Wilmington, New York - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today notified Adirondack Wildlife Refuge co-founder Wendy Hall that it has reviewed her request for reconsideration of her pending permit denials and determined that reversal of its decision is not appropriate due to multiple ongoing violations of federal and state laws.
Hall, owner of Adirondack Wildlife Refuge and Rehabilitation Center, previously held state and federal permits to rehabilitate and exhibit migratory birds and mammals for a number of years. Her federal migratory bird rehabilitation and exhibition permits, authorized under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, expired in November 2018.
In its denial of Hall’s request for reconsideration, the Service cited her repeated failure to comply with applicable federal and state regulations and guidelines and follow through on agreements to comply with the required remedies to correct permit deficiencies from 2014 to 2018. These include the need to maintain accurate records on the intake of migratory birds for rehabilitation purposes; the period of time such birds were within her care (not to exceed 180 days); the final disposition of those birds; and not reporting to the Service within 24 hours bald eagles that were submitted to the facility.
Hall now has 45 days to appeal the Service’s decision.
Since 2014, Service Migratory Bird program staff have been working with Hall to resolve compliance issues under her permits. Attempts to resolve these problems, however, have been unsuccessful. During a routine site visit, for example, Service staff discovered a bald eagle at the facility that had not been reported to the Service as required.
“This is not a step we take lightly – which is why we’ve been working with Ms. Hall since 2014 to remedy these ongoing compliance issues. Unfortunately, we did not succeed in this case,” said Scott Johnston, acting chief of the Service’s Division of Migratory Birds. Johnston said the Service has issued permits to more than 1,200 wildlife rehabilitators nationally, including 372 wildlife rehabilitators within the 13-state North Atlantic-Appalachian region, who have complied with the legal requirements without negatively impacting their ability to care for and return migratory birds to the wild, whenever possible.
The State of New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, has taken similar actions to deny and/or revoke the state permits that would allow Hall to rehabilitate migratory birds at the facility. The two agencies are coordinating closely in this matter. Hall is required to release to the wild any healthy native animals that have completed rehabilitation, transfer animals needing care to another licensed wildlife rehabilitator in the state, and surrender migratory birds that are federally protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, since she is no longer authorized to possess migratory birds for rehabilitation and exhibition.
