National Parks Ban Recreational Drones

It's hard to resist taking drone photos of national parks even though it's illegal.
It’s hard to resist taking drone photos of national parks even though it’s illegal.

The CBC has navigated a labyrinth of rules and bureaucrats to discover that it’s illegal to fly your hobby drone in a national park.

It’s not really anything new. With the exception of the airstrip in Jasper National Park, it’s illegal to take off or land any kind of aircraft in a park. But with some prodding from the CBC, the hobby drone ban was confirmed.

Banff National Park spokeswoman Christina Tricomi told the network that commercial operators can get special permission to fly a drone for a variety of useful and educational purposes. Selfies are not among them.

“As a result, the recreational use of drones, including model aircraft, is prohibited in national parks,” Tricomi said.

There have been five reported incidents of drones flying at Banff this year.

Getting permission for commercial drone use can be a challenge and there are no uniform guidelines. Each park superintendent can decide whether to allow or deny a flight.

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