Photos: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/images/eaglee.jpg
Thttp://www.fws.gov/northeast/images/eaglej.jpg
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a reward for information about the shooting of a bald eagle -- probably early last winter -- in St. Lawrence County near Rossie, N.Y.
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; An individual found the dead eagle in late March in a field at the intersection of County Route 10 (Genesee Trail) and County Route 3 (Rossie-Oxbow Road) near the St. Lawrence-Jefferson county line, according to Service Special Agent Bob Garabedian of Albany. The eagle was seen alive in the same area several times in November.
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; "The eagle may have been shot sometime in December and then covered by snowfall until recently," Garabedian said. Although the eagles body was decomposed, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Wildlife Pathology Laboratory determined that the eagle was shot.
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; The Service and New York DEC are investigating the shooting. "We need assistance from anyone who may have seen or heard about what happened," Garabedian said. "We are offering up to $2,500 under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act for information leading to the conviction of the individual or individuals involved ." Anyone with information should contact the Services Office of Law Enforcement at 518-431-4341 or the New York DEC Division of Law Enforcement in Watertown at 315-785-2231.
; The Endangered Species Act prohibits killing, harming or harassing bald eagles and other threatened and endangered wildlife. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and the New York State Environmental Conservation Law also protect bald eagles.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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