I am happy to see this…

I am happy to see this proposal. Eliminating the draw is a huge improvement. I come from a state that enables all apprentice falconers to be able to trap their first bird of prey and it works wonderfully here. Falconry is a big commitment and I require my apprentice to trap a wild take Passage. It takes time, money, hours of driving and observation of the natural environment. It takes the skills to build your own trapping equipment and patience. Some apprentices will fail to trap a bird at all their first season and will have to wait. This fosters a strong appreciation for the birds that quite simply cannot be done by going out and buying a bird al la instant gratification. Many will choose to release their passage in the summer to return to the population fitter and a skilled hunter in order to trap a new bird next fall. Falconry is a cultural heritage, not a sport of privilege or money that fosters the greatest appreciation for nature, natural processes, and wild spaces. I am actually horrified to know there are places where apprentice falconers are entering the sport with only captive bred birds. Any opposition Saying carefully managed and regulated wild take is detrimental to local raptor populations is uninformed. It’s not a free for all. Thousands of birds are not being snatched from the wild. The falconry community is not that big in any one region. It is sad that people are so eager to speak out against something they know nothing about. Pesticides, radio towers, windmills, legal killing of raptors ‘in defense of property’ have more impact on wild populations than wild take for falconers. I appreciate the public concern but please direct this energy to something more worthwhile. Fighting this issue is like spitting on your neighbor for having a barbecue because you disagree with eating meat.