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Two men indicted for illegal eagle trafficking in the U.S.
NBC Montana ^ | 12 14 2023 | Kylie Gibson

Posted on 12/14/2023 11:09:07 AM PST by yesthatjallen

Two men are facing felony charges for conspiracy and unlawful trafficking of bald and golden eagles.

The federal indictment accuses Simon Paul and Travis John Branson of illegally killing approximately 3,600 birds on the Flathead Indian Reservation, including eagles, and knowingly selling them on the black market across the United States.

According to court documents filed Dec. 7, 2023, during the investigation law enforcement uncovered messages from Branson describing the illegal taking of eagles saying, โ€œout here committing felonies,โ€ and telling buyers he was on a โ€œkilling spree.โ€

SNIP

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


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: eagles
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1 posted on 12/14/2023 11:09:07 AM PST by yesthatjallen
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To: yesthatjallen

They should have just hung around wind farms


2 posted on 12/14/2023 11:13:11 AM PST by refreshed (But we preach Christ crucified... 1 Corinthians 1:23)
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To: refreshed

But natives have been killing eagles for never.

Why complain now.


3 posted on 12/14/2023 11:15:33 AM PST by riverrunner
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To: yesthatjallen; marktwain

Bald & Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA)

https://www.animallaw.info/intro/bald-golden-eagle-protection-act-bgepa

This law is very harsh, and these guys are likely going to prison for a very long time.


4 posted on 12/14/2023 11:27:31 AM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy ("All he had was a handgun. Why did you think that was a threat?" --Rittenhouse Prosecutor)
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To: yesthatjallen

He should have gone to a wind farm and harvested the eagles killed by the turbines.


5 posted on 12/14/2023 11:32:23 AM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: yesthatjallen; dfwgator; Larry Lucido; Kenny Bania

(Simon Paul)

That’s too bad. I really liked “Kodachrome” too.

I guess I can be nostalgic and listen to “The Wreck of the Ella Fitzgerald” - it’s in my book ๐Ÿ“—๐Ÿ“˜๐Ÿ“•: “Astonishing Tales of the Sea”


6 posted on 12/14/2023 11:33:31 AM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: yesthatjallen

My husband, an American Indian, once asked if he could have an eagle feather that had dropped from a caged eagle at a zoo. “Absolutely not. It’s against federal law”, he was told, which is true. He has, on occasion, been given an eagle feather by a member of tribes who were allowed to have them, but he passed them on to other Indians.


7 posted on 12/14/2023 11:35:59 AM PST by Flaming Conservative ((Pray without ceasing))
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To: refreshed
Ironic and sad....

I live in Osage Co..OK.

I am Native...but not Osage.

None the less...the Osage..struck a deal with the Feds....as they built maybe hundreds of windmills...on Osage land.

They could LEGALLY kill Bald Eagles.

Who's to know..how many, Hawks, other Eagles..and Bat's, Monarch Butterflies and song birds these wind mills have killed.....

I am NOT a greeny...I am a hunter and a fisherman. But this crap is wrong....

8 posted on 12/14/2023 11:36:01 AM PST by Osage Orange (I miss Rush)
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To: Flaming Conservative

I use to live on a river and had nesting eagles in a tree not far from my property. They always had feathers dropping around their nest. So stupid we can’t pick them up and put them in our hat.

Kill a baby, no problem. Kill an eagle with a windmill, no problem. Pick up a feather from a living bird, JAIL!!!


9 posted on 12/14/2023 11:37:59 AM PST by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eye)
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To: Organic Panic

Good thing they weren’t trafficking in HUMANS . . .then they’d really be in trouble!

NOT!


10 posted on 12/14/2023 11:41:39 AM PST by oldplayer
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To: Osage Orange
Who's to know..how many, Hawks, other Eagles..and Bat's, Monarch Butterflies and song birds these wind mills have killed.....

Supposedly the Feds know.

Even if they do not pay penalties for the birds killed they are still required to report all bird strikes to the EPA.

11 posted on 12/14/2023 11:46:24 AM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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To: Osage Orange

Agreed


12 posted on 12/14/2023 11:47:32 AM PST by refreshed (But we preach Christ crucified... 1 Corinthians 1:23)
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To: yesthatjallen

But not a peep about all the birds and bats killed by the wind industry!


13 posted on 12/14/2023 11:49:01 AM PST by 9422WMR
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To: Fiji Hill
He should have gone to a wind farm and harvested the eagles killed by the turbines.

Mere possession of a dead Baled Eagle is a felony. If you find one in the wild or under a turbine leave it there, if you take a feather or a claw you could go to jail.

14 posted on 12/14/2023 11:51:25 AM PST by usurper (AI was born with a birth defect.)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

“This law is very harsh, and these guys are likely going to prison for a very long time.”

Good. No, scratch that.

Excellent.


15 posted on 12/14/2023 11:51:27 AM PST by Danie_2023
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To: yesthatjallen

A physician from Corinth, Mississippi, killed hundreds of raptors because they were interfering with his quail hunting hobby. They slapped him on the hand and he skated. I don’t hold out a lot of faith in the Department of the Interior making a case out of this.


16 posted on 12/14/2023 11:53:24 AM PST by vetvetdoug
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

Indians are supposedly good to go with eagles?


17 posted on 12/14/2023 12:10:00 PM PST by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: Pontiac

Yeah....I do not believe a thing the Feds tell me..or anyone else.


18 posted on 12/14/2023 12:29:32 PM PST by Osage Orange (I miss Rush)
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To: Organic Panic

Yep!!....sheet pick up a feather from a dead eagle or owl...you go to jail if they know it


19 posted on 12/14/2023 12:33:28 PM PST by Osage Orange (I miss Rush)
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To: SaveFerris

The Ella Fitzgerald?
Hmmm, not familiar with that song.
Could you provide a link to it?
Must be quite a book you have.


20 posted on 12/14/2023 12:40:51 PM PST by Cuttnhorse
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