Fish and Wildlife drops appeal of Wyoming eagle kill ruling

FILE - In this Aug. 4, 2010, file photo, an American bald eagle casts looks out, at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, Ore. The head of the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish says his agency is considering whether it believes the Northern Arapaho Tribe would have to get state permission to kill bald eagles off the Wind River Reservation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is dropping its appeal of a judge's decision to allow members of an American Indian tribe to kill bald eagles for religious purposes on its reservation in central Wyoming. The federal agency on Friday, May 13, 2016, filed notice with a federal appeals court in Denver that it won't continue its appeal of last year's decision by U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File) (The Associated Press)

In this March 25, 2013, file photo, Len Carlman, right, releases an adult male bald eagle with Teton Raptor Center program director Jason Jones in Wilson, Wyo. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is dropping its appeal of a judge's decision to allow members of an American Indian tribe to kill bald eagles for religious purposes on its reservation in central Wyoming. The federal agency on Friday, May 13, 2016, filed notice with a federal appeals court in Denver that it won't continue its appeal of last year's decision by U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne. (Price Chambers/Jackson Hole News & Guide, via AP, File) (The Associated Press)

Craighead Beringia South biologist Bryan Bedrosian releases one of several eagles he's equipped with tracking devices back into the wild Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009 on the National Elk Refuge near Jackson, Wyo. Bedrosian said some of the eagles in the study have been tracked as far away as Montana and Utah. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is dropping its appeal of a judge's decision to allow members of an American Indian tribe to kill bald eagles for religious purposes on its reservation in central Wyoming. The federal agency on Friday, May 13, 2016, filed notice with a federal appeals court in Denver that it won't continue its appeal of last year's decision by U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne. (Bradley J. Boner/Jackson Hole News&Guide, via AP) (The Associated Press)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is dropping its appeal of a judge's decision to allow members of an American Indian tribe to kill bald eagles for religious purposes on its reservation in central Wyoming.

The federal agency on Friday filed notice with a federal appeals court in Denver that it won't continue its appeal of last year's decision by U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne.

Johnson ruled the Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Northern Arapaho Tribe's religious freedoms by denying the tribe permission to kill bald eagles for its annual Sun Dance.

The Northern Arapaho share the Wind River Indian Reservation with the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, which opposes killing eagles there.

Attempts to reach Fish and Wildlife Service officials for comment weren't immediately successful Friday.