04/10/06 Eagles

Eagles may no longer be endangered. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Our nations symbol, the bald eagle has made a remarkable comeback and is thriving due to the Endangered Species Act and the ban on DDT. Recently the US Fish and Wildlife Service has moved forward with removing the bald eagle from the endangered list since it is no longer facing extinction. The Service has reopened the comment period and the public can make their remarks through May 17. Once delisted, the eagles will continue to be protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Both acts protect bald eagles by prohibiting killing, selling or otherwise harming eagles, their nests or eggs. Joan Jewett is head of public affairs for the Fish and Wildlife's Pacific Region says this was a national effort. JEWETT: We feel that the recovery of our nation's symbol is a great national success story and is something American's can be really proud of because it was truly a national effort. It wasn't just legal protections and the ban of DDT that recovered the eagle, although these are important, there were many, many other partnerships throughout the country. Jewett says the general public has the opportunity to express their views. JEWETT: What we're looking for are comments from people who have thoughts on why the eagles should or should not be delisted, concerns they might have about the welfare of the bird, additional information they have on numbers of eagles particularly on their property or in their communities. And also comments on the voluntary guidelines we are proposing that would clarify for people how they can avoid negatively impacting eagles. The bald eagle first gained federal protection in 1940, when Congress passed the predecessor to the Bald Eagle Protection Act. The bald eagle once ranged throughout every state in the Union except Hawaii. By 1963, only 417 nesting pairs were found in the lower 48. Since the original delisting proposal in 1999, recovery of the bald eagle has continued to progress at an impressive rate. In 2000, the last year a national bald eagle census was conducted, there were an estimated 6471 nesting pairs of bald eagles. Today this number has risen to an estimated 7,066 nesting pairs, due to recovery efforts. More information can be found at www.fws.gov or by contacting your local US Fish and Wildlife office. That's today's Line On Agriculture, I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.