM has own course meets DOI requirements + also advanced data collection & mgmt. courses. Must fly under DOI OPM 11 & BLM National, state, district aviation plans Develop plan specific to project -- Project Aviation Safety Plan PASP PASP signed off on by authorized officer (usually District Manager) & reviewed by Unit Aviation Mgr. -- PASP focus is safety, mission requirements and airspace, not resource values such as wilderness -- Wilderness Specialist must make sure Authorized Officer, Unit Aviation Manager, pilot and others involved with project are up to speed on what is allowed & needed -- Landing/controlling within wilderness prohibited use and requires MRDG and NEPA -- Flying over wilderness requires MRDG and EA (or CX depending on impacts to wilderness character) UAS are often minimum requirement best option Think of them as any tool -- Option to helicopters, motorized vehicle use, putting crew in harms way etc.
Bob Wick rwick@blm.gov 916-216-7704