Is the Wait Fair?

As I continue to do research, it has become apparent that the one of the reasons people raise questions about the sufficiency of repositories is because of the long wait. With 6000 applicants on a waiting list and only so many birds, the wait can be arduous and rub those forced to wait the wrong way.

While I sympathize with American Indian forced to wait three years to perform a sacred ceremony, the fact remains. While Bald Eagle populations have risen in recent years, at one time they faced the great possibility of extinction. Without the repository program, there could be that 6000 person waitlist and zero birds due to extinction.

Lee Plenty Wolf, a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe in Fort Collins, Colo, waited three years to receive a bald eagle. He had this to say, “More and more of our young people are going back to our spiritual way of life and we can’t do our ceremonies without the eagles”

Mr. Wolf explains it perfectly. A revival of Native American ceremonial traditions creates an enormous demand and there just is not enough eagles to go around.

If we allowed anyone with a gun to obtain eagle permits or even just gave any Native American registered tribe member permit access, Bald eagles and Golden eagles would no doubt face extinction again.

Adjustments to current laws could help. Current federal laws forbid anyone who finds a dead eagle from taking them. Perhaps creating a channel where those that find dead birds can then apply for a permit to keep it; however, that could just open the doors for killing birds and claiming you found them dead.

Ms. Atencio who operates the National Feather Repository warehouse simply said “It’s a double-edged sword. To fill all the requests in a timely manner means we need more dead birds.”

Source Article for Quotes:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/05/us/a-repository-for-eagles-finds-itself-in-demand.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0


CG