Daphne Sashin
Sentinel Staff Writer

June 12, 2007

KISSIMMEE -- New management guidelines to protect the state's bald eagles sparked concerns Monday that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission isn't doing enough to safeguard the bird's future.

As the agency gets ready to remove the bird from its imperiled-species list, it has crafted a plan to maintain the eagle population across the state. Mimicking federal guidelines, the new plan would regulate development within 660 feet of an eagle's nest, a reduction from previous buffers of 750 feet and 1,500 feet.

The agency wants to remove the birds from the imperiled-species list because of increasing numbers in Florida during the past several decades. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to remove the bald eagle from the endangered-species list this summer.

But several citizens told the commission they fear for the eagle's fate after it is off the list. With intense development pressure in Osceola and elsewhere, especially on shorelines, Audubon volunteers and others said it is not enough to regulate the nests.

"The nest itself may have some protection, but they fly outside of that circle, do they not?" said Jessica Sullivan, one of 20 people who attended the public hearing in the Osceola County administration building. "When you see the growth rates in Osceola County, I'm very concerned that there's not going to be anything left for them here."

Robin Boughton, the commission's bald-eagle-management team leader, said the management plan includes a measure to work with counties to revise tree ordinances to add incentives for protecting pine trees -- the bird's preferred nesting territory.

Others criticized the commission for adopting the reduced buffer in concert with the federal guidelines, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has offered no data to suggest that having construction 660 feet from the nests would leave the eagles undisturbed.

"There has been no published analysis of the data that [U.S.] Fish and Wildlife has. They're asking us to take it on faith," Boughton said.

Boughton said the state agency will do annual monitoring studies for the next five years, and less frequently after that, to make sure the eagle population is not declining.

The bald eagle is still classified as threatened by the state commission and will not be de-listed until the management plan, developed with public input, is approved, probably in December.

It would still be protected under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

"It's still illegal to harm or harass this bird," Boughton said.

The public-comment period lasts through July.

The draft plan is available at MyFWC.com under Quick Clicks.

Daphne Sashin can be reached at 407-931-5944 or dsashin@orlandosentinel.com.