Hartl wrote a letter to NOAA after Kick Kennedy’s story resurfaced this week, saying, “Mr. Kennedy’s apparent transportation of the marine mammal skull from Massachusetts to New York, and thus across state lines, also represented a misdemeanor violation of the Lacey Act, one of the first conservation laws passed by the United States in 1900.
“Normally, an unverified anecdote would not provide sufficient evidence as a basis for conducting an investigation. From the bear story, it seemed like this was normal behavior for him, so he would also have more illegally collected wildlife parts in his possession could have.”