Bald eagle expected to be off U.S. endangered list

By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The bald eagle, the U.S. national bird whose numbers dwindled in the 1960s, is expected to be removed on Thursday from the list of creatures classified as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The "de-listing," if it happens as conservationists predict, would be a recognition of remarkable efforts to bring the bald eagle back from the brink, including the banning of the pesticide DDT in the United States.

"It is a man-on-the-moon moment for wildlife," said Doug Inkley, a senior scientist with the non-governmental National Wildlife Federation. He credited the 1973 Endangered Species Act for saving the bird.

"This is a great conservation success story, one that shows the Endangered Species Act really works," said Michael Daulton of the National Audubon Society. "In addition to being our national symbol, the bald eagle is now a symbol of environmental stewardship as well."

Around Washington, D.C., the bald eagle appears on the Great Seal of the United States, as well as official seals at the White House, Pentagon and State Department, in a marble sculpture at the Federal Reserve, as a mascot for the Washington Nationals baseball team and on U.S. coins and paper money.

Ubiquitous as an emblem, the number of actual birds dropped to just 417 nesting pairs in the contiguous 48 states by 1963, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. This was despite federal protection for the bird that started in 1940 and continued with an official designation of endangerment in 1967, even before the Endangered Species Act became law.

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The current number of nesting pairs is at least 9,789, the wildlife service said on its Web site, crediting efforts by federal, state and local governments, conservation groups, corporations, native tribes and American individuals.