Bush official: Bald eagle will be off threatened list

June 14, 2004

I am only crossposting this alert. Please do not reply to me. Thanks!

Rita

- EndAnimlCruelty @ aol.com (remove 2 spaces)

Sunday, June 13, 2004 11:32 AM

[Protect R Wildlife] Bush official: Bald eagle will be off threatened list

THIS IS NO WAY TO TREAT OUR NATIONAL BIRD!!!!!! If our national eagle isn't protected, there will be no protection for any animal.....heck, not even the human being! He's the greediest president by far! I hope no one on this list votes for him next election!!!

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The American bald eagle -- the national symbol whose decline helped spur the Endangered Species Act and a ban on the pesticide DDT -- will be off the threatened species list this year, a top Bush administration official said. Craig Manson, the administration's point man on the Endangered Species Act, said Saturday it's time to concentrate recovery efforts on more needy species. "It's no longer endangered, but it's still deserving of special protection,'' Manson said in an interview. The birds still would be safeguarded under the federal Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1940, which prohibits killing or selling the animals. The Interior Department will outline its plans this summer after taking public comment on how to protect the birds' habitat while recognising that its population has recovered, said Manson, the department's assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks. "The more species that we get off the list that are ready to be

recovered, the more we can start focusing on those that are not quite there and ultimately move them off the list as well,'' he said. Once common across North America, the bald eagle was reduced to just 417 known breeding pairs in the continental United States by 1963. Its habitat was being destroyed as the nation grew, ranchers looking to protect their sheep shot it, and widespread DDT use after World War II thinned eggshells, causing a crash in the eagles' birth rate. By 1978, the bird was endangered in 43 states and threatened in five others. In 1995, the species was reclassified as threatened throughout the lower 48 states; it was never in danger in Alaska. An endangered species is one that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range; a threatened species is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future. Today there are more than 7,678 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the contiguous United States,

leading the group Environmental Defense to call on President George W. Bush this week to "make history'' by removing the bird from the federal list. The effort comes as debate rages over the effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act, which environmental groups have accused the Bush administration of failing to enforce. http://thestaronline.com/news/story.asp?file=/2004/5/16/latest/17390Bushoffic & sec=latest "I have goals to help animals and make a difference in this poisoned world. With enough hard work, total commitment, determination, dedication, and self-sacrifice, I know I will reach it. I know there will be many times when it will seem that all the odds are

against me, and I will have to fight one battle after another . . . but I will not give up!

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