Local Drone / UAV laws

WA/AZ/ND: Current as of January 2025 Audited October 2026 — federal and state rules re-checked. Local contacts, phone numbers and call notes below were not re-verified.

Federal State Counties Cities Clubs Codes & Links

Key: struck-out = old/outdated (to be deleted)  |  green = new/updated.

Federal — FAA basics

Airports - see FAA rules below

Part 107 - Recreational Rules:

Recreational flyers (49 U.S.C. §44809): pass the free TRUST test (no expiration) and carry proof. Part 107 certificate is for work/compensated flights.

Registration required over 250 g (0.55 lb) — FAA DroneZone, $5 for 3 years; mark the registration number on the aircraft.

Remote ID required for registered drones (enforced since March 16, 2024) — built-in or broadcast module. FAA Remote ID

Federal — Public land & airports

National Parks restricted without permit generally prohibited (36 CFR 1.5); permits only for narrow official/scientific uses
US Forest Service open generally open, but not in designated Wilderness, near wildfires, or where a local forest order closes it
Arlington Municipal Airport (KAWO) Marty Wray (360-403-3477) see airport page for current contact

Federal — Recreational rules

  • Fly at or below 400 feet and stay away from surrounding obstacles
  • Keep your UAS within sight
  • Never fly near other aircraft, especially near airports
  • Never fly over groups of people
  • Fly only during daylight or civil twilight (twilight and night flying require anti-collision lighting visible for 3 statute miles)
  • Never fly over stadiums or sports events
  • Never fly near emergency response efforts such as fires
  • Never fly under the influence of drugs or alcohol
  • Understand airspace restrictions and requirements (use the FAA B4UFLY app or a LAANC-enabled app for controlled airspace authorization); estricted in emergency response or disaster areas. temporary flight restrictions apply over emergency response and disaster areas.
  • DC No Drone Zone (15 mile radius of Reagan airport; inside the 30-mile DC SFRA)

Federal — Stadiums & new rules

Flying UAS in and around stadiums is prohibited starting one hour before and ending one hour after the scheduled time of any of the following events:

  • Major League Baseball
  • National Football League
  • NCAA Division One Football
  • NASCAR Sprint Cup, Indy Car, and Champ Series races NASCAR Cup Series and IndyCar races (verify current wording in the FAA stadium NOTAM). Specifically, UAS operations are prohibited within a radius of three nautical miles of the stadium or venue.

FCC Covered List (Dec 22, 2025): new foreign-made drone models (DJI, Autel, etc.) can no longer get FCC authorization. Drones already owned and previously authorized models stay legal to own, fly and sell.

Part 108 (BVLOS) rule proposed but not final as of this audit — beyond-visual-line-of-sight still needs a waiver/exemption.

State — Washington

WA State Parks and Campgrounds restricted without permit written permission from the park director or designee required (WAC 352-32-130); carry it while flying
Commercial drone operators must also register with WSDOT Aviation (since April 2022).
WA trails association North Centennial Trail Trailhead
2 articles that provide guidance on drones
WA State Patrol (360-654-1204)
Not their jurisdiction (verify)
State Trails should be OK OK
Centennial Trail can't fly on this trail Restricted

County — Snohomish

Snohomish County nothing listed on website
Snohomish County Sheriff (425-388-3393) Called; not their priority but would engage if there is any civil disobedience issues.
Snohomish County Parks and Rec (425-388-6600) County Code 22.16.080 (link is old — re-verify on the current county code site); no RC vehicles Restricted
Not all parks have NFZ posted
No enforcement; Park Rangers would be the enforcers for county codes
Tom Teigen tom.teigen@snoco.org (park director); emailed on 10/25
Rich Patton 425-388-6618 (operations supervisor)
never cited drones in parks
rangers are instructed to advise and warn until mid-2018
Snohomish and Stanwood are looking to add city drone laws
recommended emailing the director indicating the need for a drone park.
Rich purchased the drone at River Meadows park and was told by their legal department not to fly.
He owns a Phantom 2 or 3 and hasn't flown it in 18 months.
The trails association covers most of the unpaved trails that aren't covered by the national, state or county. He wasn't aware their site seemed to cover the Centennial trail which inferred drone usage.
I gave him an overview of the capabilities and software locks of the DJI and Yuneec drones. He was very interested and wondered if that could be utilized in a future drone use/non-use process. Example: have the parks get registered as a warning zone which would require the user to apply for a 2 day pass/waiver to fly. 2017–2018 call notes struck — re-confirm with county parks before flying.
River Meadows Park (360-435-3441) Rangers station have a drone but were told to not fly it and didn't know the reason why. See Rich Patton comments
Nakashima Barn (360-435-3441)
Twin Rivers Park (360-403-3448) County park, but maintained by City of Arlington
see Arlington PD statement
Gissberg Twin Lakes (425-388-6600) emailed ; no response; called them, referred me to Rich Patton
allows RC motorboat racing on select days; found out the RC club pays for this usage and would likely be grandfathered in.

County — Skagit & Whatcom

Skagit County nothing listed on website
Skagit County Sheriff (360-336-9450)
Skagit County Parks and Rec (360-416-1350)
County Code 9.41.200; no RC vehicles Restricted
Whatcom County Whatcom County Sheriff (360-778-6600)
Whatcom County Parks and Rec (360-778-5850)
No county code

County — King

King County King County Parks and Recreation
Marymoor Park Airfield MAR/C club membership required.

City — Arlington

City of Arlington (360-403-3421) No city code
Kristin Banfield emailed FAA link and newsletter with FAA rules
Arlingon PD (360-403-3400) No enforceable city rules
No citations given out
They won't respond to a drone sighting unless it involves:
Criminal behavior (privacy, harassment, property damage, etc) which is still enforceable.
Appreciated the call and education
City parks should be OK OK

City — Parks at a glance

Marysville
Municipal Code: 6.82.145; no RC vehicles
One post about drones in the online forumRestricted
Everett (425-257-8700)
Municipal Code: 9.06.140; no RC vehiclesRestricted
Seattle - no flying in city parksRestricted
Bellevue - no flying in city parksRestricted
Port of Anacortes
No city code
Seafarers Park - FAA rules
Cap Sante Marina - FAA rulesShould be OK

City — No city code (parks should be OK)

Washington Snohomish: Monroe - no city code
Snohomish: Lake Stevens - no city code
Snohomish: Mukilteo - no city code
Snohomish: Stanwood - no city code ; seeking a drone code per Rich Patton
Snohomish: Snohomish - no city code ; seeking a drone code per Rich Patton
Snohomish: Granite Falls - no city code
Skagit: La Conner - no city code
Skagit: Mt. Vernon - no city code
Skagit: Burlington - no city code
Whatcom: Bellingham - no city code
City parks should be OK OK (city code status not re-verified in 2026 — check municipal code first)
North Dakota / Arizona ND: Bismarck - no city code
ND: Fargo - no city code
ND: Grand Forks - no city code
ND: Mandan - no city code
ND: Minot - no city code
AZ: Mesa - no city code
City parks should be OK OK

Clubs

Diehard RC Emailed Brett Wilson; replied that UAV drones are able to take off and land from the RC field. FAA rules apply. FAA rules apply; confirm field policy and AMA membership with the club.
Evergreen Radio Modelers IMed on Facebook 10/10/17, no response
Club enforced
AMA license and Club fees

Codes & Links

Code lookup www.mrsc.org
www.codebook.com
www.codepublishing.com
www.municode.com
By state Washington
North Dakota; no state park laws
Arizona; restricted in state parks without a permit
state law to preventing city's from making separate regulations. Verify any city-level drone ordinance against the local municipal code.
Stories & news ND leads in drone research
WA proposed bill to restrict drones over private property
FCC Covered List — foreign-made drones (Dec 2025)
FAA UAS home · Part 107
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