ISSUES SUBMITTAL FORM

ISSUES SUBMITTAL FORM Date: October 5, 2009 ISSUE: Compliance with federal regulations and general review, update and clean-up of state falconry regulations. DISCUSSION (FACTS AND FIGURES, EXPLANATION OF ISSUE): The Division needs to review and update chapter 6 regulations pertaining to falconry in order to ensure state regulations are compliant with recent federal regulatory changes. In addition, because the Division has deferred other staff and stakeholder raised issues related to falconry management in anticipation of these federal changes, those issues will also be considered as a part of this review and update process. The Division s internal working group has reviewed the federal regulations and found them to be largely more liberal than current state regulations. Given that the current Colorado regulations fall generally within the parameters provided by the federal government, the internal group reviewed the state regulations for areas where they were out of compliance and left the rest of the regulations as a baseline for discussions regarding proposed changes. The draft regulations will include these mandated changes as well as a variety of other housekeeping and clean-up details. Included in this issue paper are the issues and suggestions compiled from staff and stakeholders to this point and for which staff felt some discussion and potential decision will need to be made prior to incorporating any change into a revised chapter 6. Due to the number of issues submitted both internally and externally we have attempted to categorize them in a way that makes review a little easier however many of these issues fall within multiple categories. STAFF ISSUES General Take Should the Division address the issue of replacement birds by specifying how many raptors may be taken from the wild annually by each licensee? Should the Division clarify the beginning and end date for the purpose of annual take of raptors from the wild? Should the Division establish a quota system to help ensure biologically sustainable take of raptors? Should the Division require notice (date and time) prior to a take attempt of any raptor? Should the Division allow a general or master level falconer to take a bird for a licensee who cannot do so themselves due to a long-term or physical impairment? Licensing Should the Division require that sponsors of new apprentice falconers actively participate in falconry? Should the Division clarify the licensing requirements for persons who are visiting or immigrating to this country to practice falconry (other country s often do not have an equivalent licensing process for the practice of falconry and in some cases there is no license required)? Should the Division develop a process for license revocation and restoration? Should the Division define specific requirements for nonresident falconers of any level to apply for resident status at the corresponding level (apprentice, general or master)? Should the Division clarify the type of license a nonresident must obtain prior to participating in falconry meets held in the state? Should the Division clarify the falconry license types (resident, nonresident) and timeframes to ensure compliance with statutory language? Should the Division establish a take limit for peregrines annually based on the allocation determined by the Pacific Flyway Council? Should the Division prohibit the take of eyas peregrine falcons and only allow the take of postfledgling peregrines? Should the Division explicitly recognize the possession of Barbary and Saker falcons for propagation purposes? Should the Division require raptor propagators to submit reports to the state of all raptor propagation activity? Should the Division charge a fee for removing raptors from the wild for propagation purposes? 1

Should the Division review and clarify the timeline and requirements for obtaining an importation license and health certificate to import birds into the state? Should the Division eliminate the requirement to submit an annual harvest report of prey species taken by hawking? Should the Division move provisions associated with the practice of hawking from Chapter 6 (Falconry) to Chapter 3 (Small Game) in order to address it in conjunction with other methods of take for small game? Should the Division clean-up outdated language in Chapter 6 (e.g. non-migratory upland game birds)? Should the Division define the practice of hacking for the purposes of differentiating between tame and wild hacking? STAKEHOLDER ISSUES Federal Regulations - In general the falconry community would like to see the federal regulations adopted as written. Listed below are the major changes this would require to our current falconry regulations. Take and Possession Increase possession limits for GENERAL-level (from 2 to 3 captive bred and wild caught raptors) and for MASTER-level (from 3 to 5 wild-caught raptors) Allow for MASTER-level possession of any number of captive bred raptors if they are trained for hunting or other licensed activities Allow for GENERAL-level take and possession of any species except T& E species, golden eagle, bald eagle, white-tailed or Stellar s sea eagle (would allow for take of kites, ospreys and owls - not currently permitted in Colorado) Allow for MASTER-level take and possession of any species except T&E species and bald eagle. Can possess golden, white-tailed or Stellar s sea eagle under certain conditions (would also allow for take of kites, ospreys and owls - not currently permitted in Colorado) Allow for MASTER-level possession of up to 3 golden eagles Expand the species allowed for possession by an APPRENTICE-level will include wild-caught species as well as non-native captive bred species (see Appendix II for a list of native species this could possibly include for wild-caught possession) Allow for GENERAL and MASTER-level take and possession of adult great horned owls Allow for APPRENTICE-level possession of adult great horned owl Allow for take of immature raptors (under 1 year of age) 1) any time of year or 2) from hatch (~June 1) through February 28. Limit APPRENTICE-level possession to red-tail hawk, kestrel (possibly great horned owl) Clarify the number of raptors that may be taken from the wild annually. Allow for a bird injured during a take effort to be turned over to the Division, vet or wildlife rehabber and, as a result, not count against the take limit or possession of the falconer Expand the period of time for legal take of immature (fledgling, post-fledgling, no longer under the care of parents) birds (expanding the season from June 1 July 31 to May/June 1 August 31) Practice of Falconry Allow falconry birds to feed on prey items taken without the falconers intent, but prohibit possession of these prey items by the falconer ( Leave It Lay provision) Licensing Decrease minimum age limit for APPRENTICE-level licenses (from 14 to 12) and GENERALlevel licenses (from 18 to 16) Keep age limit for APPRENTICE-level at 14 and GENERAL-level at 18 Allow active master and 2 nd year general falconers to become sponsors with specific qualification requirements Licensing requirements for falconers moving to or visiting the country with their raptors Care of Birds Allows a licensee to keep a deceased bird and have it mounted by a taxidermist both captive bred or wild caught (or donate to other appropriate licensee) must keep the band with the bird Allow for several birds of compatible species to be housed within the same mews at any one time 2

Allow rehabbers to have sublicensees to specifically care for raptors (basically a new type of rehabber license) Allow for falconers to assist in the rehabilitation of raptors without becoming a sublicensee of the rehabbers license (i.e., keep rehabbing birds in their facilities) Other Uses Allow for a bird in possession to be used for educational purposes as long as the primary use of the bird is for falconry Allow for a falconer to charge a fee for presenting educational programs Allow for the use of falconry birds for entertainment purposes (photography, filming, etc.) related to the practice of falconry as long as the falconer is not paid for doing so Allow the use of falconry birds for abatement (the practice of using raptors to disburse birds causing problems for airports, agricultural operations, etc.) as well as other types of paid employment Addition and clarification of definitions Allow for the option to microchip birds (in lieu of a leg band) Allow for resale of all raptors and/or all captive-bred raptors among licensed falconers and propagators Maintain the regulation permitting only a one-time sale of raptors by licensed propagators. Propagators may only take nestlings from the wild under special conditions and only with Division approval. Eliminate banding requirement except for those birds required by the federal regulations (goshawk, Harris s hawk, peregrine or gyrfalcon) Eliminate banding and microchip in favor of submittal of breast feathers and DNA tests for identification of lost birds Other Issues The issues listed in this section address specific state regulations outside of the parameters of the federal regulations. The majority of the issues raised below have also come from the falconry community. We have received a few from the wildlife watching (birding) community you will see the latter in italics below. General Falconry Define falconry as a sport to be managed similarly to hunting and fishing. Allow animals purchased from a pet store to be used as bait Allow hawking from a stationary vehicle on a private road and establish a bag limit for this practice Prohibit car hawking unless in possession of a disabled parking permit or license plate Expand hunting season dates to begin sometime in August (on or around 8/15) until the last day of March Increase bag and possession limits for nonmigratory upland birds from 2 to 4-6 birds Increase bag and possession limits for quail specifically from 2 to 4-24 birds Increase bag and possession limits for rabbits/hares/squirrels Possession limits for hawking that mirror existing small game possession limits Provision to allow falconers to access private property to retrieve birds Take and Possession Prohibit take of vagrant species Prohibit take in popular urban viewing areas Maintain prohibition of take for osprey, kites an owls Eliminate the exportation language and allow a provision/permit for nonresident take (CRS 33-1- 115 allows for reciprocity of take) Do not allow for nonresident take. Provide a mechanism to remove old and/or problem birds from license (possession limit) that can no longer be used for falconry Provision to exempt birds used for abatement purposes from the possession limit Allow for take of juvenile birds (capable of flight) in addition to eyas and fledgling take Allow private ownership (no Division oversight) of captive-bred birds 3

Change take season to a calendar year/extend take season and make the season consecutive days (eliminate the gaps) Clarify the take season and ensure that take is not permitted during the breeding season Expand notification of take period from 24 hours to within 5 days after take has occurred Expand requirement to submit 3-186A form formally notifying the Division of take from 5 days to 10 days Include peregrine in general raptor regulations (remove peregrine specific regulations where possible) Reduce cost of Peregrine Capture License currently $200 (statutory change) Allow for take of passage peregrine falcons Remove the 5-year waiting period to draw for peregrine take after successful take Remove requirement to notify the Division of the three aeries proposed for take and remove 3 attempt limit Remove provision that allows Division to deny take from aeries with unsuitable substrate or that have ongoing disturbance that threatens the survival of adults and young and also remove Division oversight to deny take at the time proposed Remove requirement to use a blind when taking recently fledged birds Remove requirement to notify Division of take within 24 hours if Division not represented at capture site Expand from 5 to 10 days the amount of time the license holder has to submit a 3-186A form Remove provision for Division oversight during peregrine take attempts Remove perimeter restrictions for scoping of nests Care of Birds Allow some degree of feeding of wild game to birds exception to Ch. 0 waste of game prohibition Permit falconry birds to feed on prey items taken without the falconers intent outside of a regular hunting season Facilities Require Division inspection of falconry facilities within 30 days or results in default approval Increase resident falconry license timeframe from 3 years to 5 years Increase the nonresident permit for falconry meets from 5 to 10 days Eliminate the field meet permit and require a small game license only for home state birds Eliminate all import requirements for a specified period of time for field meets Eliminate the import/export requirements for short-term eliminate import license and health certificate entirely? Include purchase of annual habitat stamp(s) with the 3-year falconry license WHO ARE THE INTERNAL/EXTERNAL PUBLICS IN THIS ISSUE? WHAT INPUT PROCESS HAS OCCURRED? Wildlife viewing community (birders), falconers, raptor rehabilitation facilities. Three different representatives from the falconry community have submitted draft re-writes of chapter 6 for our consideration that include federal updates they would like to see as well as additional state regulatory changes. (Wolf Brueggemann, Colorado Hawking Club, Anne Price, Falconers for Ch. 6, and Pete Rodas, Interested Falconer). We have also brought the issue up at the past two Conservation Forums and received an email from Polly Reetz (Greater Denver Audubon Society) with a couple preliminary issues. We held an open house on October 15 th from 6-9pm intended to allow anyone interested in this issue to come in and talk with us and submit their issues for consideration those issues have been captured above. ALTERNATIVES: (POSSIBLE OUTCOMES or POSSIBLE REGULATIONS): 4

1. PREFERRED. Incorporate mandated federal changes and address other internal and external issues. 2. Incorporate mandated federal changes and only housekeeping and clean up changes. 3. Status quo include mandated federal changes, but leave the rest of chapter 6 unchanged. Issue Raised by: Tom Remington Author of the issue paper (if different than person raising the Katie Knoll issue): CC: APPROVED FOR FURTHER JEFF VER STEEG CONSIDERATION BY: THIS REQUIRES NEW SPACE IN THE BROCHURE? Type YES or NO: ISSUE PAPER HAS BEEN EMAILED TO REG REVIEW MGRS GROUP? TYPE YES OR NO: REGULATION REVIEW OUTCOME: No 5