As Dan has pointed out, the state clubs should be, and in most cases are, the primary movers when it comes to getting the new federal regulations enacted. However, what about states with only a handful of falconers and no state club? West Virginia, Vermont, Rhode Island, to name a few, with no organized club to spearhead the effort the burden falls on the shoulders of just a few individuals. Then there are states with many falconers and organized clubs, but for for various reasons, whether legislative, administrative, or budgetary, the effort to get the regulations changed is stalled, or worse not even initiated. These are the states that need assistance in moving forward.

By 2012 there will be 26 states up and running under the new regs which leaves just two years to get the other 23 states on board. I know from personal experience that it took three years to get the new regs through the system here in New Mexico. So, for the states where the process is foundering it could well be that come January 2014 - the deadline for compliance - some of these 23 states will lose falconry as a legal means of hunting. That plain and simple fact is reason enough for all of us to focus our attention on getting all of the states on board with the new regulations as soon as possible. Imagine having falconry illegal in a patchwork of states across the nation, not just the inconvenience of having to alter your travel plans to avoid transporting your hawk through that state, it provides more foothold to have falconry made illegal in other states, maybe yours....

This is the most important issue facing falconry today and should not be taken lightly by anyone who plans on flying birds in the future.