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No longer in peril?
Bald eagles' recovery so good that federal regulators begin process of removing them from Endangered Species List. But some conservationists say 'not so fast.'
Date published: 2/14/2006
By RUSTY DENNEN ederal regulators say bald eagle numbers have recovered to the point that the majestic birds no longer need protection under the Endangered Species Act. But some scientists studying the birds say such a move, announced yesterday by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Wildlife Federation, is premature due to ongoing loss of habitat. The Fish & Wildlife Service said it is moving ahead with a process begun in 1999 of dropping the bald eagle from the list of threatened species. The agency reopened a public comment period and proposed voluntary guidelines for landowners and others to continue to protect the birds under existing law. A final decision is at least months away. Delisting bald eagles was first proposed seven years ago and has been the subject of sometimes heated debate among scientists in favor of the process and those who argue that eagles need continuing protection. Passed by Congress in 1973, the Endangered Species Act provided the framework for the bald eagle's protection and recovery. "Today we celebrate the remarkable recovery of the bald eagle. The return of our national symbol is a victory for wildlife, a victory for conservation and a victory for the Endangered Species Act," said Larry Schweiger, president of the National Wildlife Federation. He noted that during the early 1970s, only 417 nesting pairs of eagles were left in the lower 48 states, due mainly to the effects of DDT, a potent and now-banned pesticide that caused eggshells to become thin and break during nesting. There are now over 7,000 nesting pairs. Bald eagles were never endangered in Alaska; there are none in Hawaii. Bryan Watts, a longtime eagle researcher and director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William & Mary, says that while their numbers have shot up, eagle habitat is being seriously threatened by sprawl. Watts and the center do annual aerial surveys of eagle nests on the Chesapeake Bay and its Virginia tributaries. Surveys last spring turned up over 400 nesting pairs, and he expects to find even more when the flights resume in March. Historically, the bay area has supported about 600 nesting pairs.
Date published: 2/14/2006
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