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Press Releases

Contact: Edie Smith, Spokesperson
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
284 State Street
41 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333


Telephone: work (207) 592-4348

Fax: (207) 287-6395

May 24, 2009

Bald Eagle to be Removed from Maine's Endangered/Threatened Species List

EVENT: Gov. John E. Baldacci to sign L.D. 66, An Act to Amend Maine’s Endangered and Threatened Species List by Removing the Bald Eagle.

DATE: Tuesday, May 26, 2009.

TIME: 2 P.M.

LOCATION: Capitol Park, Augusta. (If it’s raining, the event will be in the Hall of Flags, State House.)

ATTENDEES: Gov. John Baldacci

Commissioner Roland “Danny” Martin, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

Deputy Commissioner Paul Jacques, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

IF&W Wildlife Biologist Charlie Todd, who for more than 30 years has worked to restore the Bald Eagle population in Maine.

State Sen. Bruce Bryant and Rep. Mark Bryant, sponsors of L.D. 66, the bill to remove the Bald Eagle from the Maine Endangered and Threatened Species List.

“Larry,” a live bald eagle.

Invited guests from the state’s Congressional Delegation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state natural resource agencies, state conservation groups, and others.

PURPOSE: “A Celebration of Recovery.”

In 1978, the Bald Eagle was first recognized as an Endangered Species in Maine and 42 other states. At the time, about 20 nesting pairs resided in Maine, primarily along the coast, and only one other nesting pair lived in the Northeast, and that was in New York.

Approximately 10 years later, the state mandated further protections to protect Bald Eagles and other endangered species in Maine.

The Bald Eagle is the first species to be removed from Maine’s Endangered and Threatened Species List, the result of solid species management plans that have restored Bald Eagle populations to more than 475 nesting pairs now in all 16 Maine counties.

The legislation to be signed by Gov. John Baldacci will remove the Bald Eagle from the list, but it includes protections that ensure that the Bald Eagle population in Maine continues to thrive.