Legal Eagle

The eagle has landed. Will other species?

LAST WEEK the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proudly announced that the bald eagle has soared off both the endangered and threatened species lists.

The national symbol, hurt by hunting, habitat destruction and the pesticide DDT, had reached an all-time low population of 417 mating pairs in 1963. Today, there are nearly 10,000 pairs in the lower 48 states, including more than 1,000 in the Chesapeake region. While the bald eagle will no longer be protected under the Endangered Species Act, enacted in 1973, it still enjoys special protections. This month, the Fish and Wildlife Service adopted rules based on a 1940 law that forbid landowners from interfering with eagles' "normal breeding, feeding or sheltering behavior." Killing these birds is also still illegal.

Conservationists have painted the bald eagle's delisting as a vindication of the Endangered Species Act. While the law has its success stories, some animals have clearly fared better than others. Scientists worry that fewer resources are being devoted to protecting animals that are less telegenic, more obscure or insufficiently charismatic. Snail darters and delta smelt just don't carry the same cultural cache as a national symbol such as the eagle.

Attacks on the Endangered Species Act from developers and business groups, an internal review of the act from inside the Interior Department -- which appears meant to weaken it -- and fewer listings of endangered species under the current administration all threaten the future of ecosystems and their inhabitants. Perhaps the biggest threats come from land development and the dismissal of the effects of global warming on wildlife. Experts point to a report recently released by the National Audubon Society that shows 20 species of common American birds whose populations have halved over the last 40 years. These declines have been attributed to habitat loss and global warming.

We hope that the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the two government agencies charged with upholding the Endangered Species Act, equitably enforce the spirit and the letter of the law. The bald eagle's success story proves that there's hope if the country prepares for ecological challenges and invests in recovery.