A Washington state man accused of helping kill thousands of birds pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to shooting eagles on an American Indian reservation in Montana and selling their feathers and body parts on the black market. Travis John Branson pleaded guilty to conspiracy, wildlife trafficking, and two counts of trafficking federally protected bald and golden eagles under a plea deal reached last month with government attorneys, the AP reports. Court documents quote Branson saying in a January 2021 text that he was going on a "killing spree" to obtain eagle tails.
Branson and a second defendant, Simon Paul, killed approximately 3,600 birds, including eagles on the Flathead Indian Reservation and elsewhere, according to a December indictment. Federal authorities have not disclosed how most of those birds were killed, nor where else the killings happened, and the issue was not discussed during Wednesday's hearing. He will face a sentence of up to five years when he is sentenced in federal court in July, the BBC reports, though a sentencing guideline reduction will be recommended under the plea deal. The deal also calls for Branson to pay restitution for damages. Paul failed to show up for a court date in January and is now a fugitive.
Feathers and other parts of eagles are widely used by Native Americans in ceremonies and during powwows. Federally recognized tribes can apply for permits with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to take a bald or golden eagle for religious purposes, and enrolled tribal members can apply for feathers and other bird parts from the National Eagle Repository in Colorado and non-government repositories in Oklahoma and Phoenix. There's a yearslong backlog of requests at the National Repository and researchers say the high demand is fueling the black market for eagle parts.
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