so this is kind of embarrassing. i was out hiking last weekend and i brought my mini 3 pro and just flew it over what i thought was regular forest. got home, looked at the footage, and realized from the landmarks that at least part of my flight was over the edge of a national park. i genuinely did not know, i didn't check the map beforehand which i know i know. nothing happened and nobody said anything to me but now im reading stuff online about how the NPS has a blanket ban on drones unless you have a permit and im just wondering how serious this actually is in practice. like is this something that people get fined for regularly or is it mostly if a ranger physically catches you in the act

technically yeah its a violation and the fines can be pretty significant if you get caught, ive seen people post about $5000 fines which seems insane but apparently it can go that high. that said if nothing happened and you didnt post the footage anywhere publicly you're probably not going to hear anything about it. the enforcement is mostly reactive, like if a ranger sees you or someone reports you. just dont do it again and maybe dont post the footage anywhere that shows the location

always always check before you fly man, B4UFLY or even just looking at a sectional chart takes five minutes. national parks are a hard no across the board, no exceptions without going through the park service directly for a permit and those are rarely given out. the rule exists partly because drones were legitimately stressing out wildlife in some parks. anyway since nothing came of it you're probably fine but id be more careful going forward especially since the mini 3 is small but its not invisible and the sound carries a lot further than people expect