Eagle parts ban is a dumb federal law 

When statutes turn harmless actions by citizens into federal crimes, it hurts respect for the law and supplies anti-government ideologues with easy ammunition to fight more justifiable measures. A case in point: It is illegal for anyone in Alaska to keep an eagle feather that has fallen naturally to the ground. Federal law prohibits anyone from possessing any eagle part, unless it comes from the federally run eagle repository in the Lower 48.

That restriction is particularly galling to Alaska Natives. Eagle feathers are widely used in traditional Native ceremonies and artwork. Even though bald eagles in Alaska are not and never have been endangered, and even though they gather by the hundreds and even thousands in some locations, anyone who might scoop up a few feathers that have fallen to the Earth risks an unpleasant visit from the feds.

A Juneau artist learned that lesson last year. Mark Horn was selling artwork with eagle feathers he had collected. The feds investigated and confiscated the artwork.

In Alaska, the federal restrictions on gathering loose eagle feathers inflict a pointless bureaucratic hassle on people who make legitimate cultural use of eagle feathers. It's disrespectful to Alaska Native cultures to require federal permission for collecting such an abundant and culturally important natural object.

Two Juneau Native groups last month wrote to the feds, protesting the restrictions. A similar complaint was expressed in a resolution recently passed by the Alaska Native Brotherhood and the Southeast Alaska Native Summit.

The Southeast Natives are not asking for permission to kill eagles. They are merely asking for some commonsense flexibility in a ridiculously restrictive law. In Alaska, at least, there is no harm in letting Natives use naturally collected eagle feathers in traditional ceremonies and crafts.

 elizabeth.bluemink@juneauempire.com.