What People Think About the Problem

     There are two points of view on the issue of the endangered bald eagle.  Should the bald eagle recieve all of this attention and given all of this money for habitat and taking care of them?  Some people believe so, others believe it is not necessary.  One of the reasons that people believe it is not necessary is bacause of its regrowing in population.  The 1997 statistics showed that in the lower 48 states, 5,290 pairs of bald eagles were occupying territory. Back in the 1960's the bald eagle numbered less than 450 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states. This was especially scary due to the fact that the numbers back in the 1700's when the eagle was first adopted as the national symbol of the U.S. was in bewteen 25 to 75 thousand pairs.  People think with the population increasing ten-fold over the last 40 years, there is no cause to worry anymore, and the eagles can survive on their own.  But unforunately they will still need help to survive. One of the major problems of the decrease of the eagles back in the 60's was a pesticide known as DDT.  People liked using it because it was a cheap source of getting rid of insects.  The pesticide is toxic at higher levels, but Bald Eagles would consume it in lower levels after eating infected fish.  The DDT would cause problems with calcium depostition in eggshells causing them to be thin, fragile, and easily crushed by the parents in the nest.  People wrote books and formed groups to work together to ban DDT, and did it successfully in 1972 with the U.S. government's help.  This was what started the increase of bald eagles again.  This wasn't enough though.  People had to quit hunting them and taking away their habitat.  The U.S. government made anti hunting laws against poachers who would kill them for their body parts.  The government would also give money to companies who would rebuild their habitats and keep the populations growing.  Without all of the governing and money given to organizations to help the Bird, they would not be able to do it by themselves.