Recognizing the bald eagle's comeback

Friday, Feb. 5, 2010

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by JESSE YEATMAN A pair of bald eagles keeps a keen lookout from a tree overlooking St. Jerome's Creek in Dameron. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Don't be surprised to find a nesting pair in a backyard in Southern Maryland. They have taken up residence within miles of Baltimore Harbor, and even along the Capital Beltway.

This adaptability is one reason the Maryland Department of Natural Resources has proposed removing the bald eagle from the state list of threatened and endangered species. DNR's Wildlife and Heritage Service recently completed a review of the list, and proposed adding 16 species of plants, revising the status of four species, and removing eight species.

Among those listed, the one with the greatest tie to Southern Maryland is the bald eagle. Its status has been listed as threatened since being removed from the state's endangered species list in 2000. With current survey numbers showing a significant population increase over the past three decades, DNR officials feel it's time to remove the bird from the list altogether.

"The bald eagle nesting population has increased significantly in the last 30 years," said Glenn Therres, associate director of the DNR Wildlife and Heritage Service. "In 1977, there were only 44 pairs of bald eagles nesting in the entire state of Maryland."

By 2004 there were 390 nesting pairs, Therres said, a nearly tenfold increase. That was the last comprehensive survey of nesting eagles in Maryland, and it's expected that there are from 450 to 500 nesting pairs in the state now, he said.

In 2004, there were 57 nesting pairs of bald eagles in Charles County, 22 in St. Mary's and eight in Calvert County. Bald eagles can be found throughout Maryland year round. Most are concentrated along the Chesapeake Bay.

"The bald eagle nesting population has fully recovered and is a great endangered species success story," Therres said.

Even if the bald eagle is removed from the federal threatened list, it would still be protected under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Both laws prohibit "taking — killing, selling or otherwise harming eagles, their nests or eggs."

Sue Veith, an environmental planner with the St. Mary's County Department of Land Use and Growth Management, said it is too soon to know what impact the proposed changes to the state's threatened and endangered species list might have on development or construction regulations. She said typically when a species is removed from a threatened or endangered protection list, then so are any restrictions surrounding its activity or habitat. However, she hasn't seen any rules for the current proposals.

Veith said there have been instances when permits have been altered by bald eagle restrictions.

"A more recent case that comes to mind was on St. George Island," she said. "In that case (homeowners) had to relocate where they wanted to put their house and had time-of-year restrictions for when they could do construction."

Several species of dragonflies are proposed to be added to the list of endangered species. They are the Sely's sunfly, white corporal, elfin skimmer and treetop emerald. Additionally, the sable clubtail is set to be moved from an endangered status to an in need of conservation status. According to DNR, all dragonflies depend on wetlands or streams for existence. There are already restrictions on development in place on those areas.

Two species common to the area, the bridle shiner fish and pale mannagrass plant, are expected to be classified as endangered extirpated, meaning no sign of their existence has been documented since 1984.

Therres said there is no set timeline for when the proposed changes would take effect. He said after evaluating the public comments, a decision could be made by the end of the March, after which it will take a 30-day approval period to become law.

To learn more

Public comments on the proposed changes are being accepted until Feb. 16.

E-mail comments to Therres at gtherres@dnr.state.md.us or mail them to Glen Therres, Associate Director, DNR Wildlife and Heritage Service, 580 Taylor Ave., E-1, Annapolis, MD 21401.

A summary list of changes can be found at www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/.

dward@somdnews.com