Date: Fri 09-Jul-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

edink-eagles

Full Text:

ED INK: The Eagle's Fortunes Soar

It was announced last Friday in a special ceremony at the White House that the

bald eagle will soon be removed from the federal endangered species list. It

is somehow reassuring to know that even in these days when alliances in

Washington DC are closely calculated to achieve maximum political effect on

the electorate, the President of the United States still finds it necessary to

align himself with a bird. But there he was, William Jefferson Clinton, taking

great pride in announcing that the bald eagle is back.

Our national bird has made a dramatic recovery in the lower 48 states, soaring

from a low of 417 breeding pairs in 1963 to more than 5,800 today. The ban on

the use of the pesticide DDT and the creation of the Endangered Species Act in

the early 1970s is credited with saving the national symbol from extinction.

We have watched part of this success story play itself out right here in

Newtown, as increasing numbers of bald eagles have made the outflow of the

Shepaug Dam on the Housatonic River their favored feeding spot in the late

winter and early spring. Until they return to northern New England and Canada

with the onset of warm weather, the population of eagles at the Shepaug Dam is

at times the largest concentration of the birds in the state, according to the

state Department of Environmental Protection.

While bald eagles will no longer be considered endangered by the federal

government, they still enjoy significant legal protection, as spelled out in

the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection

Act. Additionally, Connecticut still recognizes the bald eagle as an

endangered species and will continue to do so until the nesting population of

the birds (there are only two nesting pairs in the state) starts to reflect

the same kind of recovery that is now found nationally.

The majesty and grace of the bald eagle is highly symbolic to us as Americans,

yet we should never forget that these birds are living creatures, dependent,

as we are, on an environment that is safe and non-threatening. Today, the

eagle's feeding area on the Housatonic is protected through the efforts of the

DEP and Northeast Utilities, owner of the Shepaug Dam. What happens tomorrow

depends on our own commitment to safeguarding an environment that is capable

of nurturing all living things. We must ensure that all future leaders at some

point in their careers will feel compelled to align themselves with birds.