Commission meeting news : 

News Release

FWC chairman says bald eagle rebound successful in Florida

April 9, 2008
Contact: Patricia Behnke, 850-410-5291; cell 850-251-2130

Rodney Barreto, the chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), applauds the work done with the bald eagle’s increasing population in Florida.

“This is a historic occasion,” Barreto said. “The bald eagle is an icon of imperiled species protection, and conservation efforts for the species have been a success story that reflects great credit on agencies and people who worked tirelessly to make it happen. Good news is hard to come by sometimes, when we’re dealing with an imperiled species, but we’ve all earned the right to celebrate a victory today.”

On Wednesday, the FWC approved a final bald eagle management plan and removed the bald eagle from the imperiled species list.

Previously, the FWC classified the bald eagle as a threatened species on the state list, but the change is consistent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to remove the species from the federal list last August.

Robin Boughton, FWC bald eagle management plan leader, said the comeback of the beloved bird has been astounding all over the United States, but in Florida in particular.

“Surveys found only 88 active nests in Florida when monitoring began in 1973,” Boughton said. “In 2007, more than 1,100 active nests were counted. That’s a tremendous increase.”

The bald eagle management plan will serve as a conservation blueprint to ensure the eagle continues to thrive in Florida. The Commission also approved a bald eagle rule and a permitting framework that will continue to protect the bald eagle in Florida.

“The goal of the plan is to maintain a stable or increasing bald eagle population throughout the state in perpetuity,” Boughton said. “To achieve this goal, the plan calls for conservation actions, such as land management, habitat acquisition, private land incentives, public outreach and the continued monitoring of eagle nests and territories.”

In addition, the bald eagle will remain protected by the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the state bald eagle rule proposed in the plan.