Bald eagle removed from imperiled list

[robcon]

Source: LA Times

By Margot Roosevelt, Times Staff Writer June 28, 2007

"The American bald eagle, revered and reviled over more than two centuries, today will be officially declared safe from extinction in the lower 48 states. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which led a four-decade effort to resuscitate the national bird, is taking it off the Endangered Species list.

The majestic raptor had declined from half a million nesting pairs at the time of European settlement to 417 in 1963. By last year, it had rebounded to 9,789 pairs, and an estimated 11,040 today. In California, where bald eagles have been reintroduced to the Channel Islands and elsewhere, more than 200 pairs are breeding.

"It is an astounding recovery," said Kieran Suckling, policy director of the Center for Biological Diversity, a Tucson-based advocacy group. "It attests to a dramatic change in the American environmental ethic."...

...The comeback began with a 1972 ban on DDT and stringent protections under the 1973 Endangered Species Act. Since then, tens of millions of dollars have been spent on eagle recovery efforts by federal, state, and nonprofit groups. In 1995, the bald eagle was reclassified from "endangered" to the less-severe "threatened" status.




Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-eagles28jun28,0,48082.story?coll=la-tot-topstories&track=ntothtml

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This is great news, after a long effort to revive the bald eagle survival and reproduction rates.

[Demeter]

1. Now, To Bring Back a Country Worthy of the Noble Bird!

[Ian David]

2. I'm going to my local Wholefoods market to ask when they'll be carrying American Bald Eagle!

I bet it tastes delicious... like America!

[Dr.Phool]

3. It tastes just like chicken!

With an aftertaste of patriotism.

Mmmmm Mmmmm bitch.

[Ian David]

4. It probably tastes even better than manatee.

George Bush Versus The Manatee: A Battle Of Small Brained-Mammals

MIAMI -- The Florida manatee, this state's imperiled environmental icon, in 2006 suffered its most dismal year on record.

Of a population of about 3,200, 416 died in 2006, the highest number of deaths recorded in 30 years of statistics. Many died in collisions with boat propellers.

Well, any intelligent normal person would look at this and make a simple conclusion -- we need to do more to help the manatees, because even a pajama-wearing blogger like me passed enough math classes to know that at that rate means that pretty soon, there won't be any manatees. But what happens when George Bush and his 'environmental' advisers see such a sobering statistic?

Manatees' Status May Change. And not for the better, oh yes, they are thinking of downgrading them from 'endangered' to merely 'threatened.' I guess the rate of extinction isn't happening fast enough for their liking.

Here is the link to a group called "Save The Manatees." http://www.savethemanatee.org/

If anyone else knows other groups who might deserve our support, please post in a comment and I will update the list here.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-boyce/george-bush-versus-the-ma_b_45450.html

[Tesha]

6. (Nevermind; beaten to the punch(line))

[Major Hogwash]

5. It's too early to remove the bald eagle from that list.

There are other factors to consider - their habitat is shrinking every day, people are paving over fields out west for parking lots, and their food supply is far less than it was just 4 years ago thanks to the Bush administration.

[Robb]

7. Remarkably adaptable birds, though

The bald eagles in my parents' county have eschewed swooping on salmon, largely, in favor of perching on hay bales and waiting for mice to scurry out. That strategy has helped triple the population there in a decade. :shrug:

[elocs]

8. In the winter I can see a couple of dozen eagles at any time living a block from the river.

They sit on the ice waiting for fish and also worry the hell out of the seagulls sitting together on the ice not far from them. The seagulls are always looking nervously over their shoulders at the eagles.

[Kingofalldems]

9. Does this mean gun hicks will be allowed to shoot them?

I bet they can't wait.

[thecrow]

10. Darth must've declassified them

He wants to go hunting again

[MilesColtrane]

11. I know what's on Cheney's menu tonight. n/t

[tom_paine]

12. Good news. Unless Cheney hunts them.

And he will the minute he is able.

Just like he is hunting the Imperial Subjects of Amerika as well as Iraqi Civilians.

He's bagged half a million of them, plus the Consitution, plus the Treasury.

It's been a good decade for Unka Dick, and nothing would top it off like an orgasmic murder of a rare, beautiful, and powerful bird.