Drone-friendly Butte

I just returned from a short trip to the Seattle area for an appointment. I brought Nancy along with me for some canine companionship, and I also brought my drone.

I had planned to get some drone photos and video of the Middle Fork Valley, an area in the Cascades that we've always enjoyed visiting with the dogs. But when I tried to get FAA authorization for that area, I was surprised to learn that the entire Middle Fork Valley is a designated Forest Service wilderness area, and drones are not allowed. I knew that drones aren't allowed in National Parks, but I hadn't been aware that they're not allowed in any area that the Forest Service has designated as a wilderness area. And nearly all of the Cascade Mountains in Washington is in Forest Service wilderness areas.

Although I was disappointed to learn that I won't be getting any drone photos of the Middle Fork Valley, I was pleased to find that Frenchman Coulee along the Columbia River, another favorite spot for hiking with our dogs, is not a designated wilderness area, and is in unrestricted airspace.

FYI, everything on the west side of the Columbia River near Vantage is restricted airspace, due to the Yakima Military Training Facility and/or the big windfarm near Kittitas. But along I-90 on the east side of the Columbia River, it's unrestricted Class G airspace.

After digging into this topic a bit more, I found that I've been spoiled living here in Butte, when it comes to flying a drone. We're surrounded by mountains and rugged scenery, with lots of wild animals big and small. We see all of it as wilderness, but the only designated Forest Service wilderness area within 50 miles of Butte is part of the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness Area to the west of us. And we rarely go there.

All of our favorite mountains close to home that we visit most often, including the Highlands, the Boulder Range, the Elkhorn Mountains, the Pioneer Mountains, and the Tobacco Root Mountains, are not in designated Forest Service wilderness areas. That means they're all unrestricted Class G airspace, where you can fly a drone up to 400 feet above ground level without any need to get FAA authorization or approval.

In the map above, the light green areas are Forest Service wilderness areas where drones are never allowed. You can also see the outlines of the controlled airspace around the airports in Missoula, Helena, Butte, Bozeman, Livingston, and Dillon. Within those areas, you need FAA authorization to fly a drone. The rules get complicated close to airports, but in some cases (such as at our house) you can get auto-approved for up to 400 feet unless something special is going on. I covered the details of how that authorization process works in the blog post Cleared For Takeoff.

One other detail to note on the map above is the red circle west of Butte. That's an area where they're currently fighting a forest fire, so it's closed to all air traffic below 10,500 feet, as covered here: https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_5_4771

The vast majority of that map, however, which is roughly 200 miles wide and 150 miles tall, is unrestricted Class G airspace where you can fly a drone without any need for FAA authorization. Yet another reason to live in Butte, America!