Meet the Board of Directors…
Jason Reid - Chairman
I have been a hunter and outdoor enthusiast since childhood. I discovered falconry at a young age and pursued it quite avidly, becoming licensed in 1996. Currently I am a husband and father, self-employed with a falconry equipment manufacturing business, and my family and I recently relocated to central Wyoming. I have flown mostly red-tails, peregrines, and goshawks. I had a small captive breeding operation for 10 years, producing anatum peregrines for a couple of the last release projects in the U.S. I have had an intense interest in eagles from the beginning, with them being my original inspiration for taking up falconry. Everything finally came together to begin making that dream a reality a few years ago. I am currently flying two female rehab golden eagles. My oldest son has just received his Apprentice falconry permit so the saga continues…
Jack Hubley - Director
I blame most of this obsession on Finnish eagle falconer, Friedrich Remmler and an article he penned that found its way to the NAFA Journal half a century ago. For nearly 20 years my female golden eagle, Alpha, and I have been pestering foxes in the river hills of southeastern Pennsylvania, home to some of the highest densities of red fox in the country.
To make a living, I’ve been involved in media of one form or another for most of my professional life. Over the course of 30 years, I hosted three outdoor/wildlife shows working from my home station, WGAL, the NBC affiliate in southcentral PA. These three included the half-hour syndicated “Wild Moments,” aired on more than 140 network stations across the country from 2000 to 2004. Prior to my TV involvement, I was outdoors editor for the Lancaster Sunday News for 18 years.
Through it all, my wife of 46 years, Tina, and our two daughters have been staunch supporters of my dreams (with the occasional eye roll thrown in), knowing the futility of trying to redirect the charge.
I said goodbye to TV in 2017. At the request of Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, I had started The Falconry Experience in Chocolate Town in 2008. The Falconry Experience now includes a staff of three additional falconers, entertaining and, hopefully, educating, about 1,500 guests a year. For the majority, learning that falconry is, indeed, a hunting craft that at one time put food on the table is a revelation, and most conclude that falconry is not cruel exploitation and is a legitimate part of our evolution as hunter/gathers, worthy of preservation.
It’s my hope that our IEAA will help to further the cause with a focus on what I believe to be the ultimate falconry, and quite possibly the first falconry.
Michael Clark - Director
In 2004 I moved to Acton CA, a mountainous and windy town north of L.A., for the sole purpose of being closer to rabbits and slope soaring. I still live there on 10 acres with my girlfriend, Cassandra.
February, 2008, I trapped my passage hen golden eagle, Betty, in Kemmerer Wyoming. I’ve been flying her every year since then, and she does very well. She is a spectacular predator and will hunt in all styles: from thermals, slope soaring, from a perch, or off the fist.
I acquired a tiercel golden, Kenny, around 2013. He is an extremely talented bird, but he is a real behavior case and makes me love Betty even more!
In 2016 I purchased a haggard female Verreaux’s eagle, Skeletor, from Africa through the Eagle Breeding Co-op that David Kan- nellis and his wife Civon run. The bird was in miserable physical shape and couldn’t fly; all of her flight feathers were shredded or broken and she was very wild and traumatized. I eventually made friends with her and she became one of my favorite birds to fly. I flew her for 3 years before turning her over to the co-op in Las Vegas and she is now paired with a male.
I have always used dogs in falconry, including with my eagles. I started with pointers, then I introduced sighthounds to my eagle falconry and everything changed for the better. I’m on the verge of retiring from the zoo and, when I do, there will be a lot of eagle falconry road trips in my future!
Lauren McGough - Director
I am an anthropologist with a specialty in human-animal partnerships and the Kazakh pastoralists of Mongolia, currently working as a post-doctoral researcher. My home base is Oklahoma, but I travel all over the West (Arizona in particular) to fly rehab and passage golden eagles, as well as exotic eagles, on jackrabbits.
I’ve long had a passion for eagle falconry, and have been lucky to fly them in Europe, Central Asia, and southern Africa. Although eagle falconry is arguably the oldest form of falconry, it is still a relatively new pursuit in the United States. I am committed to helping further and develop a high-quality tradition of American eagle falconry, as well as demonstrate the efficacy of falconry in the rehabilitation of golden eagles!
Mike Barker - Secretary
My falconry journey started with a blind date on Oct. 5, 1973. I was a wildlife biology student at the University of Montana. Mutual friends somehow knew we were a good match, and I guess they were right. Jocelyn and I have been married more than 45 years, with two wonderful daughters, a granddaughter, and a grandson.
Jocelyn was my first falconry mentor. Among the raptors we’ve rehabilitated and/or hunted with include ferruginous hawks, red- tailed hawks, great horned owls, kestrels, Cooper’s hawks, prairie falcons, peregrine falcons, golden eagles, bald eagles and a few others.
Since our earliest days in Montana together, we’ve moved a few times and have lived in Wyoming, Texas, Colorado, Alaska and Russia. I served in the U.S. Air Force for a while, then worked in the oil and mining industries for 35 years. Jocelyn was a teacher, school administrator, and State Department representative.
While in Alaska, I had great experiences with several arctic and sub-arctic critters. I also had the chance to be involved with the Alaska Zoo. In Russia, I had the privilege to work with Vladimir Masterov on his Steller’s sea eagle research on Sakhalin Island.
Growing up, I had lots of animals - not just dogs and cats, but parrots, turtles, lizards, raccoons and snakes. When our daughters were growing up it was always horses, and they both still ride. These days, on the old homestead, its mostly dogs, cats, raptors and pigeons, plus all the wildlife on our place. Four-wheelers have replaced the horses. Our dream was always to hunt with a cast of goldens. Not sure that dream will be realized, but it’s been an adventure chasing it.
Tom Boulton - Treasurer
I live in Tucson, Arizona, but I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and learned my falconry there from friends like Tom Gleason, Cliff Kellogg and Andrew Bolland. While there, I flew red-tails, Harris’s hawks, ferruginous hawks and eventually, golden eagles.
I trapped my first eagle in 1998 in Wyoming with Dan McCarron, who taught me a good deal about trapping and manning eagles, as well. Since then, I’ve had several passage eagles, including my current female, Scarlett, who is 28 years old, and a young male trapped in Utah in 2019.
Anne Price - Director
My passion in life is raptors; I began working with them when I was 12 years old. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I first encountered raptors working at Marine World Africa USA, and received my falconry license when I was 16. I graduated from the University of Colorado with a B.A. in Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology and have worked as an environmental scientist, author and aviation project manager at various large construction projects, including Denver International Airport.
I have been with the Raptor Education Foundation since 1986, where I now serve as President and Curator of Raptors. For 15 years I flew passage merlins and am now flying a tiercel gyrmado. My first eagle was a feisty, male long-crested hawk eagle, and I have trained golden and bald eagles for educational programs for nearly 40 years. I have been a member of the North American Falconers Association since 1990 and am an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Colorado Hawking Club.
I believe fervently in the necessity of preserving the traditions of European and Asian golden eagle falconry and building upon those practices to further the art in the United States. Living between Utah and Wyoming, I hope to one day fly my own golden eagle.
Ryan Anthony - Director
My home-state is Arizona, but for the past (much longer than anticipated) 7 years, I have been living in Iowa with my wife and two little kids. I currently direct the Iowa Raptor Project for the University of Iowa. Prior to this position, I worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an eagle and migratory bird biologist for Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. My background allows me to help the IEAA with various administrative workloads. In my current role at IEAA, (and with much help from Mike Barker and Jason Reid) I have been helping ranchers sort out depredation applications and reports while maintaining relationships and partnerships with various parties involved.
I have flown redtails, Cooper’s hawks, a goshawk, sharpies, ferruginous hawks, Harris hawks, and some falcons in various falconry and non-falconry settings. I have successfully hunted game with most of these species. In 2022, I was blessed enough to be drawn for a passage eagle. With much help from members of the IEAA, and after over two weeks of trapping over the course of two trips to Wyoming, I was able to trap a female eagle named “Hope.” She has been a great bird so far and has been healthy and doing well. We are looking forward to getting out hunting here soon.
I look forward to keep working on the various challenges facing the IEAA and hope to continue to encourage the use of eagles in falconry while promoting the conservation of wild members of these species in the world.