Bald Eagle to Be Taken Off Endangered List

Washington Post ^ | Dec. 25, 2006 | Peter Slevin

[digger48]

MINNEAPOLIS -- Seven years after the U.S. government moved to take the bald eagle off the endangered species list, the Bush administration intends to complete the step by February, prodded by a frustrated libertarian property owner in Minnesota.

The delisting, supported by mainstream environmental groups, would represent a formal declaration that the eagle population has sufficiently rebounded, increasing more than 15-fold since its 1963 nadir to more than 7,000 nesting pairs.

Bald eagles, like this one shown hunting for fish along Missouri's Wappapello Lake, have rebounded to more than 7,000 nesting pairs after their numbers fell dangerously low. (By Paul Davis -- Daily American Republic Via Associated Press)

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The next challenge is to ensure the national symbol's continued protection.

"By February 16th, the bald eagle will be delisted," said Marshall Jones, deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We'll be clear so people won't think, 'It's open season on bald eagles.' No way."

[driftdiver]

"In the meantime maybe 50 million people died of insect borne illness that would never have become sick if DDT had been available."

My guess is its more like a 100 million people at a minimum.

[Solamente]

Just this, placed squarely in the center of a cage!

[Centurion2000]

bump

[ElkGroveDan]

So, what would be the preferred shell? #4 steel shot 10guage?

If you plan on eating it. If you are looking for a trophy I suggest using a bow from a perch. Use a couple of light colored dead cats for bait.

[mosquewatch.com]

As a child in MS, I never saw pelicans on the beach, It was all blamed on ddt. I guess maybe 10 years ago they started coming back and now all over the place. What I don't understand if ddt wiped out the pelicans eggs, why didn't it wipe out every other species of bird on the gulf coast? Like the seagulls or the skimmers or the least terns , etc.

[digger48]

LOL!!!

[driftdiver]

"What I don't understand if ddt wiped out the pelicans eggs, why didn't it wipe out every other species of bird on the gulf coast? Like the seagulls or the skimmers or the least terns , etc."

The decline was more likely due to general pollution and poor wildlife management. As the environment became cleaner and management better the various birds species came back.

DDT had nothing to do with the bird problem but it was a convenient tool for those that believed over population was the greatest threat to the globe.

[TNLawyer]

There is NOTHING more beautiful than seeing a majestic creature of God blown to pieces by a gun, lol!


In all honesty, this is a hunter's dream.. can't wait to bag one!

Sign me up for the hunt!

[mosquewatch.com]

I agree. I was spoonfed the ddt argument and accepted it, until I realized, that ddt does not just target the pelicans lol. I'm an enviromentalist too an extent, just not a freakin' whacko.

If it comes between my existance or the spotted owl, the owl goes.

[driftdiver]

"In all honesty, this is a hunter's dream.. can't wait to bag one! "

They are beautiful but they eat carrion. Not something I'm in a hurry to put on my dinner table.

[Afronaut]

"Use a couple of light colored dead cats for bait."

I'm Crying over here...

[flashbunny]

yes, she was. The rebound in bald eagles started before the ban of ddt. Before the ban, they started more aggressive counting methods, which kept going while ddt was banned. Plus hunting was outlawed, which had more to do with their growth than DDT.

There are many things that cause eggshells to thin, and it's not always a bad thing because it makes hatching easier.

junkscience has a bunch on DDT, which some here will likely berate simply because they have an emotional attachment to the subject.

[bikerman]

I live in Florida and the local landfill (previous b4 pc they were garbage dumps)their are many bald eagles nesting and competing with the sea gulls for food. Eagles always win.

[djf]

I had heard a story (can't remember the details) that one of the early proponents of DDT used to demonstrate the safety by going up on stage and drinking like a glass of water that had a bunch of DDT dissolved in it.

[ALASKA]

There is already

Bald Eagle Helper

on the grocery shelves in Anchorage.....

[CrazyIvan]

Crossing the Mississippi this afternoon, we saw many bald eagles in the trees, on the Illinois and Missouri sides. This part of the river is known as a winter eagle area, and at times you can see hundreds of them in the trees along the river..



How'd they get past me? I'm upriver near Burlington Ia. on the Il. side and haven't seen a group of them yet. They usually migrate south as it gets colder. We see large groups around the locks (18 is just a few miles from my place) The most I've seen was 87 at once by my count.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"I had heard a story (can't remember the details) that one of the early proponents of DDT used to demonstrate the safety by going up on stage and drinking like a glass of water that had a bunch of DDT dissolved in it."

And then he laid an egg with a nice thick shell, right?

[NY.SS-Bar9]

Maybe now they will stop calling a cease-fire every time one of the bastards lands on the number boards at Perry.

[norwaypinesavage]

"Was Rachel Carlson FOS about the effects of DDT on eggshells?"

DDT came into prominence because of its use during WWII. The major use of DDT was after WWII. The Bald Eagle decline preceded WWII by many years. What do you think?

[raygun]

There's a vast difference between being a conservative environmentally concious steward of natural resources and a Birkenstock clad, granola munching, tree-mating enviro-wacko that believes the three toed yellow-bellied mosquito has more rights than a nameless lump of parasitic embryonic tissue growing in a woman's womb.