Eastern Golden Eagle Working Group Recognized with U.S. Forest Service Award

 

Eastern Golden Eagle Working Group Recognized with U.S. Forest Service Award

 

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is part of a group that was recently recognized by the U.S. Forest Service for its efforts to bolster the golden eagle population in eastern North America.

IFW Biologist Charlie Todd collaborated with biologists and wildlife managers from 19 other institutions from Quebec to Florida as part of the Eastern Golden Eagle Working Group, which was awarded the 2013 Research and Management Partnership Award.

 

The award, part of the U.S. Forest Service’s Wings Across the Americas program, was given to the group on March 27.

 

Maine is one of only a few places in the East where golden eagles can be seen any month of the year. Only a few individuals are observed in the breeding season, winter or spring/fall migration periods. The last recorded nesting by golden eagles in Maine was in 1997, and the only golden eagles currently nesting in the region are in the provinces of eastern Canada.

 

Since it was formed in 2010, the working group has monitored the golden eagle’s status, prioritized research needs, promoted science-based conservation and management actions and raised awareness of the threats golden eagles face, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

 

IFW prepared a species plan in 2004 that detailed the historic demise of golden eagles in the eastern U.S. The species may never have been abundant in forested regions like Maine, but Piscataquis County nests noted in 1689 and 1736 are among the earliest written records of a golden eagle nest anywhere in North America. Abenaki Indian lore suggests a long-standing presence before settlement and written records.

 

In Maine, voluntary contributions provide the only state funds for conservation of endangered and threatened species, other fish and wildlife “at risk” in the state, or any conservation effort not related to game and sport fish. Hunters and anglers have historically shouldered the cost of fish and wildlife management. Soaring interest in conservation for Maine’s rich resource heritage has not yet translated into stable funding. Contributions to Maine’s Endangered and Nongame Wildlife Fund are derived only from sales of the loon plate conservation option for vehicles, the Chickadee Check-off donation on state income tax returns or direct contributions which can be done at any time.

 

For more information on the Eastern Golden Eagle Working Group, visit www.egewg.org

 

To find out more about Maine’s Endangered and Nongame Wildlife Fund, go to www.mefishwildlife.com

 

Photo information: An adult golden eagle leaves a frozen Oxford County lake, with an adult bald eagle in the background. Credit: Bill Hanson and Tim Welch