Jemez Pueblo Seeks Permission to Kill Eagles on National Park Service Land, Setting Precedent
The National Park Service has just released a draft environmental assessment for a proposed eagle hunting /ceremony in the Valles Caldera. While the proposal to trap 10 or more eagles in the Caldera is unlikely to have a large impact on eagle populations, the trapping could set a precedent for National Park Service units across the country, and the permit would allow the Pueblo to continue to trap eagles in future years without more reviews.
We understand this topic is difficult for many people because it pits tribal tradition against wildlife protection on public lands that were ancestral lands for the Jemez Pueblo and many other tribes in the Southwest.
Some Pueblo communities, particularly in New Mexico, engage in ceremonial eagle trapping to obtain feathers for religious and cultural practices. In the past they would walk for miles to a trapping place. In 2023 when they killed eagles in the Valles Caldera, they drove pickup trucks to the site. Times have changed and so have the environmental impacts of their activities.
In this case, allowing eagle killing in the Caldera would open the door to wildlife taking throughout the national park system, something that has not been allowed before. National Parks have never been open to hunting unless Congress specifically allows it in that particular park or preserve. If the NPS opens the Valles Caldera to eagle trapping, using the precedent, other tribes could apply to hunt bear or badgers or endangered birds in any national park unit anywhere.
The NPS has issued a draft Environmental Assessment regarding Jemez Pueblo’s application to kill eagles in the Valles Caldera this month. The comment period closed October 16th. Based on religious freedom, the NPS could issue a permit to kill 10 eagles this month and every year into the future without further reviews regardless of any issues that arise over time.
An organization called the National Park Integrity Project issued a press release regarding the eagle hunt. They are concerned that the Trump administration is putting religious freedom on the same level as land and wildlife protections in the National Park Service Organic Act which mandates that the National Park Service protect wildlife. They said: “This re-interpretation of the Organic Act is stunning in its novelty and reach. But now the Trump Department of Interior asserts that the First Amendment free exercise of religion requires the Park Service to allow Indian killing of park animals,” stated Frank Buono, a retired former NPS manager. Buono notes that access to national park lands for traditional cultural and customary purposes by members of Indian tribes is protected by law, notably the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978. “The long held NPS position has been that these access rights are subject to compliance with other applicable laws and do not authorize killing of park wildlife or harm to other park resources.”
Legal experts have argued that only Congress can permit hunting in units of the national park system by permitting that activity in legislation establishing a park or preserve or amending such legislation. At the Valles Caldera, Congress specified that hunting game (elk, deer, turkeys) could happen, but it would be regulated by the state.
According to local bird experts, killing 10 or more eagles in the Caldera is unlikely to have a significant impact on their populations as most are migrating through the park and are not resident. Bald eagles are no longer an endangered species. Many people object to people purposely killing nongame wildlife for any reason.
Jemez Pueblo needs two other permits to trap eagles. It needs a permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service which has or will issue one allowing hunting on Jemez Pueblo tribal lands, not on public lands. Also, since the State of New Mexico Wildlife Division must issue a permit for any hunting on the Valles Caldera. They have not issued a permit for eagle hunting to Jemez Pueblo.
Caldera Action has asked the State Wildlife Division whether they will issue a permit to the Pueblo, and we have asked the National Park Service to extend the comment period on the Environmental assessment.
It is likely that the eagle killing in the Caldera is illegal by both State and Federal law. Key people in the National Park Service know this but are being pressured by Trump appointees in Washington to approve the trapping.
