The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) began the process of legalizing the sport of falconry in 1972. The federal agency proposed a rule with two comments periods, one in 1973 and one in 1974, where they received 16,000 comments. The 1976 Federal Regulations required that states legalize falconry in order to be in compliance with the USFWS. States that did not legalize the sport would subsequently lose the sport.

Oregon Falconers Association formed in late 1977, soon after the ODFW Commissioners voted to legalized falconry in our state as of January 1, 1978. An early organization (Oregon Committee for Legal Falconry and Raptor Management) had formed in 1974 to help make falconry legal in Oregon (see History of Falconry in Oregon). OFA’s first president, Ben Elliott, shared that our new state club was forming “to represent falconry and raptor management interests” and to “work closely with our Commissioners and Department Staff to achieve better falconry regulations…” To read more letters from past OFA presidents, or to read documents about the formation of our club, go the OFA Historical Documents in the Members Area.

List of OFA Presidents (by year):

1978-1979 – Ben Elliott
1980-1982 – Larry Cottrell
1983-1985 – Byron Gardner
1986-1987 – John Lees
1987-1988 – Danny Ertsgaard
1989-1990 – Mike Syring
1991-1992 – Charlie Stock
1993-1994 – Karen Cottrell
1995-1996 – Ken Don
1997-1998 – Todd Sherer
1999-2000 – Todd Sherer
2001-2002 – Burt Loessburg
2003-2004 – Burt Loessburg
2005-2006 – Ben Pickett
2007-2008 – Bob Welle
2009-2010 – Bob Welle
2010-2010 – Randy Carnahan
2011-2012 – Kort Clayton
2013-2014 – Dan Cecchini, Jr.
2015-2016 – Trent Seager
2017-2018 – Ralph Tolli
2019-2020 – Jim Webber

To read letters from past presidents & officers, and to read about events in OFA History, go to the OFA Historical Documents in the Members Area [read more…]