A LaCrosse man has been charged in federal court with unlawfully killing a golden eagle in Trego County in January.
34-year-old Chad L. Irvin was indicted May 24 in U.S. District Court in Wichita on the misdemeanor charge. An arraignment is set for June 6.
The charge stems from an investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service into the shooting deaths of two bald eagles during the same week in January.
The first eagle was found Jan. 9 in a ditch along 370thRoad in southeast Trego County near the Ness County line. The second eagle was found the next day in southeast Kansas.
Eagles are a protected species under federal law.