Arizona’s bald eagle management wins national conservation award

The Department of the Interior recognized the Southwest Bald Eagle Management Committee (SWBEMC) this week for its implementation of the Arizona bald eagle nestwatch program. Secretary Dirk Kempthorne presented the Cooperative Conservation Award to members of the SWBEMC at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

The SWBEMC is a broad coalition of 23 government agencies, private organizations and Native American tribes that oversees a comprehensive management plan to help ensure the continued success of the bald eagle population in Arizona. The plan includes regular monitoring and survey flights; banding and visual identification; contaminants analysis; cooperative partnerships with the other committee partners; and the nestwatch program to protect breeding activities.

“This is a fitting start to a week of Earth Day activities,” said Secretary Dirk Kempthorne during the recognition event. “If anyone were to ask me why America is the world leader in conservation of natural resources, I would simply point to the people in this auditorium. Groups like the Southwest Bald Eagle Management Committee are the spirit and the hands of cooperative conservation.”

The Department of the Interior’s Cooperative Conservation Award recognizes conservation achievements resulting from the collaboration of individual landowners, citizen groups, private sector, nongovernmental organizations, and federal, state, local, and/or tribal governments.
Executed by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the nestwatch program monitors bald eagle breeding areas in Arizona to minimize pressure from human recreational activities to protect the birds’ reproduction efforts. The program began as a weekend volunteer effort to help ensure the continued success of bald eagle breeding, and it celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

Nestwatchers typically begin their four-month tour of duty in early February. In 2008, they are monitoring 11 breeding areas, most along the Salt and Verde rivers in national forests, on Native American lands, and in Maricopa County parks. The contractors observe from dawn to dusk, collect data about the eagles’ behavior, educate the public, and notify rescuers of any life-threatening situations for the birds. The program has been credited with saving the lives of over 50 eagle nestlings, which is equal to 10 percent of all the eagles that have lived to fly on their own in Arizona since the program started.

“Arizona Game and Fish is proud to be a member of the Southwest Bald Eagle Management Committee,” said Eric Gardner, nongame branch chief for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. “The committee has made significant strides towards bald eagle conservation through the dedication and commitment of all of the partner organizations.”

Recent surveys and monitoring show at least 39 pairs of bald eagles have laid eggs for the year and 47 nestlings have hatched. Biologists expect as many as 48 pairs of bald eagles to breed in Arizona this year.