2015 Bald Eagle Monitoring Annual Progress Report

Bensen, Keith

The bald eagle, (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), was taken off the list of species protected by the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) in July, 2007 (USDI 2007). Bald eagles were originally listed as endangered in 1967, but due to a rising population trend, it was de-listed eight years ago. Section 4(g)1 of the federal ESA requires that a species be monitored for five years post de-listing to ensure that de-listing was warranted and that populations are sustainable. That mandatory monitoring period ended three years ago. Despite being federally de-listed, provisions within other state and federal laws mandate continuing monitoring and protection of bald eagles within Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP or parks). The bald eagle is still listed, and protected, by the state of California as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act. In addition, the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940 (Eagle Act) (16 USC 668-668c) provides full protection almost equal to those protections formerly afforded by the federal ESA. The Eagle Act prohibits “take” of bald and golden eagles. Take is defined by the law as “pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap, collect, molest or disturb.” Disturb has been interpreted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as “to agitate or bother a bald or golden eagle to a degree that causes, or is likely to cause, based on the best scientific information available, 1) injury to an eagle, 2) a decrease in its productivity, by substantially interfering with normal breeding, feeding, or sheltering behavior, or 3) nest abandonment, by substantially interfering with normal breeding, feeding, or sheltering behavior” (USFWS 2007). Due to the protected status of the bald eagle, RNSP continues to annually monitor known nest sites, and compiles and records all reported bald eagle sightings within RNSP.