Nation Celebrates Bald Eagle Recovery

After teetering for years on the brink of extinction, the once-imperiled eagle has recovered dramatically, and has officially been removed from the endangered species list. This remarkable comeback could have never happened without the protections and programs afforded under the Endangered Species Act.

When the bald eagle was formally adopted as the U.S. national emblem in 1782, scientists estimate 25,000 to 75,000 nesting eagles lived in the lower 48 states. However, human-caused mortality nearly eliminated our nation’s symbol from the landscape. By 1963, the bald eagle population had plummeted to just 417 nesting pairs, mostly due to trophy hunting, habitat loss and exposure to the pesticide DDT, which causes the thinning of eggshells and reproductive failure in birds. The Environmental Protection Agency banned the use of DDT in 1972, but the chemical exposure continued to affect the eagles and their offspring, and in 1978, the bald eagle was designated as an endangered species.

And yet, less than 30 years later, we are celebrating the remarkable comeback of this national icon. Thanks to the Endangered Species Act and our nation’s dedication to wildlife conservation, our children will have the opportunity to see a bald eagle fly overhead, and know that our nation is committed to sustaining our great wildlife legacy!

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U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of EPA in
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) v. Defenders of Wildlife

On June 25, the Supreme Court issued a narrow ruling that threatens to undermine decades of strong protections for America’s threatened and endangered wildlife. The 5-4 decision in EPA v. Defenders of Wildlife seeks to limit the obligation of federal agencies under the Endangered Species Act to ensure that their actions do not harm rare wildlife.

For the past 30 years, the Endangered Species Act has been viewed as Congress intended: as a mandate for federal agencies to safeguard endangered species from federal actions. The act has operated independently from other federal laws, yet it has also worked, as designed, in harmony with these other laws.

Five Supreme Court justices have now ruled that other federal laws may sometimes trump the Endangered Species Act’s requirements for consultation with wildlife agencies. This ruling, which applies only to federal actions compelled by other federal laws – a very narrow category – ignores Congress’s clear intent to ensure that “any action authorized, funded, or carried out” by a federal agency will not “jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species.”

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court’s ruling may be misinterpreted as an opportunity to weaken the Endangered Species Act. The court’s decision, combined with the Bush administration’s clear history of undermining the effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act, could lead to additional extinctions of American wildlife—extinctions which the act is intended to prevent.