The Bald Eagle Is Removed from the Endangered Species List

Setting the scene

DDT thinning eggshells and habitat loss had pushed Haliaeetus leucocephalus to the brink; Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and the 1972 DDT ban, plus the 1973 Endangered Species Act, launched recovery programs across nesting sites from Florida to Alaska.

What happened

The bald eagle was delisted in 2007 when Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced populations had rebounded above 10,000 breeding pairs in the lower forty-eight states, meeting recovery criteria set by federal biologists.

Why it still matters

Recovery took decades after near extinction; the eagle remained America's national emblem on the Great Seal since 1782, and delisting shifted focus to monitoring lead ammunition and wetland development without ESA criminal penalties for landowners.

Background

Recovery took decades after near extinction.