Each year, the nation celebrates American Eagle Day on June 20. The date commemorates the adoption of the bald eagle as a symbol of American strength and freedom. 2017 marks 235 years that this majestic creature has graced the face of U.S. coins, flags and banners.
But American Eagle Day is also meant to draw attention to the vulnerability of the species. Although bald eagles were plentiful in the days of our founding fathers, hunting and habitat loss had a dramatic effect on their numbers. By the 20th Century, it was obvious bald eagles needed protection.
In 1940, the U.S. Congress passed the Bald Eagle Protection Act. It protected these birds from hunting and harassment from humans. And it helped protect habitat, as well.
But human-made challenges weren’t over for the bald eagle. That same decade, researchers began to see negative effects from a pesticide known as DDT. In birds like the bald eagle, toxins in the pesticide made egg shells weak and thin. Bald eagle populations plummeted. And by the 1960s, there were only about 400 breeding pairs left.
In the late 60s and early 70s, after DDT was banned and the bald eagle was listed as an endangered species, its numbers began to climb. They recovered so well that in 1995 they were downgraded from endangered to threatened. And in 2007, the federal government delisted bald eagles entirely.
In Texas, too, bald eagles have made a recovery. The last survey done by the state in 2005 found 160 nests with more than 200 babies, compared to only five active nest in 1971. But there’s still work to be done, and Texas still lists bald eagles as threatened.
Texas is one of the country’s fastest-growing states. And that brings a lot of good things. But it presents lots of challenges, too. And keeping bald eagles alive and well in the Lone Star State is one of them. Officials continue to monitor bald eagles with the hope that their numbers will continue to grow.
We share that hope here at Veteran Energy. And we’re glad this fine-feathered symbol of our nation continues to soar high.
