California Condor Killing

From the LA Times:

April 30, 2003

A Kern County hunter was charged Tuesday with killing a California
condor -- one of the last born in the wild -- during a pig hunt earlier
this year on Tejon Ranch near Bakersfield.

Britton Cole Lewis, 29, of Tehachapi was charged with violating a
federal law protecting migratory birds by allegedly shooting the condor
known as AC-8, a matriarch of the federal government's $35-million
program to rescue the endangered bird from extinction. The incident
occurred on or about Feb. 8.

Lewis was not charged with violating the U.S. Endangered Species Act,
apparently because of a little-known 1998 Justice Department policy that
seeks a higher level of proof in such cases, according to a source
familiar with the investigation. Essentially a defendant must know the
animal was endangered, said the source, who asked for anonymity because
it is a pending legal matter.

Assistant U.S. Atty. E. Robert Wright, who is prosecuting the condor
case, confirmed that efforts were made to get the solicitor general's
office, which handles significant cases for the Justice Department, to
change the policy. He did not elaborate.

If convicted under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Lewis could
face up to six months in prison and a fine of $15,000. A violation of
the Endangered Species Act could bring a maximum one-year prison term
and a $100,000 fine.

The decision to prosecute Lewis under the lesser charge angered
environmentalists as well as those responsible for protecting the bird.
Only 79 condors remain in the wild today.

"It's a slap on his wrist and a slap in our faces," said Mike Clark, a
member of the condor recovery team at the Los Angeles Zoo. "He was
poaching, straight up. He's one of those people that give hunters a bad
name."

Michael Bean, senior attorney with Washington, D.C.-based Environmental
Defense, agreed that stronger action was needed. "The California condor
is one of the rarest species in the world. The effort to prevent its
extinction has been one of the most expensive conservation efforts the
United States has undertaken on the part of a species," Bean said.

"To pursue what amounts to a slap on the hand for killing this bird is
outrageous."

State Resources Secretary Mary Nichols said her office will determine
whether there is a need to bring additional charges against Lewis in
state court.

"It's a truly heinous crime that this man is charged with," Nichols
said. "It's important that the prosecutors send the message that we're
determined to restore these birds to their rightful places in the
environment."

AC-8 was among nine original condors captured in 1986 in a last-ditch
effort to save the species from extinction. Weighing at least 20 pounds
with a 9-foot wingspan, she spent the next 14 years in the federal
government's captive breeding program.

At 30 years old, the bird had produced a dozen offspring. She was
returned to the wild in April 2000 to serve as a mentor for younger,
captivity-bred condors released into the wild.