Michigan Falconer Sentenced for Bartering Migratory Bird Taken from the Wild

MADISON, WIS. – Scott C. Blader, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Edward Taylor, 64, Fruitport, Michigan, was sentenced today by U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen L. Crocker for engaging in a conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act.  Magistrate Judge Crocker imposed a $10,000 fine payable to the Lacey Act Reward Fund, in care of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Taylor paid the fine immediately.

Magistrate Judge Crocker also ordered that Taylor transfer the illegally-taken northern goshawk to the government so that it could be taken to a wildlife rehabilitator for its eventual release back into the wild.  Taylor turned the northern goshawk over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this morning. 

On December 11, 2019, Taylor pleaded guilty to arranging with his co-conspirator James Kitzman to barter a northern goshawk taken from the wild in Vilas County, Wisconsin in exchange for a captive-bred Finnish goshawk.  It was part of the conspiracy that they covered up the receipt and transport of the northern goshawk from Wisconsin to Michigan, in violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) and the Lacey Act.  It is illegal to sell or barter northern goshawks because they are migratory birds and protected by the MBTA.      

Specifically, on May 26, 2017, Kitzman took from the wild a female northern goshawk from a nest located on state land in Vilas County.  Kitzman traded the northern goshawk for a Finnish goshawk from Taylor. Both Taylor and Kitzman filled out false reports with the Michigan and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources to cover up their actions.  Kitzman told his associates to “keep it hush-hush and not tell anybody” that he was giving the female northern goshawk to Taylor.  Kitzman also told Taylor to use a cover story if ever asked by authorities about how the northern goshawk was taken and transferred.

At today’s sentencing, Magistrate Judge Crocker observed that, “This Court sees a lot of federal wildlife prosecutions.  The Lacey Act and Wisconsin state statutes are there for a reason.  They provide for the appropriate stewardship of the natural resources found in Wisconsin.”  He added that a message needs to be sent to the falconry and raptor propagator communities, “If you don’t follow the rules you will be prosecuted,” and noted, “This is unacceptable conduct and it will be prosecuted as necessary. It will hit you where it hurts,” observing that the wildlife will be forfeited and large fines imposed, as happened in this case.