The USFWS Western Golden Eagle Team: An Overview

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regions 1, 2, 6 and 8 established the Western Golden Eagle Team (WGET) in June 2013 to proactively address energy-related conservation needs of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) by developing... [ view full abstract ]

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regions 1, 2, 6 and 8 established the Western Golden Eagle Team (WGET) in June 2013 to proactively address energy-related conservation needs of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) by developing landscape-scale conservation strategies. Development of conservation strategies will be informed by: 1) spatially explicit predictive models of golden eagle distribution and habitat, including models of breeding, wintering, and movement/migration; 2) spatially explicit assessments of threats such as electrocution, lead poisoning, collisions, and other conservation concerns; and 3) information resources to support management of Golden Eagles and their prey. Together, these products will allow identification of important areas for, and risks to, Golden Eagles, as well as ways to improve their management. Completed or near-complete WGET projects/products include: 1) ecoregion-based models of breeding habitat throughout the West; 2) West-wide model of winter habitat; 3) West-wide analysis of golden eagle prey community composition and variability in space and time; 4) assessment of land management strategies for important prey species 5) Colorado/Wyoming-wide model of electrocution hazard; and 6) model to assess and rank electrocution risk of individual power poles. Projects in progress include, but are not limited to: 1) ecoregion-based conservation assessments and strategies for golden eagles in the Wyoming Basin and Northwestern Great Plains 2) electrocution hazard models for Montana, Great Basin, and Columbia Plateau; 3) telemetry-based models of movement/migration patterns; 4) reviews and field assessments of contaminant levels of and contaminant sources for Golden Eagles; 5) home-range, territory, and core area review; 6) population ecology review; 7) review and meta-analysis of productivity studies; 8) review and expert elicitation on disturbance effects and buffer distances; and 9) analysis of eagle mortalities at previously retrofitted power poles. Copies of selected WGET reports will be made available during the poster session.