Eagle nearly off endangered list
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:30 pm
WASHINGTON D.C. (AP) – The American bald eagle, after battling back from the threat of extinction because of habitat loss and the pesticide DDT, took another step Monday toward coming off the endangered species list.
The Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service issued draft voluntary guidelines spelling out how landowners, land managers and others should protect the bird once it is no longer safeguarded by the 1973 law.
It also proposed prohibitions on disturbing the bald eagle, which could include anything that would disrupt its breeding, feeding or sheltering, or cause injury, death or nest abandonment.
The Clinton administration proposed removing the bald eagle from the endangered species list in 1999. But the process has taken far longer than the typical year, partly because updated counts are required from each of the states, and some of those have their own rules that add to the red tape.
Officials said Monday's action could help get the bald eagle off the endangered species list within a year or so.
"Should the eagle be delisted, we expect that the public will notice little change in how eagles are managed and protected," said H. Dale Hall, the Fish and Wildlife Service's director. He said there are at least 7,066 known nesting pairs in the continental U.S.
The bald eagle's territory stretches over much of North America. Tens of thousands live in Alaska and Canada, where their existence was never imperiled.
However, 43 years ago, there were just 417 known nesting pairs in the lower 48 states, mainly because of the widespread use of DDT and other pesticides that weakened the bald eagle's eggshells and reduced its birth rate.
The Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service issued draft voluntary guidelines spelling out how landowners, land managers and others should protect the bird once it is no longer safeguarded by the 1973 law.
It also proposed prohibitions on disturbing the bald eagle, which could include anything that would disrupt its breeding, feeding or sheltering, or cause injury, death or nest abandonment.
The Clinton administration proposed removing the bald eagle from the endangered species list in 1999. But the process has taken far longer than the typical year, partly because updated counts are required from each of the states, and some of those have their own rules that add to the red tape.
Officials said Monday's action could help get the bald eagle off the endangered species list within a year or so.
"Should the eagle be delisted, we expect that the public will notice little change in how eagles are managed and protected," said H. Dale Hall, the Fish and Wildlife Service's director. He said there are at least 7,066 known nesting pairs in the continental U.S.
The bald eagle's territory stretches over much of North America. Tens of thousands live in Alaska and Canada, where their existence was never imperiled.
However, 43 years ago, there were just 417 known nesting pairs in the lower 48 states, mainly because of the widespread use of DDT and other pesticides that weakened the bald eagle's eggshells and reduced its birth rate.