MORMON LAKE, Ariz. -- Bald eagle populations in Arizona and across the nation have quadrupled in the last decade, after once being on the brink of extinction.

A new report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found more than 315,000 bald eagles in the lower 48 states, including 70,000 nesting pairs, after years of conservation efforts and protections, including a ban on pesticides such as DDT.

John Kanter, senior wildlife biologist for the National Wildlife Federation, said the current numbers have exceeded biologists' expectations from the last few decades, after bald eagles reached an all-time low of slightly more than 400 nesting pairs in 1963.

"The thought now that there are many pairs nesting in the state, it's just, it's absolutely incredible," Kanter remarked. "I see eagles all the time. That's a recent phenomenon. "

Bald eagles were listed as endangered from 1973 until 2007.

Arizona wildlife officials report the number of nesting pairs in the state has grown from 11 in 1978 to 74 at the last count in 2019. Arizona closes camping areas and airspace over nesting sites during the mating season.

To avoid future declines, Kanter pointed out it's critical to continue monitoring bald eagles, and to be diligent in protecting birds from ingesting harmful chemicals and toxic substances.

He noted lead ammunition and fishing weights, which are particularly dangerous, are banned in some states, but not in Arizona.

"Birds like eagles and other fish-eaters die from ingesting that lead," Kanter explained. "And there's an easy practice that people can take right there to clean out the tackle box and switch to the nontoxic alternatives which are widely available."

While bald eagle populations are on the upswing, research shows other American bird populations are dropping. Nearly three billion birds have been lost in the last 50 years.

Kanter urged Congress to pass the Recovering America's Wildlife Act to protect species before they're on the brink of extinction.


get more stories like this via email

CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- A federal court agreed with conservationists this week, ordering winter feeding of elk on the Bridger-Teton National Forest requires additional environmental review.

The court ruled that two feedgrounds were not properly permitted, in part because the U.S. Forest Service had not evaluated the potential for disease transmission when large numbers of animals congregate in close quarters.

Connie Wilbert, director of the Sierra Club Wyoming Chapter, explained the growing concern.

"Chronic wasting disease has now been documented in mule deer and elk right around these feedgrounds," Wilbert reported. "It's literally on the doorstep."

Chronic wasting disease affects the central nervous system of deer, elk and moose, and is always fatal.

Wyoming's powerful livestock industry pushed to keep winter feedgrounds as a tool to mitigate against encounters with wildlife in low-elevation ranges, and to protect hay stores. Some outfitters also see feedgrounds as a way to keep herd numbers high.

Wilbert countered reliance on feedgrounds is both outdated and risks outbreaks of chronic wasting disease throughout the Yellowstone ecosystem, which could wipe out entire herds.

She noted there are proven alternatives, including fencing, to keep elk away from hay stores.

"They want to reduce competition from wildlife for forage," Wilbert contended. "And it's important to know that a lot of that is on public land, and we believe that wildlife should be allowed to access historic winter range."

The court found the Forest Service improperly permitted feeding elk at Alkali Creek and Dell Creek, and the claims made by the agency in defending its decisions were "implausible" and "unreasonable." The court also ruled feeding must stop at Dell Creek, which has been operating without a valid permit since 2017.

MONTEREY BAY, Calif. - This week, conservation groups are celebrating Sea Otter Awareness Week with online and in-person events across the state.

Historically, the Pacific Rim supported between 150,000 and 300,000 sea otters, but the population is now estimated at about 106,000.

Andrew Johnson, California representative with the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife, said 16,000 endangered southern sea otters once roamed the California coast. Now, only about 3,000 animals are left, mostly between Santa Barbara and San Francisco.

"But they're still struggling," said Johnson. "Their numbers are stagnant. They aren't expanding their range north or south, and haven't for the last two decades."

Great white sharks are a threat to the sea otter. But Johnson said human activity does more harm, especially the pollutants and agricultural runoff that end up in the ocean.

You can check out the list of sea otter events this week online, at 'Defenders.org.'

Sea otters were all but wiped out from Northern California waters during the fur trade of the 1800 and 1900s.

Johnson said sea otters are a keystone species - without them, the ecosytem is thrown out of balance. And climate change is warming the ocean, exacerbating the problem.

"Over the last seven or eight years with the warming ocean waters, the so-called 'blob' along the West coast," said Johnson, "sea star die offs, urchin overgrowth, overgrazing on kelp - the system along our shoreline in California is in a rough spot."

Conservation groups are hoping to expand a successful program pioneered at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where biologists rescued abandoned or orphaned sea otter pups, raised them with a surrogate mother, and released them into Elkhorn Slough.

In the future they hope to jumpstart new colonies in Northern California.

TUCSON, Ariz. - The battle against copper mining the Santa Rita Mountains outside of Tucson continues - even though the feds just handed a victory to environmental groups.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service just rejected a bid by a Canadian mining company, Hudbay Minerals, to remove critical-habitat designation for jaguars from 50,000 acres - the proposed site of the company's open-pit Rosemont mine.

Gayle Hartmann, president of the nonprofit Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, said Hudbay now plans to explore the other side of the mountain - the west side.

"The biggest problem on the west side is that it's largely not public land, it's private land," said Hartmann. "It's their mining claims, and they have bought more private land. So, they're trying to avoid federal law by sticking to their private lands."

In 2019, Hudbay lost a court case that halted preparations for the Rosemont mine, but that is now under appeal. The company, which did not respond to a request for comment by deadline, has invested tens of millions of dollars in its mining claims in the Santa Rita Mountains.

Hartmann said she wants to see the area returned to the Coronado National Forest in pristine condition.

"What we're looking forward to ultimately is that there would be sufficient funds," said Hartmann, "through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, perhaps - to buy out their private land and turn this back into a national forest without mining claims on it."

Only a handful of jaguars still remain in the mountains of southern Arizona. Sportsmen and ranchers have hunted them almost to extinction.

The area is considered an important wildlife corridor to lure the Mexican jaguar population back into their historic range.

Robert Peters, southwest representative for Defenders of Wildlife, said he sees jaguars as an iconic part of the American West.

"They're a charismatic, vital part of our natural heritage that was lost," said Peters. "And it's essential that we reintroduce top predators, like the Mexican wolf and the jaguar, because they're key components to keeping ecosystems functioning well."

Peters coauthored two recent scientific papers on jaguars - one on the feasibility of reintroducing them in Arizona, and one that identifies 20 million acres of possible jaguar habitat in Arizona, much of it north of Interstate 10.