The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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November 15, 2011

Minnesota Lake farmer pleads guilty to killing pelicans

Birds protected under federal law

By Pat Christman Free Press Staff Writer

A Minnesota Lake farmer pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul to one count of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a federal misdemeanor.

Craig Louis Staloch, 59, was charged on Sept. 15 for allegedly obliterating a pelican nesting colony near the lake on land he rents, destroying chicks and eggs in more than 1,000 nests in May.

Staloch admitted in the plea agreement that in May he intentionally killed and attempted to kill a large number of American white pelicans, which are protected under federal law. A Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wildlife specialist visited the farmland rented by Staloch and found numerous adult pelicans and nests.

When the specialist returned with others the next day to conduct a complete count of the pelicans at the site, no adult pelicans were found and broken eggs were discovered in many of the nests. The eggs appeared to have been smashed with a heavy object. The researchers also found countless dead pelican chicks, some crushed, others dead from abandonment or exposure. More than 70 percent of the nests had been destroyed.

The pelicans represented a significant colony — one of just 16 in the state where the birds were nesting in a 2004 DNR survey and the only on in south-central Minnesota.

Staloch faces a potential maximum penalty of six months in prison as well as a fine.



The Associated Press contributed to this report

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