Do You Look for Eagles on the Nyack Waterfront? Weigh In on This

A proposed conservation plan to manage New York’s population of bald eagles is now available for public review and comment.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens said it describes the historic and current status of the bald eagle in the state and provides guidelines for future management actions.

“Since the bald eagle depends primarily on freshwater rivers, lakes and streams for its food, a flourishing eagle population is a good indicator of New York’s high quality water ways,” he said in a press release. “Conservation of the bald eagle and its habitat plays an important role in preserving our biodiversity and ecosystem health. The plan aims to maintain the bald eagle’s geographic diversity and ultimately ensure a healthy population within the state.”

The bald eagle, currently listed as a threatened species in New York, continues to make a remarkable recovery across the state.

The plan establishes objectives:

• Maintain a statewide average breeding bald eagle population of at least 200 breeding pairs.
• Maintain protection of our significant wintering bald eagle population.

Key actions to meet those objectives include:

• Collaborating with landowners to limit human disturbance, address the risk of predation and gather information on the status of nests by building partnerships between landowners, NYSDEC, local land trusts, environmental groups, and volunteers.
• Discouraging the intentional feeding of bald eagles to avoid potential exposure to contamination and disease.
• Collecting dead eagles for necropsy to determine cause of death and assessment of exposure to heavy metals, toxins, and disease before sending along all eagle carcasses to the National Eagle Repository.
• Monitoring the distribution and abundance of breeding and wintering bald eagles in New York State at a level suitable to ensure objectives are met, incorporating volunteers where possible.

DEC will accept comments on the draft plan until April 10, 2015.

Comments or questions should be addressed by email to wildlife@dec.ny.gov (note “bald eagle” in the subject line), or by phone, contact Dan Rosenblatt at 518-402-8884. Comments can also be mailed to DEC’s Wildlife Diversity Unit, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754.

Additional information on bald eagles can be found on DEC’s website. Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF copies of the Draft Conservation Plan for Bald Eagles in New York State may be downloaded directly.

PHOTO: DEC