Bald Eagle Management Guidelines and Conservation Measures

Bald eagles were removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species on Aug. 9, 2007. Though no longer protected under the Endangered Species Act, bald eagles remain protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (Eagle Act). The Eagle Act prohibits anyone from taking or disturbing bald eagles.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prepared National Bald Eagle Management Guidelines to clarify the ambiguity in the Eagle Act. These voluntary guidelines were prepared to help landowners, land managers and others meet the intent of the Eagle Act and avoid disturbing bald eagles.

This website outlines those national guidelines to help determine whether new or intermittent activities may disturb nesting bald eagles and thus violate the Eagle Act. This guidance is specific to bald eagles in the Northeast Region, which includes Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

Guidelines on Wind Energy Development

On February 8, 2011, the Service released drafted guidelines that will provide agency employees, developers, other federal agencies and state organizations information needed to make the best possible decisions in the review and selection of sites for wind energy facilities to avoid and minimize negative impacts to fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats.

One of the guidelines, the Draft Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance, will provide interpretive guidance to wind developers, Service biologists who evaluate potential impacts on eagles from proposed wind energy projects, and others in applying the regulatory permit standards as specified by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and other federal laws.

This guideline, along with the Draft Voluntary, Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines, are now published in the Federal Register (February 18, 2011) and open for public comment until May 19, 2011. Visit http://www.fws.gov/windenergy/index.html for more information.

National Bald Eagle Management Guidelines

• Voluntary measures to take during recreational activity that avoid disturbing nesting bald eagles and their young

• Guidance to determine the likelihood of disturbing nesting bald eagles during new or intermittent activities (other than recreation)

• Additional conservation measures to benefit and promote the conservation of bald eagles

Additional links

• Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act

• National Bald Eagle Management Guidelines

• Permit regulations to authorize limited and intentional "take" of bald eagles (PDF)

• Bald eagle natural history and sensitivity