Bald Eagle No Longer Endangered

With Population Soaring, Government Removes American Emblem From Threatened List

(AP)  The American bald eagle marked a four-decade fight for survival Thursday as the government declared the bird — a national symbol — no longer requires the protection of the federal Endangered Species Act.

President Bush said the bald eagle's resurgence should be credited to cooperation between private landowners and federal and state governments. "This great conservation achievement means more and more Americans across the nation will enjoy the thrill of seeing bald eagles soar," he said.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, making the formal announcement at the Jefferson Memorial, said: "Today I am proud to announce the eagle has returned."

His department made the recovery official by removing the eagle from the list of threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The bird had been reclassified from endangered to threatened in 1995.

Today there are nearly 10,000 mating pairs of bald eagles in the contiguous 48 states, compared to a documented 417 in 1963, when the bird was on the verge of extinction everywhere except in Alaska and Canada where it has continued to thrive.

"After years of careful study, public comment and planning, the Department of Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are confident in the future security of the American bald eagle," said Kempthorne.

He promised that "from this point forward we will work to ensure that the eagle never again needs the protection of the Endangered Species Act."

The eagle, whose decline came during years in which the bird was often targeted by hunters, will still be protected by state statutes and a federal law passed by Congress in 1940 that makes it illegal to kill a bald eagle.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is developing guidelines on how that law will be implemented. It also is developing a permitting system to allow landowners to develop their property and still protect the eagle population.

[closethippy]

My next door neighboor who is an eagle is very happy about the news. Him and his wife have had countless babies over the years.
"We've been f'n like crazy for generations trying not to become extinct. I tell ya, if you wanna get your *** life going nothing like being put on that endangered list!"

[gunownerdan]

Does this mean people don't have to hide their eagle feathers anymore?

[processor2]

Thank you Richard Nixon for creating
the Endangered Species Act in 1973.

...


CBS Article quote:
The bird was listed as endangered in 1967, six years before the Endangered Species Act became law.

[petesis]

Eagle Salad

Boil eagle until thoroughly cooked. Dice and mix with whole wheat spiral pasta. Mix in chopped celery and onion to taste. Mayonnaise and horseradish to taste. Serve chilled.

Deliciious

[oeangus]

There are bald eagles and golden eagles flying over my house almost every day. A few weeks ago, I snapped a pic of 8 golden eagles flying and playing in the air, together! I never knew this was an issue...

[brianbwb-2009]

So now Cheney can shoot them for trophies...

[beadazzle]

This is great news,especialy since I live so close to the arkansas river in kansas and discovered a pair of bald eagles living along the river 10 years ago.

It's great to stand on a bridge and watch them soar up and down the river and do their mating dance in the sky.

Not just the bald eagle is living in this part of kansas but a great many birds that have flocked all the way from africa and canada to our area,such as egrets,herons,kingfishers,eastern blue bird,which I spotted in my back yard the other night,boy he sure was pretty.

We can't save everything,cause evolution doesn't work that way. What may florish here today might not florish here in say another 1000 years.

So let mother nature take care of her own and stop humans from over hunting animals,to near extinction.

[tburzio]

Good for the eagles. The total human deaths from malaria is 2.7 MILLION people per year (New York Times). The imminent total ban should see a ten fold increase.

[bthrasher102]

Except for the fact that it blames DDT which contrary to popular belief was never scientifically linked to thinning of egg shells.