USF&WS Press Release: Bald Eagle Soars Off Endangered Species List

WASHINGTON, D.C - Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today
announced the removal of the bald eagle from the list of threatened and
endangered species at a ceremony at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington,
D.C. After nearly disappearing from most of the United States decades ago,
the bald eagle is now flourishing across the nation and no longer needs the
protection of the Endangered Species Act.

"Today I am proud to announce: the eagle has returned," said Secretary
Kempthorne. "In 1963, the lower 48 states were home to barely 400 nesting
pairs of bald eagles. Today, after decades of conservation effort, they are
home to some 10,000 nesting pairs, a 25-fold increase in the last 40 years.
Based on its dramatic recovery, it is my honor to announce the Department
of the Interior's decision to remove the American Bald Eagle from the
Endangered Species List."

Kempthorne emphasized the ongoing commitment of the Interior Department and
the entire federal government to the eagle's continued success, noting that
bald eagles will continue to be protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle
Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Both federal laws
prohibit "taking" -- killing, selling or otherwise harming eagles, their
nests or eggs.

"After years of careful study, public comment and planning, the Department
of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are confident in the
future security of the American Bald Eagle," Kempthorne said. "From this
point forward, we will work to ensure that the eagle never again needs the
protection of the Endangered Species Act."

Earlier this month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service clarified its
regulations implementing the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and
published a set of National Bald Eagle Management Guidelines. These
measures are designed to give landowners and others clear guidance on how
to ensure that actions they take on their property are consistent with the
Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. In
addition, the Service is accepting public comments on a proposal to
establish a permit program under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act
that would allow a limited take of bald and golden eagles. Any take
authorized would be consistent with the purpose and goal of the Bald and
Golden Eagle Protection Act, ensuring eagle populations remain healthy and
sustainable.

The removal of the bald eagle from the Federal List of Endangered and
Threatened Wildlife and Plants will become effective 30 days after
publication in the Federal Register. Upon delisting, the Service will
continue to work with state wildlife agencies to monitor eagles for at
least five years, as required by the Endangered Species Act. If at any time
it appears that the bald eagle again needs the Act's protection, the
Service can propose to relist the species. The Service has developed a
draft monitoring plan that is available for public review and comment.

The bald eagle first gained federal protection in 1940, under what later
became the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. The eagle was later given
additional protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Soon after
passage of the Eagle Act, populations stabilized or increased in most areas
of the country. However, the eagle population fell into steep decline in
later decades, due primarily to widespread use of the pesticide DDT after
World War II. DDT accumulated in eagles and caused them to lay eggs with
weakened shells, decimating the eagle population across the nation.
Concerns about the bald eagle resulted in its protection in 1967 under the
predecessor to the current Endangered Species Act. The eagle was one of the
original species protected by the ESA when it was enacted in 1973.

The legal protections given the species by these statutes, along with a
crucial decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the general
use of DDT in 1972, provided the springboard for the Service and its
partners to accelerate recovery through captive breeding programs,
reintroductions, law enforcement efforts, protection of habitat around nest
sites and land purchase and preservation activities. The eagle responded
dramatically to these actions. From an all-time low of 417 breeding pairs
in 1963, the population in the lower 48 states has grown to a high of 9,789
pairs today. Fortunately, the bald eagle has never needed the protection of
the ESA in Alaska, where the population is estimated at between 50,000 and
70,000 birds.

"It's fitting that our national symbol has also become a symbol of the
great things that happen through cooperative conservation," said U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall. "Eagles could not have
recovered without a support network of strong partnerships among government
at all levels, tribes, conservation organizations, the business community
and individual citizens."

Concurrently with today's announcement, the Service is making the draft
post-delisting monitoring plan available and is soliciting public comment
for 90 days. Comments on the monitoring plan must be received 90 days after
publication in the Federal Register. Comments may be sent by mail to Bald
Eagle Post-Delisting Monitoring Plan Comments, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service Rock Island Field Office, 1511 47th Avenue, Moline, Illinois 61265.
Comments may also be transmitted electronically to baldeaglePDM@fws.gov or
by following the instructions at the Federal eRulemaking Portal:
http://www.regulations.gov.

More information about the bald eagle and the post-delisting monitoring
plan is available on the Service's bald eagle website at
http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/baldeagle.htm

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency
responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and
plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people. The Service manages the 97-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge
System, which encompasses 547 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small
wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national
fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services
field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the
Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores
nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat
such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments
with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance
program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes
on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.