U.S. to Abandon Bald Eagle Project on Santa Catalina

In the final analysis, the federal watchdogs had to make a no-win choice about the bald eagles of Santa Catalina Island.

The birds’ eggs were still cracking because of the ravages of DDT. The chances of reproducing on their own, at least in the foreseeable future, seemed dubious at best.

So, in a decision sure to spark controversy and protests by the state and environmental groups, the federal government is suspending funding for a program to restore the island’s bald eagles, shifting the emphasis to other offshore locales where the birds have a greater chance of reproducing.

The decision was announced Monday by three federal agencies charged with a $25-million project to restore fisheries as well as seabird and bald eagle populations in Southern California that have been harmed by the release of toxic chemicals into the ocean. The decision came over the unanimous objections of the California Coastal Commission, which demanded late last year that the eagle preservation program for Catalina remain intact.

Greg Baker, the federal project manager, said the decision was based on the fact that Catalina’s eagles, more than on other islands, were still being adversely affected by huge quantities of poisons dumped into the Pacific more than 40 years ago.

“We felt we weighed all the options and information available to us,” he said. “It’s a tough question and there’s no easy answer.”

Environmentalists were dismayed by the decision, saying that the eagles should have more time under the federal program. Ann M. Muscat, president of the Catalina Island Conservancy, said that the eagle played a major role in the island’s ecosystem and that efforts must continue to preserve the birds.

“We’re angered that they consistently ignored public support of the eagle program and now the Coastal Commission’s unanimous decision,” she said.

Because of the toxic dumping, Catalina’s bald eagles are unable to reproduce without human help. Their eggs contain high levels of DDT, a now-banned pesticide, that Montrose Chemical Co. discharged off the Palos Verdes Peninsula throughout the 1950s and ‘60s.

Since the preservation effort began in 1980, more than 100 eagles have been released on Catalina. There are now between 15 and 20 birds there. Though the birds themselves thrive, they collect so much DDT in their bodies that their eggs dehydrate or break. About 100 tons of DDT remain on the ocean floor off the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

The eagles ingest the DDT by eating sea lion carcasses and other food. Because the insecticide causes the eagles’ eggs to break easily, researchers collect the eggs and hatch them in incubators, then return the chicks to their nests.

Monday’s announcement -- made jointly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -- said the preservation emphasis would now be on the northern Channel Islands, where the birds might be able to reproduce on their own.

“The hope is that the birds on the northern Channel Islands, farther from the source of contamination, will be able to reproduce without the human intervention required on Catalina,” said Kate Faulkner, resource manager for the National Park Service.

Mark Delaplaine, the federal consistency coordinator for the Coastal Commission, said his agency had several options ranging from agreeing with the decision to filing suit to reverse it, the most likely being some kind of mediated settlement.

Baker said the monitoring of the eagles on Catalina would still be conducted by the Institute for Wildlife Studies, but without federal funds. He said the fate of the Catalina eagles would be reevaluated in about two years.

The overall restoration project includes conducting peregrine falcon surveys, improving seabird habitat and eradicating nonnative seabird predators. The restoration efforts are part of the Montrose Settlements Restoration Program. Since 1991, money for the eagle project has come from the $140-million settlement paid by Montrose, other chemical companies and about 100 municipalities.