Arrests for sale of wildlife parts in PA
05-25-2016, 04:37 AM
#1
Boone & Crockett
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: south eastern PA
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Arrests for sale of wildlife parts in PA
Lancaster Newspapers
Sting targets powwows; items include bald eagles
You could be Geronimo and you can’t sell an eagle. These laws have been in place for 100 years. — Greg Graham, a Lancaster County wildlife conservation officer
A two-year undercover investigation into the illegal sale of bird and animal parts in Pennsylvania has resulted in some 200 charges against about 20 people, including two Lancaster County residents.
Plainclothes agents from the Pennsylvania Game Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say they uncovered illegal buying, selling and bartering of wildlife parts, including whole or parts of bald eagles, a snowy owl, other types of owls, hawks, bear skulls and paws, talons of raptors, an otter, feathers of an Andean condor and carcasses or feathers from various species of geese and ducks.
Most of the busts arose from gatherings open to the public to celebrate Native American culture, known as powwows.
The events were held across Pennsylvania, including the Adamstown Powwow, held in August 2015 at the Adamstown Rod and Gun Club. Four people were cited with misdemeanor wildlife violations stemming from that event.
‘Entrapment’
A Native American from Lancaster County, who has organized six of the annual Adamstown powwows, was critical of the investigation.
“They were looking to entrap our people and they did,” said the man, who asked that his name not be used for fear he would be targeted by the investigation.
“The same day they told us about our bird of prey feathers, there was a lady selling turkey feathers at Cabela’s in Allentown.
“It’s such a double standard. Wildlife has been a part of our religion from the very beginning and we’re supposed to have freedom of religion but it’s only freedom of religion according to what the government wants you to have.”
The Game Commission said the investigation was not a crackdown on Native American cultural events but was spawned by complaints of illegal sales of wildlife.
The agency said it gave warnings for simple possession of wildlife parts and only issued violations in cases of illegal buying and selling.
The undercover sting has not yet been formally announced by either agency. LNP learned of it through sources and court documents.
“The important point is, the commercialization of wildlife has always been a problem in terms of wildlife conservation,” said Game Commission spokesman Travis Lau.
“That is one of the reasons some wildlife populations were so depleted here. Wildlife conservation has always been a founding principle of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.”
All the charges were lodged against approximately 20 people on Feb. 29. They followed coordinated searches of homes that resulted in the seizure of hundreds of wildlife parts and cash that had been used in sales.
The joint state-federal investigation began in 2014.
Guilty plea
Rosemary Guerra, 27, of Reinholds, has pleaded guilty to 10 state and federal violations of buying and selling game or wildlife. The charges involved a fan made out of Canada goose feathers, talons of a redtail hawk and a redtail hawk wing.
She was fined from $100 to $1,000 on the wildlife violations. She could have been sentenced to up to three months in prison.
Jan R. Germer, 58, of Elizabethtown, was cited for eight state violations stemming from a powwow in May 2015 in New Tripoli, Lehigh County. Wildlife Conservation Officer Kevin Halbfor-ster said Germer sold Native American dance fans made out of Canada goose feathers to undercover investigators.
Germer has pleaded guilty to the charges and was fined a total of $9,600.
Others cited for violations at the Adamstown powwow were Thomas Kochinsky, 59, of McAdoo, Schuylkill County; Dennis Exley, 56, of Benton, Columbia County; and John Palfreyman Sr., 62, of Ulster, Bradford County.
Scouring for roadkills
Lau said that officers involved in the statewide investigation could not prove that wildlife parts they purchased had been taken from illegally killed wildlife.
“But there is the belief out there that a lot of parts going to the black market are from wildlife taken illegally,” Lau said.
It appeared some of the parts came from people who scour roads for wildlife struck by vehicles, said Greg Graham, a Lancaster County wildlife conservation officer.
Members of Native American tribes can get bald eagle parts considered sacred from a repository kept by federal government. The Game Commission sends eagle carcasses to it.
But, notes Graham, “You could be Geronimo and you can’t sell an eagle. These laws have been in place for 100 years.”
Pennsylvania game laws allow you to sell inedible parts of lawfully harvested wildlife within 90 days of the close of the hunting season.
Most lamps and chandeliers made out of deer antlers, a popular home decoration, come from antlers shed from deer on private game farms, Graham said.
As for “dream catchers,” a popular Native American item widely sold with feathers, Lau said they are “in general ... illegal” if they contain real feathers.
Sting targets powwows; items include bald eagles
You could be Geronimo and you can’t sell an eagle. These laws have been in place for 100 years. — Greg Graham, a Lancaster County wildlife conservation officer
A two-year undercover investigation into the illegal sale of bird and animal parts in Pennsylvania has resulted in some 200 charges against about 20 people, including two Lancaster County residents.
Plainclothes agents from the Pennsylvania Game Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say they uncovered illegal buying, selling and bartering of wildlife parts, including whole or parts of bald eagles, a snowy owl, other types of owls, hawks, bear skulls and paws, talons of raptors, an otter, feathers of an Andean condor and carcasses or feathers from various species of geese and ducks.
Most of the busts arose from gatherings open to the public to celebrate Native American culture, known as powwows.
The events were held across Pennsylvania, including the Adamstown Powwow, held in August 2015 at the Adamstown Rod and Gun Club. Four people were cited with misdemeanor wildlife violations stemming from that event.
‘Entrapment’
A Native American from Lancaster County, who has organized six of the annual Adamstown powwows, was critical of the investigation.
“They were looking to entrap our people and they did,” said the man, who asked that his name not be used for fear he would be targeted by the investigation.
“The same day they told us about our bird of prey feathers, there was a lady selling turkey feathers at Cabela’s in Allentown.
“It’s such a double standard. Wildlife has been a part of our religion from the very beginning and we’re supposed to have freedom of religion but it’s only freedom of religion according to what the government wants you to have.”
The Game Commission said the investigation was not a crackdown on Native American cultural events but was spawned by complaints of illegal sales of wildlife.
The agency said it gave warnings for simple possession of wildlife parts and only issued violations in cases of illegal buying and selling.
The undercover sting has not yet been formally announced by either agency. LNP learned of it through sources and court documents.
“The important point is, the commercialization of wildlife has always been a problem in terms of wildlife conservation,” said Game Commission spokesman Travis Lau.
“That is one of the reasons some wildlife populations were so depleted here. Wildlife conservation has always been a founding principle of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.”
All the charges were lodged against approximately 20 people on Feb. 29. They followed coordinated searches of homes that resulted in the seizure of hundreds of wildlife parts and cash that had been used in sales.
The joint state-federal investigation began in 2014.
Guilty plea
Rosemary Guerra, 27, of Reinholds, has pleaded guilty to 10 state and federal violations of buying and selling game or wildlife. The charges involved a fan made out of Canada goose feathers, talons of a redtail hawk and a redtail hawk wing.
She was fined from $100 to $1,000 on the wildlife violations. She could have been sentenced to up to three months in prison.
Jan R. Germer, 58, of Elizabethtown, was cited for eight state violations stemming from a powwow in May 2015 in New Tripoli, Lehigh County. Wildlife Conservation Officer Kevin Halbfor-ster said Germer sold Native American dance fans made out of Canada goose feathers to undercover investigators.
Germer has pleaded guilty to the charges and was fined a total of $9,600.
Others cited for violations at the Adamstown powwow were Thomas Kochinsky, 59, of McAdoo, Schuylkill County; Dennis Exley, 56, of Benton, Columbia County; and John Palfreyman Sr., 62, of Ulster, Bradford County.
Scouring for roadkills
Lau said that officers involved in the statewide investigation could not prove that wildlife parts they purchased had been taken from illegally killed wildlife.
“But there is the belief out there that a lot of parts going to the black market are from wildlife taken illegally,” Lau said.
It appeared some of the parts came from people who scour roads for wildlife struck by vehicles, said Greg Graham, a Lancaster County wildlife conservation officer.
Members of Native American tribes can get bald eagle parts considered sacred from a repository kept by federal government. The Game Commission sends eagle carcasses to it.
But, notes Graham, “You could be Geronimo and you can’t sell an eagle. These laws have been in place for 100 years.”
Pennsylvania game laws allow you to sell inedible parts of lawfully harvested wildlife within 90 days of the close of the hunting season.
Most lamps and chandeliers made out of deer antlers, a popular home decoration, come from antlers shed from deer on private game farms, Graham said.
As for “dream catchers,” a popular Native American item widely sold with feathers, Lau said they are “in general ... illegal” if they contain real feathers.
05-25-2016, 05:06 PM
#3
Boone & Crockett
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: south eastern PA
Posts: 15,436
There is big money in the sale of wildlife parts and most people don't know it is going on. Those who sell them do however know it is illegal to do so and for migratory birds it is unlawful under both state and federal laws and if parts are taken across state lines to be sold it can be a federal Lacy Act violation. This was a good case. Most of the people at these Pow Wows are not native Americans, although they claim to be, even if they were they could not legally sell migratory bird feathers and parts or products made from them.
Last edited by Oldtimr; 05-25-2016 at 05:12 PM.
