5 AAC 92.037. Permits for falconry

(a) A permit jointly issued by the department and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service is required for taking, transporting, or possessing a raptor for falconry or for practicing falconry in this state. The permit will be issued under standards, procedures, and conditions set out in the Falconry Standards section of the Alaska Falconry Manual No. 7, dated July 1, 2004; that section of the falconry manual is hereby adopted by reference. Only a bird defined in (f) of this section as a raptor may be taken, transported, imported, exported, held, or possessed for falconry.

(b) A person may not permanently export a raptor taken from the wild in this state unless the person has legally possessed that raptor in this state for at least one year. Prior written approval of the commissioner is required before a raptor may be exported from or imported into this state, except as follows:

(1) a raptor legally possessed by an Alaska falconer may be temporarily exported from this state for a period not to exceed 12 months;

(2) an individual with a permit for falconry in another state or province may temporarily import a raptor, and use it for falconry under the terms of a temporary permit issued by the commissioner; an individual moving into this state may import a raptor under authority of a temporary permit, but must apply for a falconry permit in this state within 30 days after the raptor arrives in this state.

(c) A falconer is liable for the actions of the raptor with respect to seasons, bag limits, and other applicable regulations. If a falconry bird takes game that may not be taken under established regulations, the falconer must leave the dead game where it lies, except that the raptor may feed upon the game before leaving the kill site.

(d) The commissioner may impose additional permit conditions as necessary.

(e) The following procedures and conditions apply to the application for and issuance of American peregrine falcon and arctic peregrine falcon capture permits (capture permits) and to the taking of American and arctic peregrine falcons for the practice of falconry:

(1) an applicant, who must possess either an Alaska master class falconry permit or an Alaska general class falconry permit with more than two years of experience in the practice of falconry at the general class level, shall submit a completed application on a form provided by the department;

(2) a person may not submit more than one application nor receive more than one capture permit during a calendar year;

(3) the total number of capture permits issued annually by the department will not exceed six, and the total number of capture permits issued annually by the department for the Sagavanirktok and Tanana Rivers will not exceed three for each area; capture permits will be issued to Alaska general class falconry permittees with more than two years of experience in the practice of falconry at the general class level only if surplus capture permits are available after issuing capture permits to Alaska master class falconry permittees;

(4) if the number of applications received by the department exceeds the number of capture permits available, the capture permits will be issued on a lottery basis using the following ranking criteria:

(A) first - master falconers with no previous year capture permit;

(B) second - master falconers with a capture permit in a previous year;

(D) fourth - qualified general class falconers with a capture permit in a previous year;

(5) for the Sagavanirktok and Tanana Rivers, a capture permit will be issued for each of the first three applications drawn under (4) of this subsection that specifies a preference for taking a peregrine falcon from one of those areas;

(6) if a permit drawing is oversubscribed and a surplus capture permit becomes available, it will be issued as provided in (4) and (5) of this subsection;

(7) a capture permit is nontransferable and an American or arctic peregrine falcon may be taken only by the person named on the capture permit;

(8) a permittee

(A) shall notify the department's Fairbanks regional office at least five days before taking an American or arctic peregrine falcon and identify the intended area and time of take;

(B) shall, within five days after taking an American or arctic peregrine falcon, inform the department's Fairbanks regional office and the permittee's regional falconry representative of the date of taking, the location of the nest site, and the number of young in the nest;

(C) shall, within five days after taking an American or arctic peregrine falcon, inform the department's Fairbanks regional office of the location of all other American or arctic peregrine falcon nests visited, the number of young in each nest, and other information requested by the department; and

(D) shall, within five days after taking an American or arctic peregrine falcon, turn in to the permittee's regional falconry representative any leg band retrieved from an American or arctic peregrine falcon removed from a nest.

(f) In this section, "raptor" means any bird of the following species:

(1) sharp-shinned hawk ( Accipiter striatus );

(2) northern goshawk ( Accipiter gentilis );

(3) red-tailed or Harlan's hawk ( Buteo jamaicensis );

(4) golden eagle ( Aquila chrysaetos );

(5) American kestrel ( Falco sparverius );

(6) merlin ( Falco columbarius );

(7) gyrfalcon ( Falco rusticolus );

(8) American peregrine falcon ( Falco peregrinus anatum );

(9) arctic peregrine falcon ( Falco peregrinus tundrius );

(10) Peale's peregrine falcon ( Falco peregrinus pealei );

(11) great horned owl ( Bubo virginianus );

(12) a hybrid of the species in this subsection that is produced by a raptor breeder.

History: Eff. 7/5/85, Register 95; am 8/12/90, Register 115; am 2/28/96, Register 137; am 3/10/96, Register 137; am 6/8/96, Register 138; am 3/30/2002, Register 161; am 7/1/2004, Register 170; am 12/30/2004, Register 172

Authority: AS 16.05.255

AS 16.05.270

AS 16.05.920

Editor's note: A copy of the Alaska Falconry Manual described in 5 AAC 92.037(a) is available at any regional office of the department in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Nome, and Douglas.

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