Anybody Familiar With FAA Regulations? I Have A Rant...

[BigDon]

So we have a nesting pair of bald eagles down at the Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir, that I have not had a chance to see yet, and a gosh-darned news chopper looking for an exclusive buzzed the freaking nest!

The eagles haven't been seen since last Wednesday!

The newscrew is playing it off like the nest was already abandonned.

If anybody reading this is a ranger or such like, look into this one, I'm steamed so hard I'm sputtering.

[Trebuchet]

Probably not so much the FAA you want to complain to as the US Fish & Wildlife Service. It would help if there were good witnesses who saw the nest occupied right before the incident.

[swampyankee]

You could probably talk to the local FAA person at the Flight Standards District Office.


FAA Oakland FSDO
8517 Earhart Road Suite 100
Oakland, CA 94621-4500
Phone: (510) 273-7155

or http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/...ices/fsdo/oak/

Once upon a time, the FAA actually tried to maintain standards. Now, I'm not so sure.

[Swift]

Probably not so much the FAA you want to complain to as the US Fish & Wildlife Service. It would help if there were good witnesses who saw the nest occupied right before the incident.

Exactly correct. Eagles are Federally protected and bothering their nesting activities is a Federal offense
Fish & Wildlife website on this

The bald eagle will continue to be protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act even though it has been delisted under the Endangered Species Act. This law, originally passed in 1940, provides for the protection of the bald eagle and the golden eagle (as amended in 1962) by prohibiting the take, possession, sale, purchase, barter, offer to sell, purchase or barter, transport, export or import, of any bald or golden eagle, alive or dead, including any part, nest, or egg, unless allowed by permit Bald Eagle sitting in tree (16 U.S.C. 668(a); 50 CFR 22). "Take" includes pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap, collect, molest or disturb (16 U.S.C. 668c; 50 CFR 22.3). The 1972 amendments increased civil penalties for violating provisions of the Act to a maximum fine of $5,000 or one year imprisonment with $10,000 or not more than two years in prison for a second conviction. Felony convictions carry a maximum fine of $250,000 or two years of imprisonment. The fine doubles for an organization. Rewards are provided for information leading to arrest and conviction for violation of the Act.

my bold

If you know what TV station owned the chopper, you might complain to them. Or better yet, tell their competition.

[swampyankee]

FSDO may want to get in on that, too. There are regulations against buzzing things and flying too low.