Sonoran Desert bald eagle will 
remain a threatened species

PHOENIX, AZ (08/30/06) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reviewed a petition to designate the Sonoran Desert-nesting population of the bald eagle as a distinct population segment and reclassify the population from its current threatened status to endangered. The Service concluded the petition did not contain substantial scientific data to warrant the actions.

The Service made the determination in response to a petition received in October 2004 from the Center for Biological Diversity, Maricopa Audubon Society and Arizona Audubon Council.  While the Endangered Species Act allows protection of 'distinct population segments' some species, in order for the Service to do so it must be demonstrated that the population is discrete from other members of its species, and that the discrete population is significant to the species as a whole.

"While bald eagles in the Sonoran Desert have attributes that make them discrete, the petition doesn't present substantial scientific information that they are significant in relation to the whole species," said Steve Spangle, Arizona Field Supervisor.  "In addition, the level of threats described in the petition, as well as information available from the Arizona Game and Fish Department, doesn't indicate that the Sonoran Desert bald eagle population is at risk of extinction."

The Service also conducted a thorough analysis of the threats to the Sonoran Desert population using the same criteria to list any species, subspecies, or distinct population segment.  The Endangered Species Act identifies five factors to be considered, either singly or in combination, to determine whether a species may be threatened or endangered.  They are:  (A) present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of habitat or range; (B) overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes; (C) disease or predation; (D) inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; or (E) other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence.

The bald eagle is currently at its highest number ever recorded in Arizona despite the threats presented in the petition. 

A copy of the finding about the bald eagle is available online.