News Archive 2014

Berry’s eagles a testimony to Endangered Species Act

Laws to protect treasured national symbol appear to be working.

Eve Godfrey, reporter
Alex Brizzi, editor

MOUNT BERRY, Ga. – The 2-year residency of a pair of bald eagles on Berry College’s campus has brought renewed attention to laws designed to protect the eagle as a national symbol and as a once-endangered species.

For one, Berry students are “gaining awareness about the things we are so lucky to have here, as well as awareness on how successful the Endangered Species Act was,” said Dr. Renee Carleton, associate professor of biology at Berry.

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Berry’s bald eagle couple, which in two year has had
three eaglets.
Photo courtesy Gena Flanigen.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service states that the purpose of the Endangered Species Act is to “protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend.”

Carleton said the law has done its job, finally.

“The bald eagle was one of the first animals to be protected by the Endangered Species Act in 1973, and it was not until 2007 when the bald eagle was finally taken off the endangered species list,” said Carleton, who has become a sort of unofficial spokesperson for the eagles at Berry, because of what has been a great deal of media coverage.

By protecting eagles and making it a crime to kill, capture or hurt them, the Endangered Species Act helped to contribute to an increase in eagle population since 1973. Additionally, eagles are protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act

Under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, individuals can be fined or jailed for modifying any aspect of an eagle’s environment, as well as for harming or tormenting an eagle.

This second law forced Berry to re-think its plans for a football stadium behind The Cage athletics center. The law stipulates that there be 300 yards of untouched land around any tree in which eagles have nested. To build a stadium, a 600-yard buffer zone is needed around the facility, Carleton said.

carleton.png
Renee Carleton, associate professor of
biology, Berry College

An eagle nest, or eyrie, must be inactive for three years before it can be touched or removed, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

But the eagles haven’t been a negative for the college, which has attracted media coverage from the likes of National Public Radio and National Geographic, in addition to local and regional media. And bird-watchers and lovers from throughout Georgia have been visiting the nest site.

To accommodate interest in the eagles, Berry has erected two live webcams.

To the live look-ins, Berry plans to add sound within the next year, according to Jeanne Mathews, assistant vice president of Berry’s public relations and marketing department.

 

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