Last year, there were twenty active nests, which produced twenty young birds, and new nests already have been spotted this year. Bald eagle populations began plummeting after World War II, and by the early 1970s there were fewer than 800 left in the lower 48 states. The main reason for their comeback was the 1972 banning of DDT, a pesticide that caused fatally thin eggshells. Eagles also had been killed while landing on high tension wires. Each of a bird's wings would touch separate wires, completing a circuit and electrocuting the bird.
Utilities now space wires farther apart than an eagle's wingspan.
A third factor in their recovery was a tough law against hunting. The eagle is one of only a handful of species that have recovered enough to come off the federal endangered species list. Others include the American alligator, brown pelican, and palau dove. Additional information on the Endangered Species Act can be obtained from PolicyFax . Environment News Environment News is a project of The Heartland Institute .