It was only a few decades ago that the bald eagle, which has long been an American icon, was on the brink of extinction. Its comeback is largely credited to the Endangered Species Act, a 1973 law that established protections for threatened species—including the bald eagle.
“The bald eagle has been a poster child for the effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act,” says Bill Bowerman, professor of wildlife ecology and toxicology at the University of Maryland.
It was only on Christmas Eve last year that the Biden Administration officially designated the bird as America’s national bird. But now, as the Trump Administration proposes a rule change that would alter the definition of “harm” under the act, the Endangered Species Act’s power to preserve habitats and protected species around the country could be at risk.
The goal of the Endangered Species Act is to provide a framework for saving threatened animals and their environments. The act ended up recovering the bald eagle, considered near extinction in the 1960s, with only 417 known nesting pairs recorded in the lower 48 states in 1963. Now, the bird is no longer under threat; they were delisted from the Endangered Species Act in 2007. Today, there are over 71,400 nesting pairs of bald eagles in the wild.
These birds of prey seem to be thriving. Many might not know, but bald eagles are migratory birds. While some choose to live in the same region year-round, others travel far distances during the year. And their range is expanding with our changing climate; during their migration season, the birds are now moving further north than in previous years, and are laying their eggs earlier.
Scientists say they are keeping an eye on these changes, though. While they are not yet impacting the bird’s reproduction or food sources, they are seeing new challenges emerge. “This year, at the end of March in Michigan, there was a three day freezing rain event, and it put up to one inch thick ice on trees,” says Bowerman. “So it brought down some nest sites.”
During their migrations they also rely heavily on National Parks—many of which have been facing cuts under the Trump Administration. “When they migrate, it appears that they use state, national, county, federal parks, or protected lands as stepping stones,” says Scott Rush, associate professor the department of wildlife, fisheries, and aquaculture at Mississippi State University. “If we lose some of these areas, we don’t have the support mechanisms for these birds over these large places.”
It’s not just the likely elimination of protections to National Parks, however, that could impact the birds. Opening up more forests to industry is also a potential threat to their habitats. In April, the Trump Administration proposed a rule change that would continue to prohibit actions that harm or kill endangered species, but rescind protections for their habitats. Habitat destruction is the greatest threat to endangered species—and could put others at risk. The move is part of the administration’s plan to increase drilling and logging in the United States.
Regardless of whether these changes come into effect, our daily habits could also be impacting bald eagles. These days, one of the leading killers for bald eagles is electrocution from power lines. “As temperature changes, whether it be hotter or colder, there’s a greater need for more electricity, and a lot of bald eagles nest on utility towers, and some of the issues with utility towers is that the birds can get electrocuted or they can cause outages,” says Rush.
Bowerman says that it serves as a reminder that we should be doing more, not less, when it comes to protecting the species that live alongside us. “We need to have greater appreciation for species and learn about them before we discount them and just write them off.”
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