Commission Support Material: # 7 C
Falconry Status Update – Chief of Wildlife Diversity Laura Richards will provide an
update on the pending falconry regulations.
NDOW staff will be presenting an informational update on the process and timeline
to align state falconry regulations with federal falconry regulations. The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS) revised the federal regulations regarding falconry. NDOW has
drafted amendment language to Nevada Administrative Code governing the practice of
falconry in Nevada. This effort is required to align the state regulations with the revised
federal regulations. The states have until 2014 to have their new regulations approved
by the USFWS for the continued licensing of falconry.
Last summer, NDOW staff conducted public scoping meetings to present the draft
regulation language for review and input by falconers. In addition, a copy of the state
draft regulation language was posted online on NDOW’s website and written comments
were accepted from those that were not able to attend a meeting.
Following the scoping meetings, the NDOW team of License Office staff, Law
Enforcement Division staff and Wildlife Diversity Division staff began revising the draft
regulations based on feedback received from falconers.
Some of the major changes NDOW agreed to based on falconers input included:
-Moving the minimum apprentice falconer age back to 12 from 14
-Moving the minimum age for general falconer from 18 to 16
-NDOW incorporated Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) banding
requirements and dropped the state requirements for all species to be
banded.
-NDOW also incorporated CFR language on the species that may be
possessed by an apprentice falconer.
These revised regulations were sent to the Legislative Counsel Bureau (LCB) for
review and approval and have recently been provided back to NDOW for final review.
NDOW plans to submit this regulation for an agenda item for Commission approval at a
subsequent Commission meeting this fall. This will allow for further public input.
Following Commission approval, the regulation will be sent to the Legislative
Commission or their Subcommittee to Review Regulations for approval.
NDOW’s goal is to have the final approved regulation submitted to the USFWS in
early 2013. We remain on track to have the state falconry regulations aligned to the
new federal regulations well before the 2014 deadline.
We look forward to working with the falconry community over the coming weeks as
these revised regulations are finalized to ensure that the revised regulations are both in
keeping with the needs of Nevada’s falconers and the responsible conservation of the
falconry resource.