Connecticut Audubon bans drones at sanctuaries

The Connecticut Audubon Society announced Tuesday that it has banned the use of drones at all 19 of its sanctuaries because of concerns that they are likely to disturb wildlife and annoy visitors.

In establishing this policy, the organization believes it is the first in the state and one of the first in the nation to ban drones.

Although there has been only one recent incident of a drone at a Connecticut Audubon sanctuary, the organization is instituting the ban in anticipation of increasing drone use across the nation, the organization said in a news release.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced last week that almost 300,000 drone owners registered their unmanned aircraft in the first 30 days after the FAA’s new online registration system went into effect last year.

The Connecticut Audubon Society’s 19 sanctuaries are located in Fairfield, Westport, Weston, Redding, New Milford/Bridgewater, Hampton, Milford, Pomfret, Gosh- en, Haddam, East Haddam, Montville, Middletown and Stonington.

“No creature — great or small, human or wildlife — visits our sanctuaries hoping to be buzzed by a drone,” said Alexander Brash, president of the society. “We are taking this action to protect the birds and animals that consider our sanctuaries home, and to ensure that our sanctuaries are also a place of respite for our human guests too.”

Peter Kunkel, chairman of the society’s board of directors, noted that motor boats and vehicles are already prohibited at its sanctuaries, “so banning drones is the logical next step.”

“We believe our sanctuaries are where the state’s wildlife should have a chance to live unharassed, and where humans should be able to enjoy the peace and quiet of nature,” he said.

In addition to its 19 sanctuaries, which cover 2,600 acres, The Connecticut Audubon Society has centers in Fairfield, Milford, Old Lyme, Glastonbury, Hampton and Pomfret.