Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act 16 USC 668668d

Page 1111

§ 668

TITLE 16—CONSERVATION

§ 667e. Repealed. Pub. L. 97–79, § 9(b)(2), Nov. 16,
1981, 95 Stat. 1079
Section, act May 25, 1900, ch. 553, § 5, 31 Stat. 188, provided that the dead bodies of game animals or game or
song birds be subject to the laws of the State into
which they are transported. See section 3378(a) of this
title.

SUBCHAPTER II—PROTECTION OF BALD
AND GOLDEN EAGLES
§ 668. Bald and golden eagles
(a) Prohibited acts; criminal penalties
Whoever, within the United States or any
place subject to the jurisdiction thereof, without being permitted to do so as provided in this
subchapter, shall knowingly, or with wanton
disregard for the consequences of his act take,
possess, sell, purchase, barter, offer to sell, purchase or barter, transport, export or import, at
any time or in any manner any bald eagle commonly known as the American eagle or any
golden eagle, alive or dead, or any part, nest, or
egg thereof of the foregoing eagles, or whoever
violates any permit or regulation issued pursuant to this subchapter, shall be fined not more
than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than one
year or both: Provided, That in the case of a second or subsequent conviction for a violation of
this section committed after October 23, 1972,
such person shall be fined not more than $10,000
or imprisoned not more than two years, or both:
Provided further, That the commission of each
taking or other act prohibited by this section
with respect to a bald or golden eagle shall constitute a separate violation of this section: Provided further, That one-half of any such fine, but
not to exceed $2,500, shall be paid to the person
or persons giving information which leads to
conviction: Provided further, That nothing herein
shall be construed to prohibit possession or
transportation of any bald eagle, alive or dead,
or any part, nest, or egg thereof, lawfully taken
prior to June 8, 1940, and that nothing herein
shall be construed to prohibit possession or
transportation of any golden eagle, alive or
dead, or any part, nest, or egg thereof, lawfully
taken prior to the addition to this subchapter of
the provisions relating to preservation of the
golden eagle.
(b) Civil penalties
Whoever, within the United States or any
place subject to the jurisdiction thereof, without being permitted to do so as provided in this
subchapter, shall take, possess, sell, purchase,
barter, offer to sell, purchase or barter, transport, export or import, at any time or in any
manner, any bald eagle, commonly known as the
American eagle, or any golden eagle, alive or
dead, or any part, nest, or egg thereof of the
foregoing eagles, or whoever violates any permit
or regulation issued pursuant to this subchapter, may be assessed a civil penalty by the
Secretary of not more than $5,000 for each such
violation. Each violation shall be a separate offense. No penalty shall be assessed unless such
person is given notice and opportunity for a
hearing with respect to such violation. In determining the amount of the penalty, the gravity
of the violation, and the demonstrated good

faith of the person charged shall be considered
by the Secretary. For good cause shown, the
Secretary may remit or mitigate any such penalty. Upon any failure to pay the penalty assessed under this section, the Secretary may request the Attorney General to institute a civil
action in a district court of the United States
for any district in which such person is found or
resides or transacts business to collect the penalty and such court shall have jurisdiction to
hear and decide any such action. In hearing any
such action, the court must sustain the Secretary’s action if supported by substantial evidence.
(c) Cancellation of grazing agreements
The head of any Federal agency who has issued a lease, license, permit, or other agreement
authorizing the grazing of domestic livestock on
Federal lands to any person who is convicted of
a violation of this subchapter or of any permit
or regulation issued hereunder may immediately
cancel each such lease, license, permit, or other
agreement. The United States shall not be liable
for the payment of any compensation, reimbursement, or damages in connection with the
cancellation of any lease, license, permit, or
other agreement pursuant to this section.
(June 8, 1940, ch. 278, § 1, 54 Stat. 250; Pub. L.
86–70, § 14, June 25, 1959, 73 Stat. 143; Pub. L.
87–884, Oct. 24, 1962, 76 Stat. 1246; Pub. L. 92–535,
§ 1, Oct. 23, 1972, 86 Stat. 1064.)
REFERENCES IN TEXT
Prior to the addition to this subchapter of the provisions relating to preservation of the golden eagle, referred to in subsec. (a), means prior to Oct. 24, 1962, the
date such provisions were enacted by Pub. L. 87–884 as
an amendment of this section and section 668a of this
title.
AMENDMENTS
1972—Pub. L. 92–535 designated existing provisions as
subsec. (a), substituted ‘‘shall knowingly, or with wanton disregard for the consequences of his act take’’ for
‘‘shall take’’, increased fine and imprisonment terms
from $500 or six months to $5,000 or one year, and inserted provisions that a second conviction carry a penalty of $10,000 fine or imprisonment of not more than
two years, that each taking constitute a separate offense, and that informers be rewarded one-half of the
fine not exceeding $2,500, and added subsecs. (b) and (c).
1962—Pub. L. 87–884 extended prohibitions against the
enumerated acts to the golden eagle and changed proviso by substituting ‘‘bald eagle’’, ‘‘June 8, 1940’’ and
‘‘and that nothing in said sections shall be construed to
prohibit possession or transportation of any golden
eagle, alive or dead, or any part, nest, or egg thereof,
lawfully taken prior to the addition to said sections of
the provisions relating to preservation of the golden
eagle’’ for ‘‘such eagle,’’ ‘‘the effective date of said sections’’ and ‘‘but the proof of such taking shall lie upon
the accused in any prosecution under said sections’’, respectively.
1959—Pub. L. 86–70 struck out ‘‘except the Territory
of Alaska,’’ after ‘‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof,’’.
TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS
Enforcement functions of Secretary or other official
in Department of the Interior related to compliance
with this subchapter with respect to pre-construction,
construction, and initial operation of transportation
system for Canadian and Alaskan natural gas transferred to Federal Inspector, Office of Federal Inspector
for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System, until

§ 668a

TITLE 16—CONSERVATION

first anniversary of date of initial operation of Alaska
Natural Gas Transportation System, see Reorg. Plan
No. 1 of 1979, §§ 102(e), 203(a), 44 F.R. 33663, 33666, 93 Stat.
1373, 1376, effective July 1, 1979, set out in the Appendix
to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Office of Federal Inspector for the Alaska Natural Gas
Transportation System abolished and functions and authority vested in Inspector transferred to Secretary of
Energy by section 3012(b) of Pub. L. 102–486, set out as
an Abolition of Office of Federal Inspector note under
section 719e of Title 15, Commerce and Trade. Functions and authority vested in Secretary of Energy subsequently transferred to Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects by section
720d(f) of Title 15.
LEGISLATIVE INTENT
Enacting clause of act June 8, 1940, provided:
‘‘Whereas the Continental Congress in 1782 adopted
the bald eagle as the national symbol; and
‘‘Whereas the bald eagle thus became the symbolic
representation of a new nation under a new government
in a new world; and
‘‘Whereas by that act of Congress and by tradition
and custom during the life of this Nation, the bald
eagle is no longer a mere bird of biological interest but
a symbol of the American ideals of freedom; and
‘‘Whereas the bald eagle is now threatened with extinction: Therefore
‘‘Be it enacted * * *’’, etc.

§ 668a. Taking and using of the bald and golden
eagle for scientific, exhibition, and religious
purposes
Whenever, after investigation, the Secretary
of the Interior shall determine that it is compatible with the preservation of the bald eagle
or the golden eagle to permit the taking, possession, and transportation of specimens thereof
for the scientific or exhibition purposes of public
museums, scientific societies, and zoological
parks, or for the religious purposes of Indian
tribes, or that it is necessary to permit the taking of such eagles for the protection of wildlife
or of agricultural or other interests in any particular locality, he may authorize the taking of
such eagles pursuant to regulations which he is
hereby authorized to prescribe: Provided, That
on request of the Governor of any State, the
Secretary of the Interior shall authorize the
taking of golden eagles for the purpose of seasonally protecting domesticated flocks and
herds in such State, in accordance with regulations established under the provisions of this
section, in such part or parts of such State and
for such periods as the Secretary determines to
be necessary to protect such interests: Provided
further, That bald eagles may not be taken for
any purpose unless, prior to such taking, a permit to do so is procured from the Secretary of
the Interior: Provided further, That the Secretary of the Interior, pursuant to such regulations as he may prescribe, may permit the taking, possession, and transportation of golden eagles for the purposes of falconry, except that
only golden eagles which would be taken because of depredations on livestock or wildlife
may be taken for purposes of falconry: Provided
further, That the Secretary of the Interior, pursuant to such regulations as he may prescribe,
may permit the taking of golden eagle nests
which interfere with resource development or
recovery operations.
(June 8, 1940, ch. 278, § 2, 54 Stat. 251; Pub. L.
87–884, Oct. 24, 1962, 76 Stat. 1246; Pub. L. 92–535,

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§ 2, Oct. 23, 1972, 86 Stat. 1065; Pub. L. 95–616, § 9,
Nov. 8, 1979, 92 Stat. 3114.)
AMENDMENTS
1978—Pub. L. 95–616 authorized taking of golden eagle
nests which interfere with resource development or recovery operations.
1972—Pub. L. 92–535 inserted proviso that the Secretary of the Interior may permit the taking, possession, and transportation of golden eagles for the purposes of falconry with exception that only golden eagles that cause depredations on livestock and wildlife
may be taken for falconry.
1962—Pub. L. 87–884 extended provisions of section to
the golden eagle, permitted the taking of specimens for
the religious purposes of Indian tribes and authorized
the taking of golden eagles for purpose of seasonally
protecting domesticated flocks and herds.
POLICY CONCERNING DISTRIBUTION OF EAGLE FEATHERS
FOR NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS PURPOSES
Memorandum of President of the United States, Apr.
29, 1994, 59 F.R. 22953, provided:
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies
Eagle feathers hold a sacred place in Native American culture and religious practices. Because of the
feathers’ significance to Native American heritage and
consistent with due respect for the government-to-government relationship between the Federal and Native
American tribal governments, this Administration has
undertaken policy and procedural changes to facilitate
the collection and distribution of scarce eagle bodies
and parts for this purpose. This memorandum affirms
and formalizes executive branch policy to ensure that
progress begun on this important matter continues
across the executive branch.
Today, as part of an historic meeting with all federally recognized tribal governments, I am directing executive departments and agencies (hereafter collectively ‘‘agency’’ or ‘‘agencies’’) to work cooperatively
with tribal governments and to reexamine broadly
their practices and procedures to seek opportunities to
accommodate Native American religious practices to
the fullest extent under the law.
As part of these efforts, agencies shall take steps to
improve their collection and transfer of eagle carcasses
and eagle body parts (‘‘eagles’’) for Native American religious purposes. The success of this initiative requires
the participation, and is therefore the responsibility, of
all Federal land managing agencies, not just those
within the Department of the Interior. I therefore direct each agency responsible for managing Federal
lands to diligently and expeditiously recover salvageable eagles found on lands under their jurisdiction and
ensure that the eagles are promptly shipped to the National Eagle Repository (‘‘Repository’’). To assist agencies in this expanded effort, the Secretary of the Interior shall issue guidelines to all relevant agencies for
the proper shipment of eagles to the Repository. After
receiving these guidelines, agencies shall immediately
adopt policies, practices, and procedures necessary in
accordance with these guidelines to recover and transfer eagles to the Repository promptly.
I support and encourage the initial steps taken by the
Department of the Interior to improve the distribution
of eagles for Native American religious purposes. In
particular, the Department of the Interior shall continue to adopt policies and procedures and take those
actions necessary to:
(a) ensure the priority of distribution of eagles, upon
permit application, first for traditional Native American religious purposes, to the extent permitted by law,
and then to other uses;
(b) simplify the eagle permit application process
quickly and to the greatest extent possible to help
achieve the objectives of this memorandum;
(c) minimize the delay and ensure respect and dignity
in the process of distributing eagles for Native American religious purposes to the greatest extent possible;