Drone Near Old Sacramento Draws Attention Of State Parks Workers

SACRAMENTO – With a recently purchased light weight drone, and a few flight lessons, Scott Yates' camera buzzed through the skies, sweeping across Old Town and whizzed up the Sacramento river to capture his family's afternoon.

"To get sort of that capstone image of some great aerial footage of where we spent our day," Yates said.

But that flight was quickly grounded when a park ranger spotted the drone.

"He advised me that flying a drone in a California State Park was illegal and whether he said it or not it was pretty clearly evident that I wasn't allowed to fly there anymore," he said.

After doing some digging, Yates realized that may not be the case exactly.

"It was felt that it was possibly an unsafe activity," said Matt Bellah, District Superintendent with California State Parks, Capitol Division

Ranger Bellah confirmed it's not necessarily illegal. He said there's currently no law against flying drones in this district, but there are regulations for safety concerns.

"I don't necessarily think the guy was in the wrong. I think the ranger was just doing a good job making sure our visitors and resources were safe," he said.

Before Yates took to the skies, he used an FAA approved website to see where it was safe to fly.

"I wanted to be within the right side of the law. I live very close to Executive Airport, so I knew that was off limits," Yates said.

Right now most commercial use of drones is banned by the FAA. Recreational use is permitted under some basic guidelines.

• Drones should fly no higher than 400 feet.
• Operators must keep their drones in their sight.
• Drones must stay five miles away from airports.
• Must be 25 feet away from people.
• Should not fly over sensitive areas like water treatment plants, highways, or prisons.

The FAA is currently working on new regulations for commercial drone use and should have rules in place by the end of the summer.

"I think drones really have a place in our society whether it's for aerial photography for enthusiast, or delivering packages for Amazon one day, but the rules have to be smart," Yates said.