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Montana man convicted of sending golden eagle feathers to South Dakota
Rapid City Journal ^ | 2-17-2023 | Shalom Baer Gee

Posted on 02/18/2023 5:32:57 AM PST by Saije

Afederal jury found a Hardin, Montana man guilty of selling eagle feathers in South Dakota Tuesday.

The jury found that Harvey Hugs, 59, is guilty of three counts of violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act in 2020 after a two-day trial at the federal courthouse in Rapid City.

The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act was enacted in 1940. The act prohibits the possession, use and sale of eagles or their feathers and parts. Exceptions to the act include the use of eagles by Native Americans. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service operates the National Eagle Repository as a clearinghouse for eagles and eagle parts to provide Native Americans with eagle feathers for religious and cultural use.

For violating the act, Hugs faces a maximum penalty of two years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, one year of supervised release, and a $300 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office press release.

According the U.S. Attorney's Office, Montana authorities received information in February 2020 that Hugs was involved in trafficking golden eagle feathers. Between Aug. 20, 2020 and Nov. 3, 2020, law enforcement used recorded phones call and text messages in which Hugs offered to sell various eagle feathers.

On two separate occasions, he sold golden eagle tails for several hundred dollars each. On a third occasion, Hugs sold a set of golden eagle wings and a gold eagle tail for $1,000. He then shipped the feathers to South Dakota.


(Excerpt) Read more at rapidcityjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: conviction; crime; eagle; goldeneagle; montana
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To: HartleyMBaldwin

Didnt present any problems for you as long as you didn’t show it around


21 posted on 02/18/2023 6:27:11 AM PST by Nifster ( EI see puppy dogs in the clouds )
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To: Jolla

I looked this guy up and he is a Crow Indian.

Not sure what this is really about, unless he made it too much of a business.


22 posted on 02/18/2023 6:28:31 AM PST by Andy from Chapel Hill (Wind energy windmills remove the energy from the wind, which causes global warming.)
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To: Dr. Sivana
Thank you Sir!


23 posted on 02/18/2023 6:39:27 AM PST by Golden Eagle (The LGBT indoctrination agenda is designed to outlaw the Bible, and anyone who believes it.)
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To: Nifster

It was also of no real use to me, especially if I had to keep it hidden. The risk was greater than the reward.


24 posted on 02/18/2023 6:52:22 AM PST by HartleyMBaldwin
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To: cyclotic

I startled one by my rural mailbox eating a dead armadillo.

A bald eagle eating road kill! I had to look it up. They do so occasionally.

Kind of symbolic regarding our country today.


25 posted on 02/18/2023 6:53:05 AM PST by Alas Babylon! (Gov't declaring misinformation is tyranny: “Who determines what false information is?” )
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To: Bonemaker

Yet in New York City, thrash some old Asian lady or hold up a bodega at gunpoint and you’re out in half a day.


26 posted on 02/18/2023 6:54:44 AM PST by Alas Babylon! (Gov't declaring misinformation is tyranny: “Who determines what false information is?” )
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To: Saije

I remember that funny story a number of years ago about a hardcore Hillary Clintoon (with her daughter Chelsea jogging nearby) supporter presenting the former “next president of the United States” with a dream catcher that had a bald eagle feather attached to it that she claimed she had picked up off the bottom of a bald eagle cage at a zoo. Man! The feces hit the oscillating fan and the woman was in heap big trouble with the Feddies. I hope the lefties always remember that when they present Hillary Clintoon (with her daughter Chelsea jogging nearby) with any gifts. LOL!


27 posted on 02/18/2023 6:55:48 AM PST by FlingWingFlyer (Remember what FJB Brandon said, "...more than half of the women in my administration are women.")
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To: Saije

***The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act was enacted in 1940.***

Uh-uho I am in trouble from back in 1959 when we used to go to an old sheep ranch gate south of HOPE NM. They had lots of dead coyotes strung on the fence posts and one day they had a mountain lion and two dead golden eagles!

We pulled off some feathers to fletch our home made arrows.

I mentioned this a few years back on a NM FB page and one old boy got fighting mad at me!
I got thrown off that “no kill” web page when some idiot woman wanted someone to safely remove and transplant a wasp nest without hurting the wasps.
When I said what you do with wasps was “KILL THEM!” and was suddenly no longer a member of that group.


28 posted on 02/18/2023 7:10:56 AM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (“No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.”)
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To: Alas Babylon!

I was white water rafting n Tennessee and saw an eagle swoop, catch a fish, then sit on a log eating it.


29 posted on 02/18/2023 7:13:04 AM PST by NickRails
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To: Saije

He shoulda painted them silver.


30 posted on 02/18/2023 7:22:33 AM PST by Bob434
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To: Saije

Man was out hunting, shooting loons for dinner. Conservation officer spotted him, and ran over yelling “hey, stop right there! You can’t do that, it’s agaisnt the law to shoot loons”

The man answered back “what do you mean? I’ve been eating loons for years and Noone ever told me not too!”

Conservation officer said well I’m telling you now- its agaisnt the law”

Man says “OK officer, it won’t happen again”

Officer says “jusy out of curiosity, what do loons taste like?”

Man says “meh, they ain’t bad, but they aren’t as good as golden eagles”


31 posted on 02/18/2023 7:26:00 AM PST by Bob434
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To: Jolla

[[when the feds show up, identify as an American Indian.]]

And if they question you about it, jusy tell them you are related to Elizabeth fauxcahontis Warren. 😆


32 posted on 02/18/2023 7:29:10 AM PST by Bob434
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To: Saije

good question.

https://www.animallaw.info/intro/bald-golden-eagle-protection-act-bgepa#:~:text=In%201940%2C%20Congress%20passed%20a%20law%20to%20protect,also%20their%20feathers%2C%20nests%2C%20eggs%2C%20or%20body%20parts.

A. The Bald Eagle Becomes a Ward of the Federal Government
Congressional attention first focused on the eagle in the late 1930’s. It became well known that the bald eagle was declining at an alarming rate.

The decline of bald eagle populations was first noticed in the late 1930’s. Throughout the United States and Canada bald eagle populations dwindled. In several areas breeding populations disappeared entirely. A variety of causes was suspected for the decline, including loss of habitat, illegal shooting, pesticides, electrocution from high voltage lines, and other human disturbances.

Tina S. Boradiansky, Conflicting Values: The Religious Killing of Federally Protected Wildlife , 30 Nat. Resources J. 709 (1990).

In 1940, Congress acted to prevent what seemed to be the inevitable destruction of the Nation’s symbol. The purpose behind the enactment of the 1940 version of the Bald Eagle Act, as it was then known, can be explained through the words from the Acting Secretary of Agriculture in 1939:

It is apparent to this Department from its long observations with respect to the wildlife of this country that there are those in any community in which an eagle may appear who are immediately seized with a determination to kill it for no other reason than that it is an eagle and a bird of large proportions. It is equally apparent that if the destruction of the eagle and its eggs continues as in the past this bird will wholly disappear from much the larger part of its former range and eventually will become extinct.

From an esthetic point of view there can be no question as to the desirability of protecting the eagle. Its status as the emblem of the sovereignty of the United States settles that; the bird should be a ward of the National Government . Real lovers of nature, of which there are millions in this country now, count it a red-letter day when they see an eagle, and they are united in support of legislation such as is proposed in this bill. They would regret beyond expression to see the now evident process of extinction of this bird continue and fervently hope that it can be checked for all time by the Congress of the United States.


Note this is the bald eagle, not the golden eagle. Golden included in 62 amendment.

The above is the official statement. Might be other factors at the time.


33 posted on 02/18/2023 7:32:27 AM PST by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: Saije

Timeline

1782: The Founding Fathers at the Second Continental Congress adopted the bald eagle as the symbol of the United States. The United States had approximately 100,000 nesting eagles.[9]

1921: The magazine Ecology articulated the possible extinction of the bald eagle.[10]

1930: Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) was first discovered[10]

1940: Congress enacted legislation known as the Bald Eagle Protection Act. This act prohibited selling, killing, or possessing the species [9]

1950: The bald eagle was beginning to recover from human persecution [10]

1952: Bald eagle protection extended to include Alaska [9]

1962: Congress amended the act, extending the ban to the golden eagle and the law became the Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BEPA). This law protects the bird’s feathers, eggshells, and body parts. In addition, it protects their nesting trees.[9] Bald eagles are significant to Native American tribes and therefore BEPA gave an exception for Indian religious purposes. [11]

1963: Due to shooting, DDT poisoning, and loss of habitat, the bald eagle was in danger of extinction. Within 48 states, there were only 487 nesting pairs of bald eagles.[9]

1972: The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act was amended again with several different aspects such as increasing the civil penalties for violating provisions increased to a maximum fine of $5,000 and less than one year of imprisonment for first conviction. If second conviction occurs, a maximum fine of $10,000 and less than two years of imprisonment will take place.[11] DDT is banned in the United States, which resulted in the initial step of recovery for the bald eagle.[9]

1994: An executive issue was ordered by President Clinton which recognized the administrative delays and difficulties in obtaining eagle parts from the federal repository. Clinton also urged the relevant agencies to restructure the application process and continue the effort to obtain eagle parts to distribute to Native Americans.[12]

1995: The bald eagle’s status altered from endangered to threatened[9]

1999: Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) request to remove the bald eagle from the endangered species and threatened list.[9]

2007: FWS and the U.S remove the bald eagle from threatened and endangered species.[9]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_and_Golden_Eagle_Protection_Act


34 posted on 02/18/2023 7:36:50 AM PST by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: PeterPrinciple

1921: The magazine Ecology articulated the possible extinction of the bald eagle.[10]

1930: Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) was first discovered[10]


note the “problem” is “discovered” before the “cause” existed.


35 posted on 02/18/2023 7:41:11 AM PST by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: Saije

Just like any Vulture, get close to one of these and they will projectile vomit all over you. I walked around a tree in the woods once and startled a group eating dead spawned out Salmon and got puked on as they flew off. It took some serious scrubbing to get that stench off my body.


36 posted on 02/18/2023 7:42:30 AM PST by bigfootbob (Arm Up and Live Free!)
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To: PeterPrinciple

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19399170

The whole purpose of the magazine is predicting extinction.

Could not find a prediction regarding wasp.


37 posted on 02/18/2023 7:44:32 AM PST by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: Gay State Conservative

I can see leniency if it dropped from an eagle just flying over and you keep it as a keepsake. This guy was selling parts.


38 posted on 02/18/2023 7:59:26 AM PST by virgil (The evil that men do lives after them )
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To: FlingWingFlyer

This lady was a mid-90s woke babe from Monticello, Illinois. https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1995/08/08/white-house-gift-may-lead-to-jail/


39 posted on 02/18/2023 8:04:23 AM PST by Western Phil
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To: Pontiac

Gotta save the planet...


40 posted on 02/18/2023 8:45:26 AM PST by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes)
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