Ohio taxpayers get credit for bringing back bald eagles

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(The Center Square) As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, the population of the national bird, the bald eagle, is soaring in Ohio.

A recent count involving citizen volunteers showed 715 bald eagles in Ohio, with a state official describes as "exceptionally healthy."

There are now 964 active nests in the state compared to 707 identified in a similar survey in 2020. There were just four nests, when the population was at its low point in the early 1970s.

The most recent census found nests in 87 of the 88 counties in the state.

“There’s just one count where we haven’t found a nest – Meigs County on the Ohio River in Southeast Ohio,” Jamey Emmert, avian education coordinator with the Ohio  Division of Wildlife told TCS. “There was a nest discovered in the area, but it’s just into West Virginia by a stone’s throw. We’re trying to get Meigs County residents to keep an eye out for a nest that is actually in Ohio and then we’ll have nests in all 88 counties.”

In the 1950s, the bald eagle was in danger of extinction in the lower 48 states because of destruction of habitat, illegal hunting and an insecticide, DDT, that contaminated the food supply, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Although no longer listed as an endangered species, bald eagles are still protected by federal law, including the Bald Eagle Protection Act, which outlaws killing the birds or selling or possessing them, according to Fish and Wildlife.

Ohio taxpayers deserve credit for funding the recovery effort of the bald eagle in their state, Emmert said.

“Bald eagle recovery in Ohio is a public investment story,” she said. “Funding comes largely from excise taxes paid by hunters and anglers on equipment, combined with taxpayer-supported public lands and conservation programs that protect rivers, wetlands and forests. That investment doesn’t just bring back a national symbol – it supports outdoor recreation, tourism, clean water, and wildlife habitat that benefits all Ohioans.”

The eagle population could once again start shrinking if the habitat and waterways where they live are not protected, Emmert added.

Bald eagles eat a lot of fish but also are not above partaking in road kill along highways, said Emmert.

“They are survivors,” she said. “But without us protecting their habitat, it’s not guaranteed. When we protect our eagles, we protect hundreds of other species that also depend on these ecosystems.”