Arguably one of the greatest successes of the environmental movement has been the rebounding of bald eagle populations across the United States. This case study has a lot of lessons for conservation groups for other species, and sustainability activists in general looking for times of effective interaction between science, public activism, and government. Below is a concept map that shows how these cross-scalar interactions led to the eagle’s miraculous turn-around, as well as a timeline for the major events in its conservation.

A national symbol of the country since its inception, the bald eagle saw its population drop significantly as Industrialism took hold in America (Casey). This decline was expedited further after World War II when the pesticide DDT was made publicly available for sale until the bird was at the very brink of extinction in ’60s, when scientist Rachel Carson linked the pesticide to egg-thinning and lower reproduction success in birds of prey (Grier et al.). Since then, through an astounding effort from researchers, government agencies, and nonprofit groups, the bald eagle has seen a resurgence to the point that in 2007, it was officially taken off the endangered and threatened species list entirely (Conroy). Importantly, the work for the eagle is not done, however, since eagle injuries have been on the rise: a symptom of an increasing population in a decreasing amount of habitat (Casey). Therefore, clearly there is room for improvement in the eagle’s conservation, starting with more effectively reclaiming and managing the eagle’s lost winter and breeding habitats across the country (Grier et al.).

Editor’s Note: To enlarge the image, either zoom in or click on the image, which will download a larger jpeg of the image.