The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation are offering a reward for information about the shooting of a young bald eagle, probably in early November, in Saratoga County near Round Lake, N.Y.
; LINE-HEIGHT: 24align=left>
; LINE-HEIGHT: 18ptOn Nov. 25, a deer hunter found the dead eagle in a wooded area between English Road and Round Lake and contacted the DEC, according to the Services Special Agent Robert Garabedian in Albany. A necropsy on the eagle at the DEC Wildlife Pathology Laboratory determined that the eagle had been shot, probably several weeks earlier.
; LINE-HEIGHT: 18
; LINE-HEIGHT: 18ptThe Service and 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 and New York State Environmental Conservation Law for information leading to the conviction of the individual or individuals responsible." Anyone with information should contact the Services Office of Law Enforcement at 518-431-4341 or the New York DEC Division of Law Enforcement at 1-800-TIPP-DEC.
; LINE-HEIGHT: 18
; LINE-HEIGHT: 18ptAlthough bald eagles generally had a good year in New York in 2006, this was not the case in the Adirondacks, where only three young eagles were produced from the 11 known nests. Most unfortunately, this eagle was one of the three hatched this year.
; LINE-HEIGHT: 18
; LINE-HEIGHT: 18ptOnce extirpated from New York and other Northeast states, the bald eagle has made a remarkable comeback in the region and throughout the United States during the past two decades, according to Peter Nye, DEC endangered species unit leader. New York and many surrounding Northeast states went to great expense and effort during the 1980s to restore bald eagles to once-occupied habitats, mostly by importing nestlings from areas like Alaska where eagles are abundant and releasing them in suitable habitat. For more information about New Yorks bald eagles, see http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/wildlife/endspec/eagleprogram.html
; LINE-HEIGHT: 18
; LINE-HEIGHT: 18ptThe 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.
-FWS-
