Subject: Falconers and Peregrine Chicks
Date: Dec 6 08:32:20 2002
From: Paul Webster - paul.webster at attbi.com


Should the Washington State Wildlife Commission allow falconers to take
up to 5% of peregrine chicks (or eyasses, as they're known in the arcane
language of falconry)? I'm aware that falconers are already taking
peregrine chicks -- one of the Seattle chicks was taken in spring 2002,
according to a relative of the falconer in question. So the question
might be phrased better this way: Should the state bless an illegal
practice that is already current? And would that blessing encourage
hawkers to take even more chicks than the new regulation would allow?

Falconers, as users of the resource, probably shouldn't be taken as the
unbiased final authority on what the impact of a new state quota might
be. The concern expressed by Rob Sandelin is a legitimate one, which
state officials should consider in making their decision. Probably the
safest course would be to wait a year or two until the impact of the
West Nile virus on our falcons is better understood.

Paul Webster
Seattle
paul.webster at attbi.com