Eagle Trapping at the Valles Caldera
(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. Caldera Action is primarily concerned about wildlife and protecting land and water, but we also recognize the importance of tribal traditions for people who valued the Caldera long before Europeans arrived in the Southwest.)
The National Park Service just released a Finding of No Significant Impact for a proposed eagle hunting /ceremony in the Valles Caldera. Jemez Pueblo proposes to kill eagles in a centuries old ceremony that has been updated with modern technology.
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 which could be asked by allow hunting of non-game animals by a wide variety of groups. The permit would allow the Pueblo to continue to trap eagles in future years without environmental reviews, even if they violate the terms of their permit.
Last week, two other Pueblos filed suit to stop the Jemez eagle trapping, telling the court that the Jemez action would violate their religious freedom by violating the sacred nature of the Valles Caldera National Preserve. They also argued in their filing, that the National Environmental Policy Act process that the National Park Service engaged in regarding the eagle trapping contained misleading or incorrect facts and flawed or incomplete reasoning.
There is a law called the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act that requires anyone wanting to kill eagles to apply for a permit from the state where they wish to trap. This applies to Indian Tribes as well.
For its part, the NPS administration at the Valles Caldera was under orders from Trump appointees at the Department of the Interior to allow the trapping and prepare documents that would justify the, no matter how convoluted the reasoning required to reach that conclusion. Eagle trapping violates the law that established the Valles Caldera National Preserve, and it violates the National Park Organic Act among other laws.
Assistant Secretary of Interior, Kevin Lilly ordered the NPS to approve the trapping. Kevin Lilly is a Donald Trump appointee who has no experience in conservation, public lands, administrative law, national parks, or other relevant fields. He is a large donor to the Trump political campaigns who runs Avalon Advisors, a financial management company in Texas.
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 hunting 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. Other organizations could ask for hunting permits using the precedent.
The NPS issued a draft Environmental Assessment regarding Jemez Pueblo’s application to kill eagles in the Valles Caldera this month. 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. The Finding of No Significant Impact that the Washington Interior department issued does that.
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 a par with 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 by amending such legislation. At the Valles Caldera, Congress specified that hunting game (elk, deer, turkeys) could happen, but such hunting would be regulated by the state. State law does not permit the killing of eagles.
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 and other lands outside of the Valles Caldera. 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 asked the National Park Service to extend the comment period on the Environmental assessment. The Interior Department refused.
It is likely that the eagle killing in the Caldera is illegal by both State and Federal law. Key people in the Interior Department know this but are being pressured by Trump appointees in Washington to approve the trapping.
In 2023, Jemez Pueblo was given a permit to trap eagles in the Caldera. The Preserve managers were unhappy with participants violating Preserve regulations meant to protect meadows, streams and endangered wildlife. It is not clear that the NPS was able to constrain the problematic activities.
