BY HUGHSTON HOMES – TO THE OBSERVER
STATEMENT
“Hughston Homes continues to be fully cooperative with both the City of Auburn and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to address confusion around the permitted removal of an unoccupied eagles’ nest within a developing neighborhood. We are committed to being good neighbors and responsible stewards of the natural resources in the Auburn community, and that begins with a transparent understanding of what is lawfully permitted by modern conservation standards. We urge any Auburn resident who has questions or concerns to reach out to us at info@hughstonhomes.com” — Tyler Findley
The following facts provide supportive background:
- The Heritage Ridge development has been fully assessed with utmost care, including seeking information from neighboring residents as to the location of the bald eagle nest. Our biologist determined that this was an alternate nest for the bald eagle pair, meaning that there were no eggs, eaglets or fledglings present and other nests were available for the eagles’ use.
- Activities affecting bald eagles are regulated by USFWS pursuant to the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
- Hughtson Homes’ biologist applied for a bald eagle nest take permit from USFWS to remove the nest. The permit application included compensatory mitigation to compensate for any impact to the eagles.
- USFWS reviewed the application and the area and issued Hughston Homes a permit to remove the eagles’ nest.
- The expectation was that the eagle pair would build a new nest further away from the planned development. An Auburn University Raptor Center study has documented the resilience of bald eagles in establishing new nests.
- Since bald eagles are no longer an endangered species, USFWS has created new permits and relaxed some of the requirements around those permits. Because these federal regulations were only recently finalized in May 2024, we believe confusion with outdated regulations has resulted in confusion for our neighbors in the community of Auburn.
