ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

PROTECTION STATUS: Not listed; as part of the bald eagle population throughout the lower 48 states, was classified as threatened in 1973 and delisted in 2007

PETITIONED: 2004

CRITICAL HABITAT: None

RECOVERY PLAN: 1982

RANGE: Along the Salt and Verde rivers in Arizona; historically, also settled in New Mexico and Texas, west of the 100th meridian

THREATS: Development, the operation of dams, stream dewatering (particularly Prescott’s impending dewatering of the upper Verde River), public lands cattle grazing, aircraft flights, and public lands off-road vehicle corridors

POPULATION TREND: The population increased between 1970 and 2006 from three breeding pairs to 43 breeding pairs due to elimination of DDT, habitat protection, and artificial boosts to reproduction through a nest-watch and fostering program. The population is still very small, however, and population viability analyses predict that without continued protection and management, the eagle will go extinct within the next 75 years.