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The Bald Eagle
There has been some fuss for awhile now over whether or not to delist the bald eagle as an endangered species. The debate is over!A gentleman named Edmund Contoski, a Minnesota land developer, challenged the Fish and Wildlife Service to make good a 1999 proposal to declassify the bird as endangered. He’s won, and by June 29th, the bird will be delisted. Contoski intends to build 5 homes on his 7-acre property. Not a big deal except that he has nesting bald eagles on the property. When he’s done, there will be homes and no eagles. The justification: “Eagles don’t pay taxes; I pay taxes,” Contoaski is quoted as saying during a CNN interview. What’s amazing to me is that this gentleman never stopped to think about how quickly those eagles would have paid his taxes had he offered up eagle tours. I kid you not when I say that people world-wide are spending millions and millions to see bald eagles in the wild. It’s called eco-tourism, and it is a massive industry! Such short-sightedness is shameful, but a harsh reality. Thankfully, the government has passed the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. This affords the bird some additional protections.
However, when I read the text, I see a hunting law. There is virtually no mention of habitat destruction, the loss of which is one of three reasons why the bird became threatened (hunting and food contamination being the other two reasons).The Fish and Wildlife Service will be issuing guidelines for landowners who wish to evict eagles from their land. The problem is that these guidelines is that they will be voluntary. They will also be issuing permits for such evictions. How one reconciles voluntary guidelines with permits is beyond me. But make no mistake, for guys like Edmund Contoski. environmental issues stand in the shadow of traditional approaches to earning money. “Voluntary guidelines” seem silly to me and more than a bit naïve. Thankfully, the Fish and Wildlife Service has also taken it upon itself to define specifically what it means to “disturb” an eagle under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection act. Take a gander: “To agitate or bother a bald or golden eagle to a degree that causes, or is likely to cause, based on scientific information available, injury to an eagle, a decrease in its productivity, by substantially interfering with normal breeding, feeding or sheltering behavior, or nest abandonment , by substantially interfering with normal breeding, feeding or sheltering behavior.” Can Contoaski develop based on the above definition? Nope. Will he? Yep. Why? The definition applies to birds that are actually present. When they depart, develop away. And make no mistake. That’s exactly what will happen. Let us be hopeful though. The Endangered Species Act mandates monitoring of a delisted species for at least 5 years. I’m willing to bet that there are lots of people and lots of groups that will be monitoring the bald eagle for much longer than 5 years.
I know I’ll be watching, and hope you guys will be too!
Bald Eagle Facts
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