James River Eagles

Excerpts from a commentary published by the Richmond Times Dispatch

Written by Bryan D. Watts, Center for Conservation Biology

No other place on the continent illustrates the recovery of the bald eagle population from DDT lows better than the James River. During the 1950s there were 23 known bald eagle territories on the James. In 1962 the area around Jamestown Island was thought to support the highest breeding density of bald eagles in the entire Chesapeake Bay region. In 1963, an adult eagle was found under one of the nest trees on Jamestown Island. The bird was sick and trembling and later died. Chemical analysis revealed very high levels of DDT. In 1964, there were 13 pairs of eagles known on the James. The number dropped to 11 pairs in 1965, 7 pairs in 1966, 5 pairs between 1967 and 1969, 4 pairs in 1970, 2 pairs in 1971, and just 1 pair between 1972 and 1974. In 1974, the single pair laid no eggs. Over the 11-year period between 1964 and 1974, eagles on the James produced only 3 chicks. In 1975 there were no breeding pairs of bald eagles along the entire shoreline of the James making it the only major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay where the population went completely extinct.

In 1979, just 7 years after the federal ban on DDT, a single pair of eagles nested on Upper Chippokes Creek marking the first sign of recovery for this historic population. As with other locations, birds began to slowly re-colonize the James throughout the 1980's and chick production improved dramatically. In 1987, a full 25 years after a breeding adult died of chemical poisoning, a nesting pair returned to Jamestown Island. In March of 2002, we conducted a historic survey flight that documented 81 breeding pairs along the James. Though this event was marked by only a few of us at the time, this survey represented a conservation milestone when the James River supported more pairs than the entire Bay just 25 years before. During this past spring, the James supported a record 174 pairs of eagles that produced 253 chicks.

The population recovery documented on the James has been consistent with recoveries throughout most of the bald eagle's former range. The Virginia population has increased by more than 35 fold from a low of 20 pairs to more than 730 pairs. Both the rate and magnitude of these recoveries have exceeded even the most optimistic projections from the 1970s. Success on this scale has led to numerous debates about the need for further management and expenditures. During a time when funding for such activities is stretched beyond reason, these debates inevitably lead to discussions about the inherent value of species to society at large and the costs of conservation.

I am asked with regularity "why should we be concerned about a particular species or place?" or "what is their value to society?". The obvious answer to this question is that our society has expressed the value that we place on bald eagles by the millions of dollars and hours that we have expended on its behalf. However, the true answer is that bald eagles like so many other things do not conform to the value metrics that our society has become accustomed. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with a magnificent species during a period of remarkable recovery. Although I vividly remember observing my first eagle in the wild, I am too young to have experienced the silent years. Ask the watermen who have worked the waters through this period how the return of this species has lifted their daily lives. Ask the scores of private citizens, professionals, and conservation groups who have spent countless hours with their shoulders to the plow to pave the way for this recovery. They will tell you that the sight of this bird on the wing is more than payment in full for their efforts. As eagles become more common in the Bay the dividends of these investments enrich us all. They symbolize the recovery of our common heritage.

For thousands of years, bald eagles have nested along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Like few other species, they have born witness to the many changes in the Bay. In the long sweep of time, they have seen the shoreline redrawn many times through the rise and fall of oceans and different forest types move across the landscape as climates have come and gone. They have smelled the smoke rising from a thousand cook fires. They have witnessed the English sail into the mouth of the Bay and heard the sounds of revolution. In recent decades they have seen roadways and development reach out to every corner of the watershed. Yet they remain, and carry on their role as the most inspiring consumer within one of the most fertile aquatic ecosystems on earth.