The bald eagle population in the lower 48 states has
quadrupled since 2009, researchers said this week, underscoring decades of
efforts to protect a species that was once on the brink of extinction.
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There were an estimated 316,700 bald eagles in the lower 48
states during the 2019 breeding season, including more than 71,400 breeding
pairs, according to a report issued Wednesday by the US Fish and Wildlife
Service.
In 2009, the bald eagle population in the lower 48 states
was estimated to be just above 72,000, including roughly 30,000 breeding pairs.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said at a news conference
Wednesday that the results were “truly a historic conservation success story.”
“The bald eagle has always been considered a sacred species
to American Indian people,” said Haaland, the first Native American to lead a
Cabinet agency. “Similarly, it’s sacred to our nation as America’s national
symbol.”
Martha Williams, a deputy director at the Fish and Wildlife
Service, said in a statement that her organization would keep working with
state and federal agencies, tribes, private landowners and others to ensure
that the bald eagle population continues to increase.
Bryan Watts, a biology professor and the director of the
Center for Conservation Biology at William & Mary, said Thursday that the
report reflected what he had seen in the Chesapeake Bay region, where the bald
eagle population had been growing about 8 percent to 10 percent per year.
“When you look across the continent, the continental
population is really a mosaic of smaller subpopulations,” Watts said. “And
those populations have started their growth phases at different times, and they
will ultimately reach saturation at different times.”
Researchers were able to include younger eagles and floaters
— mature eagles that were unable to secure breeding territories — in the
population estimate that was released Wednesday, which they said they had not
been able to do as effectively in previous studies.
The numbers are particularly remarkable given that the
species was nearly driven to extinction in the last century.
In 1917, bald eagles were considered a menace in Alaska. The
government sponsored a bounty of 50 cents a bird, and later a dollar, leading
to more than 120,000 confirmed killings. By the mid-20th century, all but a few
hundred bald eagles were presumed dead, killed off largely by widespread use of
the synthetic insecticide DDT. The bald eagle population reached its lowest point
of 417 known nesting pairs in 1963, researchers said.
But through protection and conservation efforts and the
banning of DDT in 1972, the population was able to recover over the years. The
bald eagle was removed from Endangered Species Act protection in 2007.
While many celebrated the increase in numbers, bald eagles
in recent years have become a nuisance for poultry farmers hoping to raise a
full, healthy stock, prompting many to apply for an eagle-depredation permit
from the Fish and Wildlife Service.
“I really think that the population has reached a period
where we are kind of moving beyond conservations restrictions,” Watts said,
adding that eagle populations in areas like Florida, the Great Lakes and the
Pacific Northwest have been “raging” since the 1970s and 1980s.
Watts said there were instances of eagles nesting as yard
birds in many residential areas. “That wasn’t the case in the ’70s and ’80s,”
he said. “In fact, we never could have anticipated they would do that.”
He does not see society reverting to a period where hunting
bald eagles would be permitted, he said, adding that bald eagles are the US’
national symbol. “I think they should be revered, respected and protected,” he
said.
Asked if the report carried hope for other endangered and
formerly endangered species, Watts said it was an indicator of what can be
accomplished when a culture collectively decides to value something.
“I hope that we will get back to the time where we recognize
the environment as an important support structure for our society,” he said,
“and we respect some of the species that are currently in decline.”
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