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State proposing plan to promote health of bald eagle population in St. Lawrence County and across New York

Posted 2/28/15

A proposed conservation plan to manage the growing population of the bald eagle in St. Lawrence County and around the state is now available for public review and comment. The Conservation Plan for …

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State proposing plan to promote health of bald eagle population in St. Lawrence County and across New York

Posted

A proposed conservation plan to manage the growing population of the bald eagle in St. Lawrence County and around the state is now available for public review and comment.

The Conservation Plan for Bald Eagles in New York State describes the historic and current status of the bald eagle in the state and provides guidelines for future management actions.

Those who wish to comment may submit their ideas to DEC by April 10.

“New York State was instrumental in the restoration and recovery of the bald eagle in the northeast United States and continues to play an important role in providing suitable habitat for our nation’s symbol,” New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens said. “Since the bald eagle depends primarily on freshwater rivers, lakes and streams for its food, a flourishing eagle population is a good indicator of New York’s high quality waterways. Conservation of the bald eagle and its habitat plays an important role in preserving our biodiversity and ecosystem health. The plan aims to maintain the bald eagle’s geographic diversity and ultimately ensure a healthy population within the state.”

The bald eagle, still listed as a threatened species in New York, continues to make a remarkable recovery in the North Country and across the state. The conservation plan serves as a guide for landowners, resource managers, local government agencies and other stakeholders to manage and perpetuate the bald eagle and its habitat in New York.

This plan is also intended to inform the public of actions recommended to achieve the goal of a continued healthy bald eagle population, including its essential habitat and the ecosystems it depends upon.

The plan establishes objectives for bald eagles in New York and lays out actions to accomplish those objectives. Key objectives include maintaining a statewide average breeding bald eagle population of at least 200 breeding pairs, as well as protection of the significant wintering bald eagle population.

Key actions to meet these objectives include consulting with landowners, developers, business and industry to ensure that proposed projects occurring near eagle nesting and wintering locations avoid or minimize impacts to bald eagles that may result from the potential impacts of land clearing and other increased human disturbance such as collisions with cars, trains, electric lines, wind turbines and other structures, and environmental contaminants including lead and PCBs.

They also hope to:

• work collaboratively with landowners to limit human disturbance, address the risk of predation and gather information on the status of nests by building partnerships between landowners, NYSDEC, local land trusts, environmental groups, and volunteers.

• discourage the intentional feeding of bald eagles to avoid potential exposure to contamination and disease.

• collect dead eagles to determine cause of death and assessment of exposure to heavy metals, toxins, and disease before sending along all eagle carcasses to the National Eagle Repository.

• monitor the distribution and abundance of breeding and wintering bald eagles in New York at a level suitable to ensure objectives are met, incorporating volunteers where possible.

Additional information on bald eagles can be found on DEC’s web-site at http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/74052.html. The Draft Conservation Plan for Bald Eagles in New York State may be downloaded directly from ftp://ftp.dec.state.ny.us/dfwmr/wildlife/baea/.

DEC will accept comments on the draft plan until Friday, April 10. Comments or questions should be addressed by email to wildlife@dec.ny.gov (note “bald eagle” in the subject line), or by phone, contact Dan Rosenblatt at 518-402-8884. Comments can also be mailed to DEC’s Wildlife Diversity Unit, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754.