RETURN OF THE EAGLE: How America Saved...

RETURN OF THE EAGLE: How America Saved Its National Symbol text by Greg Breining, photographs by Frank Oberele and others (The Nature Conservancy/Falcon: $19.95; 126 pp., paperback original). In 1963, fewer than 500 nesting pairs of bald eagles remained in the lower 48 states. Over-hunting, habitat destruction and pesticides had decimated a species that had once ranged over the entire North American continent: The American government had to place its national symbol on the Endangered Species list. The elimination of bounties and some toxic chemicals--and the work of dedicated conservationists--have produced an ecological success story: The eagle population has grown to 16,000. This handsome book shows that properly enforced environmental activism can work.