Bald Eagles Will Leave Threatened List By 2005 - Bush Official

SACRAMENTO, California — "The American bald eagle — the national symbol whose decline helped spur the Endangered Species Act and a ban on the pesticide DDT — will be off the threatened species list this year, said a top Bush administration official. Craig Manson, the administration's point man on the Endangered Species Act, said recently that it's time to concentrate recovery efforts on more needy species. "It's no longer endangered, but it's still deserving of special protection," Manson said in an interview.

The birds still would be safeguarded under the federal Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1940, which prohibits killing or selling the animals. The Interior Department will outline its plans this summer after taking public comment on how to protect the birds' habitat, while recognizing that its population has recovered, said Manson, the department's assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks.

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Once common across North America, the bald eagle was reduced to just 417 known breeding pairs in the continental United States by 1963. Its habitat was being destroyed as the nation grew, ranchers looking to protect their sheep shot it, and widespread DDT use after World War II thinned eggshells, causing a crash in the eagles' birth rate. By 1978, the bird was endangered in 43 states and threatened in five others. In 1995, the species was reclassified as threatened throughout the lower 48 states; it was never in danger in Alaska.

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Today there are more than 7,678 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the contiguous United States, leading the group Environmental Defense to call on President George W. Bush this week to "make history" by removing the bird from the federal list."

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http://www.enn.com/news/2004-05-18/s_23981.asp

God, it was awesome. I have lived many years in the Midwest over the course of my lifetime, and never before have I seen a bald eagle.

So beautiful.

DDT also almost wiped out the pelicans of So. Cal by thinning their eggshells -- which I learned when I lived there. Another bird that is endlessly fascinating.

http://www.wgoeshome.com

and there is nothing quite like canoeing on Reelfoot and watching the bald eagles swoop down to the water and come up with an extremely large fish. It is a truly amazing sight.

I finally saw my first wild osprey a couple of weeks ago.

We were on a river in NW Arkansas, came around a bend and bam! Down he swooped, nailed a big honkin' bass and sailed away to a nearby tree. Impressive!

but i don't believe a damn thing the bush administration says.

"The Interior Department will outline its plans this summer after taking public comment on how to protect the birds' habitat, while recognizing that its population has recovered, said Manson, the department's assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks."

sounds like an excuse to build more wal-marts and parking lots.