On February 24, 2007 we released  a first year Peregrine Falcon back to the wild after a 4 month recovery. The bird had been found near Valley Head, West Virginia with a broken wrist and transferred to TRAC on September 14, 2006 by the West Virginia DNR's Jack Wallace.  For the last month of its recovery, this bird was the first bird to take advantage of TRAC's newest facility, the Flight Barn.
These photos were taken by Kaleb Keneipp inside the  Flight Barn's 40 foot long  cage #3, the largest of  the 3 interior cages.
The site chosen for release was near the New River Gorge bridge at Lansing. It was deemed appropriate because the bird is young and without an established nest or mate and because the location is  where the 6 year Peregrine Restoration Project was being conducted. Should this bird decide to make the gorge her home, she would be an asset to the project because she is probably not closely related to any of the other  birds in the program, thus improving the gene pool.
Participating in the release were Matt Varner (center)of the US Park Service  and  DNR's  Jack  Wallace (left), who banded the bird prior to release.