Stan Moore's Reply to Audubon Article
Editor's Note: Mr Moore is a member of several falconry and ornithological clubs and organizations including the Raptor Research Foundation, the Western Bird Banding Association, the California Hawking Club, the Association of Field Ornithologists, and the North American Falconers Association, as well as an active member of the environmental organization RangeNet. CERTAIN would like to thank Mr. Moore for sending us this testimonial and permission for inclusion on our website. Thanks Stan!!!
To anyone who may be interested --
Golden eagles have NEVER been an endangered species. They have survived
slaughter by cattle and sheep ranchers to the tune of tens of thousands of
individual birds over the decades and their populations are still stable and
in the arid west goldens are a common raptor.
If Hopis were depleting local populations, they would harvest themselves
right out of a religion, and I have seen no evidence of that. The Audubon
Magazine presented no evidence whatsoever, only the word of some anonymous
officials whose own words destroyed their own credibility.
I have heard recently (but do not know the details) that a telemetry study
of golden eagles in the affected areas will be undertaken. I was told that
a friend of mine, who lives in Arizona, who is very knowledgeable about
golden eagles, and who I believe is also respectful of indigenous peoples,
is to do the study, but I do not know whether he will be working for the
Hopis, the US Government, or whomever. And I do not know how long the study
will last or any more details than that some sort of study will take place.
I do not believe that any long-term population trends can be known without
a long-term study, but it should be possible to get an idea of how many
nesting pairs of golden eagles live in a given area, what their reproductive
success in a given year might be, and similar demographic data on the local
eagle population.
There is no doubt that, historically, plains Indians did kill golden eagles
for their feathers. This practice would be no more barbaric than Jewish
religious practices in Biblical times. If you read your Holy Bible, you
will find that Israelites killed thousands of domestic animals in sacrifice
for sins. They even went to war to displace indigenous residents of the
"Promised Land" (remeber Joshua and the Battle of Jericho -- where the walls
came tumbling down?). Abraham was praised by God for willingness to slay
his only son, Isaac. Was that a barbaric religious activity?
In view of the fact that when the white man arrived, the North American
continent was pristine, full of life and clean air and waters -- it seems
ludicrous that the American Government should take it upon itself to
criticize the spiritual practices of those who inhabited this land BEFORE
white Europeans came and started trashing the place.
Even if Hopis were depleting local eagle populations by taking 40 birds per
year, why doesn't the Fish and Wildlife Service stop the electrocution of
far more eagles each year on power poles and power lines across the country?
Why does the Department of Agriculture continue to fund and operate their
"Wildlife Services" Department, whose agents are paid by the taxpayer to
slay eagles in "depredation zones" so that sheep ranchers can maximize their
profits? In a "depredation zone" (where a sheep rancher complains that a
sheep has supposedly been killed by an eagle) the guilty eagle does not
necessarily get killed by the government agent. ANY EAGLE found in that
area is subject to destruction. And the government agents can kill any and
all eagles they find in that area, even if the sheep in reality died of
natural causes and were never proven to have been killed by an eagle in the
first place.
Obviously, something is wrong with the US Government and with the Audubon
Society. Both ignore far greater threats to golden eagles so they can stop
age-old religious practices of a tiny group of people living in an area
where most white people would never visit even if they could.
Why is none of this really surprising?
Stan Moore San Geronimo, CA hawkman11@hotmail.com