Two years ago, lower-48 Endangered Species Act protection (except for
one population in the Southwest) for bald eagles was discontinued. This
came about because of the success of that protection, as eagle
populations have rebounded spectacularly.
        The USF&WS has developed new rules for issuing permits to take bald and
golden eagles under these new circumstances. "Taking" includes killing,
wounding, hazing, nest removal, etc. The official Federal Register
document with such definitions is available at
http://www.fws.gov/policy/library/E9-21589.pdf (it is 43 pp long), and a
much shorter summary fact sheet from the agency is at
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/protect/fnlpermitregs_qas.html .
        Some are glad to see eagles will still receive high-level protection,
and others fear that protection--especially from commercial interests
like power companies--will now become more difficult. Perhaps both are
right. You can read the fine print in the sources above. I dug up a
couple of critiques for the sake of balance, one made available by the
Tulsa Audubon Society, at
http://www.tulsaaudubon.org/eagle-take-comments-gary-siftar.htm  , and
another from the Environmental Defense Fund, at
http://www.abcbirds.org/birdconservationalliance/campaigns/esa/ed_esa.pdf
        I have seen grim guys with holstered pistols come into the university
museum to scrutinize all the eagles in the collection and all the
associated paperwork; they do, or did, this yearly. When you consider
this diligence, and then run into a photo of young eagles bouncing
around on a backyard trampoline right here in Ohio
http://www.ohiobirds.org/news.php?News_ID=172 , some cognitive
dissonance is bound to ensue.
Eagle rights for all,
Bill Whan
Columbus

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