Update on Passage Peregrine Take

[FredFogg]

Below is a summary of a report provided by Andrew Bullen to the NAFA Conservation Committee after attending the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) meeting in Washington DC this month.

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As a reminder on December 8, 2008, the USFWS published the Final Environmental Assessment on the Take of Passage Peregrine Falcons for Falconry (FEA-PPT). This will allow for the take of passage northern peregrines may be taken for falconry in the US east of the 100th meridian. Initially, to limit incidental take of resident eastern peregrines, only 36 northern peregrines may be taken annually for falconry under the new program. With the assistance of the state falconry clubs, hopefully we can petition the participating state wildlife agencies and the flyway councils to recommend a relaxation of these restrictions, to allow an increase in the take in the coming years. For the moment we have a 36 bird limit.

The allocation of the take of passage northern peregrines for falconry is delegated to the Flyway Councils. On February 24th, 2009, NAFA conservation committee member Andrew Bullen gave a presentation to the Raptor Committee of the Atlantic Flyway Council’s Non-game Technical Section (AFW-NGTS) on the allocation of passage northern peregrines. The emphasis of the presentation was that state wildlife agencies and the flyway councils should recommend to the USFWS the increase on incidental take of resident eastern peregrine be increased from 1% to 5%. This would allow an increase of the take of northern peregrines from the present 36 birds to 180 birds. Many of the members from participating states expressed an interest in pursuing these recommendations at some point in the near future. We hope to see the Raptor Committee reassess the program after the initial season.

The three flyway councils (Atlantic, Mississippi and Central) responsible for the allocation of take of passage northern peregrines have been in communication with each other and their respective state agencies on the matter for the past six months. Requests for participation in the PPT program were received from eleven state agencies: six states in the Atlantic Flyway (DE, MD, GA, NC, SC and VA), two states in the Mississippi Flyway (AR and MS) and three states in the Central Flyway (NE, OK and TX). Each of these states has assured the flyway councils that they will allow a take of passage peregrines in 2009 and all of the participating states allow non-resident take for falconry. Each of the NGTSs recommended allocations for each of the participating states in their Flyway. For the 2009 season, the following states will be allocated the subsequent number of peregrines for take: (AFC) DE-2, MD-4, GA-4, NC-3, SC-2 and VA-3; (MFC) AR-3 and MS-3; (CFC) OK-2 and TX-10 (NE backed out at the last minute).

During the Flyway Council meetings held on March 17, 2009, the recommendations outlined above were approved by all three Flyway Councils. Dr. George Allen indicated that he would publish the breakdown of the allocation in the Federal Register in the near future; this allocation will likely change for the 2010 season as more states participate in the program. To achieve a more equitable allocation, the falconry community must press for a relaxation of the incidental take restriction on resident peregrines, which will result in a significantly larger annual take limit of northern peregrines for falconry.

Although this is far from a perfect program, NAFA and the falconry community should be proud to see that our long-fought effort has achieved fruition. We hope to see some of these freshly trapped passage peregrines at the 2009 NAFA meet in Woodward, Oklahoma!
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