A friend once took a tour at the Carolina Raptor Center where, upon seeing their Bald Eagle reintroduction program, had to ask, "why?" Why make the effort to reintroduce a common species?
As mid-westerners, we see Bald Eagles all the time. It seems everyone in the Cable area knows the "eagle tree" (the tall snag south of town along the Namekagon River) where an eagle frequently perches majestically. A soaring eagle is a common sight from pontoon boats, and some have even seen an eagle dive into the lake for a fish.
Fifty years ago, we would have told a different story. I met a man that recalled going for weekend drives as a child with his family in the 1960s to search for an elusive Bald Eagle. His parents wanted him to see an eagle before the national symbol disappeared from the landscape completely.
The first state-wide survey in 1973 reported only 108 Bald Eagle nests in Wisconsin, a dramatic decline due to the effects of the widely used DDT insecticide. Following Wisconsin's ban on DDT in 1970 (two years before the national ban took effect), Bald Eagle numbers have steadily increased throughout the state. The Wisconsin DNR recently published their 2019 survey results, reporting a whopping 1,684 nests in the state.
In North Carolina, Bald Eagles are still relatively rare and are listed as a state threatened species. From zero remaining nests in the 1970s, their numbers have slowly risen to 192 active territories in recent years. The Carolina Raptor Center has raised and released 6 chicks that are certainly playing an important role in reestablishing this iconic bird in the south.
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