Cleaning this up is part of the FAA Reauthorization bill that Obama is signing. The FAA is being tasked to integrate unmanned flight into the national airspace system.

At the moment, each flight must have either a ground spotter or a chase plane in order to provide the see-and-avoid capability that is a requirement for all flights in visual conditions.

One reason I am not as pessimistic as some others is that the private pilot brigade, through AOPA and others, is extremely political and vocal. To generalise, they epitomise the self-reliant, freedom characteristics often associated with America.

There is no way they are going to accept that their freedom to fly wherever they want is being restricted just to accommodate drones. Expect an increasingly vocal campaign over the next several years.