Ohio celebrates eagle recovery

It is one of our most enduring symbols of American freedom -- an eagle soaring over the landscape, wings spread in flight.
But, not that long ago, that symbol was simply an illustration because the reality was that eagles were in trouble and headed for extinction.
However, through the diligent efforts of conservationists, sportsmen and others, the eagle has made such a comeback that it has been removed from the federal endangered species list and has become a symbol of wildlife recovery as well as freedom.
Dramatic recovery
In Ohio, the recovery has been even more dramatic. By the end of the 1970s, the raptor was down to about four breeding pairs here, a decline from a scant 20 years earlier when there had been 15 such pairs. The longtime use of pesticides in Ohio agriculture helped lead to the decline.
Once that link was identified and a ban was placed on the use of DDT and other pesticides, the bird began to recover here.
Since the 1980s, each year brought more and more success with the current American bald eagle nest count across Ohio standing at 87.
Of that number so far this year, 77 had incubations started, 57 were successful with an estimated 101 young eagles. Furthermore, there were 30 nests with two eaglets and seven with three.
Early in Ohio's eagle management program, the young eagles were removed briefly from the nest, measured, banded, had blood removed for testing and then replaced. With the success of the eagle in Ohio and its removal from the endangered list, that testing program was discontinued.
However, in celebration of the state's bicentennial this year, experts from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife have been traveling to nests around the state and conducting eaglet banding and testing.
Recently, an eaglet in one of two nests at the Shenango Wildlife Area in Trumbull County was banded by the DOW.
Tom Henry, an assistant wildlife management supervisor and biologist with the DOW, was one of the state experts assisting at the Shenango site. The bandings will allow state wildlife biologists to track the movement and reproductive success of individual eagles as indicators of the overall health of Ohio's eagle population. However, Bill Beagle, a DOW spokesman, said the banding and testing activities "are mainly symbolic for the bicentennial. We are actually celebrating the comeback of the eagle."
In the greater Youngstown area, eagle nests have been confirmed at Meander (2), Lake Milton (3) and Pymatuning (2). Two nests had been confirmed at Shenango, but one has reportedly failed, state experts said.
Eagles help us
While the state has been doing quite a bit for eagles over the years, the eagles are now giving us something back.
One of the special license plates the state offers is the bald eagle plate. Sales of this plate since 1999 have raised $40,000. Beagle said that since the eagle program has been so successful, some of the funds collected from the plate sales were used this year to acquire 40 more acres for the 2,814-acre Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area near Sandusky. "It was good eagle habitat," Beagle explained.
braun@vindy.com