Suit involves landowner's wish to develop his property near nest
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS - A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Department of Interior to remove the bald eagle from the list of endangered species by Feb. 16 unless persuasive evidence is presented of the need for limited delay.
Judge John R. Tunheim's order came in a lawsuit brought by Pacific Legal Foundation on behalf of a Minnesota landowner who wants to develop property in Morrison County where there is an active bald eagle nest.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources issued a letter recommending no development within 330 feet of the nest to ensure compliance with the Endangered Species Act and the Eagle Protection Act, according to the court filing.
Landowner Edmund Contoski, whose property abuts Sullivan Lake in central Minnesota, filed the lawsuit Oct. 31, 2005.
About species list
Bald eagles were near extinction in 1978 when they became one of the first species to be placed on the list of threatened or endangered species.
Since then, the population has rebounded and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed in 1999 that the bald eagle be delisted, but never issued a final determination.
After making the 1999 delisting proposal, the Fish and Wildlife Service was required under the Endangered Species Act to either make the proposed rule final within a year or withdraw it, PLF attorney Damien Schiff said.
"Today, there are more bald eagles than in 1999, but it still has not been removed from the list," Schiff said. "All the science shows that the bald eagle is fully recovered and not threatened or endangered."
"We simply asked the government to do what it said it would do, and we are happy that a federal court has issued an order to that effect," he added.
Schiff said the Fish and Wildlife Service reported fewer than 500 mating pairs of bald eagles in the 1960s, and 5,748 nesting pairs in 1999.
H. Dale Hall, the Fish and Wildlife Service's director, said earlier this year that at least 7,066 known nesting pairs now exist in the contiguous United States.
If and when the bald eagle is removed from the endangered list, two other laws will continue to protect it: the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the 1940 Bald Eagle Protection Act, later revised to include the golden eagle. But those don't address habitat.
• On the Net: The ruling is available at PLF's Web site, www.pacificlegal.org
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