On Mon, 25 Nov 1996, Dennis Paulson forwarded a Fish and Wildlife Service
News Release:

>Special agents from the Interior Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
>today carried out Federal search and arrest warrants in New Mexico, Arizona,
>and Colorado, ending a 2-year undercover investigation into the killing and
>selling of bald and golden eagles, and other migratory birds. In all,
>approximately 35 individuals and businesses are expected to be charged with
>selling protected migratory bird parts in a highly profitable illegal market.

When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published its proposal to downlist the
bald eagle from endangered to threatened in most of the lower 48 states, one
area stood out as the exception. The bald eagle population in Arizona, New
Mexico, the southeast corner of California within 10 miles of the Colorado
River, and those portions of Texas and Oklahoma that are west of the 100th
meridian. This population was reported to be isolated and suffering from
low survival rates. In this area, the bald eagle was proposed to remain as
endangered.

I know that the news release reported that the illegal take involved migrant
eagles. However, I have a hard time believing that the local, breeding birds,
present on territories during a large portion of the year, were not killed.
The low survival rates within this breeding population may well be due to
the activities of these same people and their illegal trafficking.

Kelly McAllister