Jimmy John Hunter owns a small farm outside Winona and was getting very frustrated with turkey vultures that pester his sleeping livestock to the point where his chickens are laying fewer eggs. A few days ago, Jimmy was out working in the barnyard at dawn. After he'd fed and let out his free range chickens, he went into the barn to work on his tractor. Suddenly, he heard a commotion near the fenced area where his chickens roamed.Although it was barely light out, Jimmy could see that his free range chickens were being harassed by a large bird.Jimmy decided this was getting ridiculous, and since turkey vultures don't have any protected status, he grabbed his gun and shot what he thought was a turkey vulture from the barn door.When Jimmy walked over to the pen to calm his chickens, he suddenly realized that he'd made a grave mistake.Jimmy had actually shot an adolescent bald eagle that hadn't developed white feathers on its head yet.

Coincidentally, Norma Nosy, Jimmy's neighbor, heard the gunshot coming from Jimmy's property.Worried, she called the police to report a gunshot next door.

A police cruiser was in the area and arrived at Jimmy's farmhouse in about ten minutes. Officer Marge Gunderson pulled into the driveway of Jimmy's farmhouse and immediately noticed a man and woman standing next to a large dead bird that looked like a young eagle. When she got out of the car and approached the couple, Jimmy exclaimed, "Honestly, I didn't know it was an eagle when I shot it."

Officer Gunderson confirmed it was an adolescent eagle and, being a patriotic American, wasn't taking this lightly. She wasn't really sure how or what to charge him with since she'd never run across an idiot who couldn't figure out what an eagle looked like before. She chose to charge him with illegal discharge of a firearm for the time being and decided to call the County Attorney's Office to see what to do next when she returned to the station.

You are a paralegal in the Winona County Attorney's office in Winona, Minnesota. Your boss is in court, but wants you to do some research on the above case that was just called in by Officer Gunderson.

Your attorney wants you to research the following in class on Westlaw:

1. Is there a federal statute that controls the killing or harm of bald eagles? If so, provide the citation and a keep a copy of the statute for your own use. Yes, there is a federal statute that controls the killing or harming bald eagles. The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act 16 U.S.C. 668-668d it was enacted in 1940 and has been amended several times, prohibits anyone without a permit issued by the Secretary of Interior from "taking" bald or golden eagles.

1. If so, what federal department would have jurisdiction over this statute? The Bald

1. What office within that Department handles enforcement of this statute?

1. Is there a Minnesota statute that controls the killing or harm of bald eagles? If so, provide the citation and a copy of the statute.