Minnesota's Eagle Population Now Tops in U.S.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Sharyn Stein, 202-572-3396, sstein@environmentaldefense.org
Meg Little, 202-572-3387, mlittle@environmentaldefense.org

(May 14, 2007 - Washington, D.C.) – For the first time, Minnesota officially topped longtime leader Florida as the number one ranked state in the continental U.S. for nesting bald eagles population, according to an announcement today by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The agency’s statistics show that Minnesota is leading the continental U.S. as a home for our national symbol with 1,312 nesting pairs. The bald eagle population in the lower 48 states has climbed to 9,789 breeding pairs, from an all-time low in 1963 of barely more than 400 pairs, which is what led to the eagle being put on the endangered species list. The bald eagle is not found in Hawaii and never was endangered in Alaska

“The population of our national symbol clearly is flying high, and if we continue to provide eagles with a reasonable degree of protection from disturbance they’ll have a bright future,” said Tim Male, a senior wildlife scientist at Environmental Defense, which helped lead the effort to ban DDT in the United States because the pesticide weakened the shells of eagle eggs and made it impossible for chicks to develop and hatch. “This is exciting news for all Americans, but especially for Minnesotans. Minnesota now has more than three times the number of eagles that the entire lower 48 states had a few decades ago.”

Since the U.S. DDT in 1972, bald eagles have recovered steadily, graduating from the endangered species list to the threatened species list; they are expected be de-listed altogether this summer.

However, the Bush Administration is considering changes in interpreting federal law that could put bald eagles back in danger. If the eagles are taken off the endangered species list, they would still be protected under The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, an older law that set up basic safeguards for the patriotic symbol. One of those safeguards is a ban on “disturbing” eagles, but the proposed interpretation is that eagles are not “disturbed” unless they are killed, injured, or forced to abandon a nest.

“The change would make it all but impossible to enforce the law and protect bald eagles,” concluded Male. “It also flies in the face of logic. It’s like saying that you can’t complain that your neighbors’ noisy party is disturbing your sleep unless you are bleeding to death. We are finally making real progress to save the bald eagle, and we need the government to enforce basic common-sense regulations to keep eagles from sliding back onto the endangered species list.”

A bipartisan group of twenty-five members of the House of Representatives have already called on the Administration to change its proposal, calling the Administration’s regulatory language “almost unenforceable.” The proposal has also attracted criticism from many state wildlife agencies. Environmental Defense and other conservation groups have urged the White House to provide better protections to eagles from human activities that would clearly disturb them and significantly affect eagle behavior and ultimately, their survival.