ERIE — Milliken resident Chris Jones is upset that a bald eagle nest recently was removed when a strand of cottonwood trees was cut down near the intersection of Weld County Road 7 south of Colorado 52 in Erie.
“How did they get permission to rip that nest out?” asked Jones, who works near the intersection. “I wouldn’t think with an eagle’s nest that people could tear down trees.”
The property owner, Section 4 Investors, received a “take permit” to cut down the tree with the nest in it, as required by the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, said Steve Segin, a regional spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Fish and Wildlife Service officials determined that the tree was dead but required that the property owner not remove it during the warmer months, Segin said.
“It was in the greater good of the eagles to remove the nest and ensure their safety,” Segin said. “A lot of science and thought goes into it. We don’t make these decisions lightly.”
Section 4 Investors also was required to pay a mitigation fee to the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies in Brighton. The money will go to improve eagle habitat along the South Platte River and support Bald Eagle Nest Watch, a monitoring and training program run by the group. Segin refused to release the mitigation fee amount.
At least part of the mitigation fee will be used to help pay for a new employee at the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, said Jeff Birek, a biologist there.
In the last week, volunteers affiliated with the group have seen what’s believed to be the eagles from the knocked-down nest building a new nest nearby, Birek said. The eagles are two of the more than 20 eagle pairs estimated to live on the northern Front Range, Birek said.
In general, the growing number of bald eagles living in Colorado has been a “great success story” over the past several years. Segin said. Bald eagles were once on the federal endangered species list, but they now have made a comeback, he said. In 2007, about 42 breeding pairs of bald eagles were recorded in Colorado. This year, the number of breeding pairs jumped to between 125 and 150, Segin said.
“They’re recovering quite well and adapting quite well to the development,” Segin said.
In a press release, Section 4 Investors said the company worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies for more than two years to figure out how to handle the dead cottonwood tree where the bald eagle nest sat. The company said it would work with wildlife experts to monitor bald eagle activity on the property for two years.
Bald eagles on the rise in colorado
2007 — 42 breeding pairs
2015 — an estimated 125 to 150 breed pairs
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
