Golden eagles were wiped out in England and Wales by the mid-19th Century, mainly due to persecution by those who saw them as a threat to livestock or game birds.
Despite a brief return following the two world wars, when driven shoots largely ceased, numbers gradually declined again with the last resident golden eagle in England disappearing from the Lake District in 2015.
Dr Cat Barlow, CEO of the charity Restoring Upland Nature, will lead a public consultation into a release alongside Forestry England.
“The first thing will be talking to the people who live and work in that landscape, the game-keepers, the shooting estates, the farmers, the foresters,” she said.
She explained a release site needed to be “quiet and away from people” and where the local community is “behind it”.
“But there are a lot of steps to go through,” she added.
“We’re not rushing into this, the key is to do it properly.”