In the 1970s, bald eagles were nearly eradicated from New Jersey. Decades of habitat loss and the use of DDT, an agricultural pesticide banned in 1972 for harming people and wildlife, dwindled the bald eagle population down to just a single recorded nest in the Garden State.
Through extensive efforts, the population has since rebounded, and now the state Department of Environmental Protection is recommending the eagle be removed from the official endangered list.
It came by careful management of bald eagle nests and new state laws protecting their habitats. Wildlife biologist Larry Niles, who used to work for New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection, explained the process and how the state looked to Canadian eagle nests — and decoys — to restore the population.
“We would take one [egg] and there would be still two in the nest,” he said. “That area of Canada was unaffected by DDT, so these birds were naturally productive. We were also managing the nest to keep it productive. So I would climb the nest and take out the real eggs, put in a fake egg so that the bird would keep incubating. Eventually, the female died, was replaced by a young female who was not contaminated.”
Specifically, the DEP is asking to reclassify bald eagles as instead a species of “special concern,” which offers slightly fewer protections than animals on the endangered species list or threatened species list.
“These are species we need to keep an eye on because they could could backslide,” said Kathy Clark, chief of the DEP’s endangered and non-game species Program. “Hopefully we can do work like habitat management that will keep them on in a good space.”
