Abstract
In recent years, Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) have emerged as a conservation concern in the United States, particularly in the West. Our nation's effort to become more energy independent has involved a significant expansion in the development of domestic sources of both renewable and non-renewable energy. The influence of energy development, particularly wind energy, taken together with other anthropogenic sources of mortality, including electrocution on power distribution lines, contaminants, collisions with vehicles, and illegal shooting, may be resulting in declining Golden Eagle populations (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [U.S.F.W.S.] 2016a). To achieve the objective of "stable or increasing breeding populations" promulgated under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (Eagle Act; 16 U.S.C. 668-668d) and appurtenant regulations (U.S.F.W.S. 2009, 2016b; hereafter Eagle Rule), the U.S.F.W.S. will require a greater understanding of Golden Eagle population dynamics, movement patterns, and genetic connectivity across populations, and conservation practices that reliably reduce or mitigate population limiting factors (U.S.F.W.S. 2016a, 2016b). In addition, state, federal, and tribal wildlife and land management agencies need this information to support conservation planning for Golden Eagles at local and regional scales.