Bald Eagle Management Guidelines and Conservation Measures

National Bald Eagle Management Guidelines

Below is the Introduction to the Guidelines, go here for the complete 25-page National Bald Eagle Management Guidelines (PDF).

INTRODUCTION

The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle

Protection Act (Eagle Act) and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The MBTA and the Eagle Act protect bald eagles from a variety of harmful actions and impacts. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) developed these National Bald Eagle management Guidelines to advise landowners, land managers, and others who share public and private lands with bald eagles when and under what circumstances the protective provisions of the Eagle Act may apply to their activities. A variety of human activities can potentially interfere with bald eagles, affecting their ability to forage, nest, roost, breed, or raise young. The Guidelines are intended to help people minimize such impacts to bald eagles, particularly where they may constitute “disturbance,” which is prohibited by the Eagle Act.

The Guidelines are intended to:

 

(1) Publicize the provisions of the Eagle Act that continue to protect bald eagles, in order to reduce the possibility that people will violate the law,

 

(2) Advise landowners, land managers and the general public of the potential for various human activities to disturb bald eagles, and

 

(3) Encourage additional nonbinding land management practices that benefit bald eagles (see Additional Recommendations section).

While the Guidelines include general recommendations for land management practices that will benefit bald eagles, the document is intended primarily as a tool for landowners and planners who seek information and recommendations regarding how to avoid disturbing bald eagles. Many States and some tribal entities have developed state-specific management plans, regulations, and/or guidance for landowners and land managers to protect and enhance bald eagle habitat, and we encourage the continued development and use of these planning tools to benefit bald eagles.

Adherence to the Guidelines herein will benefit individuals, agencies, organizations, and companies by helping them avoid violations of the law. However, the Guidelines themselves are not law. Rather, they are recommendations based on several decades of behavioral observations, science, and conservation measures to avoid or minimize adverse impacts to bald eagles.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service strongly encourages adherence to these guidelines to ensure that bald and golden eagle populations will continue to be sustained. The Service realizes there may be impacts to some birds even if all reasonable measures are taken to avoid such impacts. Although it is not possible to absolve individuals and entities from liability under the Eagle Act or the MBTA, the Service exercises enforcement discretion to focus on those individuals, companies, or agencies that take migratory birds without regard for the consequences of their actions and the law, especially when conservation measures, such as these Guidelines, are available, but have not been implemented. The Service will prioritize its enforcement efforts to focus on those individuals or entities who take bald eagles or their parts, eggs, or nests without implementing appropriate measures recommended by the Guidelines.

The Service intends to pursue the development of regulations that would authorize, under limited circumstances, the use of permits if “take” of an eagle is anticipated but unavoidable. Additionally, if the bald eagle is delisted, the Service intends to provide a regulatory mechanism to honor existing (take) authorizations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

During the interim period until the Service completes a rulemaking for permits under the Eagle Act, the Service does not intend to refer for prosecution the incidental “take” of any bald eagle under the MBTA or Eagle Act, if such take is in full compliance with the terms and conditions of an incidental take statement issued to the action agency or applicant under the authority of section 7(b)(4) of the ESA or a permit issued under the authority of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA.

The Guidelines are applicable throughout the United States, including Alaska. The primary purpose of these Guidelines is to provide information that will minimize or prevent violations only of Federal laws governing bald eagles. In addition to Federal laws, many states and some smaller jurisdictions and tribes have additional laws and regulations protecting bald eagles. In some cases those laws and regulations may be more protective (restrictive) than these Federal guidelines. If you are planning activities that may affect bald eagles, we therefore recommend that you contact both your nearest U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Field Office (see the contact information on p.16) and your state wildlife agency for assistance.

LEGAL PROTECTIONS FOR THE BALD EAGLE

The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act
The Eagle Act (16 U.S.C. 668-668c), enacted in 1940, and amended several times since then, prohibits anyone, without a permit issued by the Secretary of the Interior, from“taking” bald eagles, including their parts, nests, or eggs. The Act provides criminal and civil penalties for persons who “take, possess, sell, purchase, barter, offer to sell, purchase or barter, transport, export or import, at any time or any manner, any bald eagle ... [or any golden eagle], alive or dead, or any part, nest, or egg thereof.” The Act defines“take” as “pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap, collect, molest or disturb.” “Disturb’’ means:

 

"Disturb means to agitate or bother a bald or golden eagle to a degree that causes, or is likely to cause, based on the best scientific information available, 1) injury to an eagle, 2) a decrease in its productivity, by substantially interfering with normal breeding, feeding, or sheltering behavior, or 3) nest abandonment, by substantially interfering with normal breeding, feeding, or sheltering behavior."

In addition to immediate impacts, this definition also covers impacts that result from human-induced alterations initiated around a previously used nest site during a time when eagles are not present, if, upon the eagle's return, such alterations agitate or bother an eagle to a degree that injures an eagle or substantially interferes with normal breeding, feeding, or sheltering habits and causes, or is likely to cause, a loss of productivity or nest abandonment.

A violation of the Act can result in a criminal fine of $100,000 ($200,000 for organizations), imprisonment for one year, or both, for a first offense. Penalties increase substantially for additional offenses, and a second violation of this Act is a felony.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act

The MBTA (16 U.S.C. 703-712), prohibits the taking of any migratory bird or any part, nest, or egg, except as permitted by regulation. The MBTA was enacted in 1918; a 1972 agreement supplementing one of the bilateral treaties underlying the MBTA had the effect of expanding the scope of the Act to cover bald eagles and other raptors. Implementing regulations define “take” under the MBTA as “pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, possess, or collect.”

Copies of the Eagle Act and the MBTA are available at: http://permits.fws.gov/ltr/ltr.shtml.

State laws and regulations
Most states have their own regulations and/or guidelines for bald eagle management. Some states may continue to list the bald eagle as endangered, threatened, or of special concern. If you plan activities that may affect bald eagles, we urge you to familiarize yourself with the regulations and/or guidelines that apply to bald eagles in your state.

Your adherence to the Guidelines herein does not ensure that you are in compliance with state laws and regulations because state regulations can be more specific and/or restrictive than these Guidelines.

Go here for the complete 25-page National Bald Eagle Management Guidelines (PDF).

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