← Back to Valentine National Wildlife Refuge

Drone Rules for Valentine National Wildlife Refuge

Valentine, Nebraska (NE) • United States
39679 Pony Lake Rd, Valentine, NE 69201, USA
Lat: 42.4866 • Lng: -100.52
Ground Not allowed Last updated: May 30, 2026
Summary
Edit rules/place details on map

USFWS prohibits drones on Valentine NWR. The 72,000-acre Nebraska Sandhills refuge protects one of the largest remaining interior grassland bird communities, including the long-billed curlew and Sprague's pipit.

Drone Rules - Valentine NWR, Nebraska

Drones are prohibited under USFWS Director's Order 210.

Airspace / Site Context

  • 71,516 acres of lakes, marshes, and Sandhills prairie; the Sandhills grassland ecosystem is one of North America's most intact temperate grasslands
  • Long-billed curlew and Sprague's pipit (candidate species) nest in the upland grasslands; drone overflights during incubation cause nest desertion
  • Valentine Municipal (VTN) Class G; no controlled airspace within the refuge

Key Rules

  • Nesting season buffer (May-July): USFWS requests 600-ft lateral buffer from known curlew nesting territories
  • Extremely remote; no cell service in most of the refuge -- download B4UFLY offline before departing Valentine
  • USFWS Special Use Permit required; grassland bird research permits require USFWS Mountain-Prairie Region approval

Source

Map is not loaded yet
Load the map only when you need to view the rule outline.
This shows the latest mapped outline for this rules page. Click a shape to view its note when available.
Rule sources
Parent Rule Pages