Is this post a joke? Just how are they going to catch these peregrines while on migration - fly after them and snatch them out of the air? or perhaps throw nets over them while they are roosting? I believe it is only young birds which can be trained for falconry so what will they do with any adult birds that are caught. Like I said at the start I think this post is a wind up!
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Take of Migrant Peregrine Falcons in
the United States for Use in Falconry
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
SUMMARY: This notice is to announce the
availability of a Draft Environmental
Assessment and Management Plan
(DEA) for take of migrant peregrine
falcons (Falco peregrinus) in the United
States for use in falconry.
DATES: Comments on the Draft
Environmental Assessment and
Management Plan are due by February
11, 2008.
ADDRESSES: The document is available
from, and written comments about it
should be submitted to, Chief, Division
of Migratory Bird Management, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 North
Fairfax Drive, Room 634, Arlington, VA
22203–1610. The fax number for a
request or for comments is 703–358–
2272. You can request a copy of the
DEA by calling 703–358–1714. The DEA
also is available on the Division of
Migratory Bird Management Web site at
http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.
George Allen, Division of Migratory Bird
Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, at 703–358–1714.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
peregrine falcon is found almost
worldwide. It is found throughout much
of North America from the subarctic
boreal forests of Alaska and Canada
south to Mexico. The Arctic peregrine
falcon (F. p. tundrius) nests in the
tundra of Alaska, Canada, and
Greenland, and is typically a longdistance
migrant, wintering as far south
as South America. The American
peregrine falcon (F. p. anatum) occurs
throughout much of North America
from the subarctic boreal forests of
Alaska and Canada south to Mexico.
The American peregrine falcon nests
from central Alaska, central Yukon
Territory, and northern Alberta and
Saskatchewan, east to the Maritimes and
south throughout western Canada and
the United States to Baja California,
Sonora, and the highlands of central
Mexico. However, it is not found in
areas of the Pacific Northwest occupied
by the Peales’s peregrine falcon (F. p.
pealei), a year-round resident of the
northwest Pacific coast from northern
Washington to the Aleutian Islands.
Peregrine falcons declined
precipitously in North America
following World War II, a decline
attributed largely to organochlorine
pesticides, mainly DDT, applied in the
United States and Canada. Because of
the decline, we listed the Arctic and
American peregrine falcon subspecies
were listed as endangered under the
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq. on October 13, 1970 (35 FR
16047).
We removed the Arctic peregrine from
the Federal List of Endangered and
Threatened Wildlife on October 5, 1994
(59 FR 50796) but still regulated this
species under the Act in the contiguous
U.S. due to the similarity of appearance
provision for all peregrine falcons; the
American peregrine falcon remained
listed as endangered. However, on
August 25, 1999, we removed the
American peregrine from the list (64 FR
46541) because the subspecies had
considerably exceeded the recovery
goals set for it in most areas.
Anticipating delisting, in June 1999,
the States, through the International
Association of Fish and Wildlife
Agencies, had proposed allowing take of
migrant peregrines for falconry. In an
October 4, 1999, Federal Register notice
(64 FR 53686), we stated that we would
consider a conservative level of take of
migrant peregrine falcons in the United
States. The DEA we announce in this
notice is required as part of our
consideration of allowing the take of
migrant peregrines.
In the DEA, we considered six
alternatives to address potential take of
migrant peregrine falcons in the United
States and Alaska. Under the No-Action
Alternative, no legal take of migrant
peregrine falcons for falconry could
occur. We also evaluated alternatives
that would allow take in different
locations and at different times.
The preferred alternative is to allow
take of peregrine falcons between
September 20th and October 20th from
areas of the continental areas south of
31degrees North latitude and east of 100
degrees West longitude, and within the
State of Alaska. The allowed take would
be consistent with management goals
outlined in the DEA, and would be very
unlikely to have negative effects on any
portion of the populations of peregrine
falcons in North America or Greenland.
Most of the alternatives would require
reductions in the allowed take of
nestling American peregrine falcons in
the 12 western States in which it is
allowed. We propose to allow the
decisions on allocation of the reduced
take of nestlings to the States
themselves, with the recommendations
made through the Flyway Councils.
Kenneth Stansell,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
