A few years back, I used to work as an environmental educator at a nature center near Baltimore, MD.  I had the most wonderful time taking care of 19 non-releasable birds of prey, including a little American Kestrel.  I had the amazing opportunity to provide outreach environmental education with these animal ambassadors, traveling to schools and teaching at the nature center, fostering environmental stewardship across generations.

During my time at the nature center, I stumbled across a relatively new program: the Non-Eagle Feather Repository.

Akin to the National Eagle Feather Repository (est. in the early 1970s), The Non-Eagle Feather Repository (est. in 2012) collects, stores, and distributes non-eagle feathers to Native Americans for cultural and religious purposes, at no cost. This is the only way for Native Americans to legally receive these culturally and religiously significant feathers and parts. 

In addition, only facilities who are authorized to possess non-eagle birds of prey are able to contribute feathers and/or parts to this program. As a result, rehabilitation centers and housing centers (i.e. state parks) become an integral part of this collection program

During my time at the nature center, we were able to send the naturally molted feathers to the National Eagle Feather Repository and The Non-Eagle Feather Repository.  We were able to mail non-eagle, naturally molted feathers with the support of state funding.