I urge readers to check out two papers by Kati Kovacs at Rutgers Law School. She formerly worked in DOJ ENRD. She just published Eagles, Indian Tribes, and the Free Exercise of Religion is available online, http://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2863&context=llr, and has a forthcoming piece on Hobby Lobby and the Eagle Act, entitled Hobby Lobby and the Zero-Sum Game, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2484613.
Eagle Acts
News Profile of USFWS Decisionmaking Process in Question of Bald Eagles and Wind Turbines
Here.
An excerpt:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is considering eliminating most public oversight of wind turbine impacts on protected bald and golden eagles by offering developers 30-year permits to kill eagles by accident, as opposed to the current 5-year permits. What’s more, they’re shaping the implementation of that proposed policy change in a series of private “stakeholders'” meetings to which the public is not invited.
American Bird Conservancy letter here.
USFWS Video on Importance of Eagles to American Indians
Here. From the description:
Reginald Dale Akeen pleaded guilty in December 2009 to a felony violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. He admitted he offered to sell a fan made of juvenile golden eagle feathers, also known as “black and whites,” to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service undercover agent and that he contacted an accomplice who agreed to sell a nine-feather black and white fan. As part of his plea agreement, Akeen agreed to speak on video about the significance of the feathers of eagles and other birds to Native Americans and about the fact that he broke the law.
Turtle Talk 