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KANW is a member of the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration of public media stations that serves the Western states of Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Our mission is to tell stories about the people, places and issues across the Mountain West.From land and water management to growth in the expanding West to our unique culture and heritage, we'll explore the issues that define us and the challenges we face.

Protecting golden eagles from man-made threats

A golden eagle released by the Citizen Potawatomi Eagle Aviary flies off a cliffside in Montana.
Courtesy of Citizen Potawatomi Eagle Aviary
A golden eagle released by the Citizen Potawatomi Eagle Aviary flies off a cliffside in Montana.

An eagle that was released into the wild from the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Eagle Aviary in Oklahoma died from lead poisoning in Colorado. Lead ammunition is one of several man-made threats facing eagles. Our Living Lands Producer Daniel Spaulding spoke to Mountain West News Bureau reporter Rachel Cohen about the story.

“We've had feasts for these eagles before they were released,” said Bree Dunham, who is a manager at the aviary. “We had a sweat and a feast. And so when we brought him home, we had to also sweat and feast him as well. And so that was a really hard thing for us to tell our community, not because, you know, not because we think they would be disappointed, but just because we knew how invested they were in that.”

I joined Boise State Public Radio as the Indigenous Affairs Reporter and Producer for Our Living Lands, a weekly radio show that focuses on climate change and its impact on Indigenous communities. It is a collaboration between the Mountain West News Bureau, Native Public Media and Koahnic Broadcast Corporation.