Bald eagles are leaving the safe nest of the Endangered Species Act, showing how effective the controversial law can be.
Ironically, now it’s the law that’s endangered. Our national symbol today could also serve as an emblem of the need to save the law that saved the birds.
In theory, the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the 1940 Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act shielded the species from hunting and other dangers, but both proved ineffective against habitat loss and the pesticide DDT. What the eagles needed was a law with more teeth – or a bigger beak. In 1973, Congress rescued eagles and thousands of other animals and plants with the Endangered Species Act. “This important measure grants the government both the authority to make early identification of endangered species and the means to act quickly and thoroughly to save them from extinction,” President Nixon said in signing the act into law.
National results have been dramatic, but Colorado’s especially so. In 1960, there were only about 400 nesting pairs of bald eagles in the lower 48 states. Today, there are more than 7,000 nesting pairs. In 1974, Colorado had just one nesting pair, but now the Division of Wildlife says Colorado has about 50, such as ones at Xcel’s St. Vrain power plant, Barr Lake State Park and Standley Lake Regional Park.
Efforts to help eagles were so successful that in 1995 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service upgraded their status from endangered to threatened. By 1999, the agency wanted to remove them from the threatened list, but experts needed more information on locations and size of bird populations. On Monday, the agency said it will seek public comments until May 17 on new guidelines for property owners and outdoor recreation users, such as keeping buffer areas near nests to shield eagles from human disturbances.
While eagles will still be protected, the same can’t be said of the law that helped them. Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., who chairs the House Resources Committee, has pushed a bill through the House that would eliminate protection for 150 million acres of habitat and force the government to pay private parties to not harm endangered animals or plants. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, has introduced a similar measure in the Senate.
The act should be updated, not gutted. For example, Congress should emphasize saving entire ecosystems, not just individual species. The core value, that native animals and plants should be saved, remains a sound conservation principle deserving of strong public support.
