It is about time. Bill Clinton should have done it before he left office but was afraid to. Eagles are everywhere, even in the suburbs and around major development projects, such as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge replacement south of Washington, DC. So Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has decided to take the raptor off of the Endangered Species List at a ceremony near the Jefferson Memorial on June 28.
The Endangered Species Act combined with a ban on DDT worked. DDT was successful in eliminating malaria as a problem in the United States and should be used in African countries to do the same. And then reduce its use or eliminate it once the malaria problem is solved. But we digress. It is now estimated that there are approximately 10,000 nesting pairs of bald eagles, including at least one pair in each of the 48 contiguous states. This compares to only 417 such pairs in 1963. The eagle's nesting habitat will still be protected.
The Endangered Species Act combined with a ban on DDT worked. DDT was successful in eliminating malaria as a problem in the United States and should be used in African countries to do the same. And then reduce its use or eliminate it once the malaria problem is solved. But we digress. It is now estimated that there are approximately 10,000 nesting pairs of bald eagles, including at least one pair in each of the 48 contiguous states. This compares to only 417 such pairs in 1963. The eagle's nesting habitat will still be protected.
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