EVERETT — Encouraging signs can be found soaring overhead. They’re seen in the increasing numbers of white specks in treetops and in the wide wing spans gliding over highways, fields and shorelines.
Hope also can be spotted among the crags of cliffs, bridges and high rises.
State wildlife managers are recommending removing bald eagles and peregrine falcons from Washington’s endangered species list as their numbers continue to improve.
“It’s a conservation success story we really should be celebrating,” said Hannah Anderson, who oversees the endangered list for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. “It’s really exciting when we can de-list a species.”
Bald eagles live on both sides of the state, but are more common west of the mountains. Local birders covering an area around Everett, Marysville, Tulalip and beyond tallied their highest number of eagles in more than two decades last winter.
In just 10 years, between 2005 and 2015, the state reported the number of bald eagle nesting sites statewide rose from 100 to 1,334. The bald eagle has been on the federal endangered list since 1978.
Peregrine falcons were listed as endangered in Washington in 1980. At the time, there were only five known nesting pairs statewide. Today, the state estimates there are 148 peregrine nesting sites, more than double the number in 2002.
The ban of the pesticide DDT as well as other environmental protections have been critical to the recovery of the species. Both would continue to be protected under federal law regardless of any change in their state listings.
The bald eagle and peregrine falcon are among five protected wildlife species in the state that could get a new listing status.
The news is not so promising for the marbled murrelet, a small seabird, and the lynx, the rarest of the state’s native cats which lives in western Okanogan County. Wildlife managers are proposing a change in their status from threatened to endangered. It’s also recommending changing the status of the American white pelican on the Columbia River from endangered to threatened. Its numbers are improving but it’s still considered vulnerable.
With more than 1,000 members, the Pilchuck Audubon Society in Snohomish County expects to share its thoughts within a comment period that ends Oct. 10. It will take time and research to come up with a formal position, said Cindy Easterson, president of the local Audubon chapter.
She anticipates full support for greater protections for the marbled murrelet, which has seen a 44 percent drop in its population in the past 14 years. She is encouraged but cautious about the bald eagle and peregrine falcon.
“While we’d like to celebrate recovery and higher populations in these species, we know there are still a number of threats waiting in the wings that could impact these species” Easterson said.
Climate change, for instance, could hurt salmon, a key food source for bald eagles.
That’s why Pilchuck Audubon is eager to delve into the data behind the state’s de-listing recommendation, she said.
“We understand that changes in listing status are, in part, a reflection of how resources will be spent for species protection,” Easterson said. “So if a species status can be lowered without incurring additional impacts, then it frees up resources to focus on birds or other species that are in serious trouble of being extirpated from the state.”
Scott Atkinson has been involved in “Christmas bird counts” in different parts of Western Washington since 1973. He often compiles the tallies for an area that begins at Hewitt and Rucker Avenues in Everett and stretches north through the Tulalip Indian Reservation and up to Island Crossing. It also takes in the southern fringe of Camano Island and reaches east to about two miles east of Highway 9.
The group numbers about 125 people in a given year and includes kayakers and boaters.
He’s encouraged by what he’s seen with the bald eagle in recent years.
“There is no question it is not just doing well,” he said. “It is doing great.”
Over the years, he has seen more bald eagles moving inland from traditional winter habitat along the shorelines.
“It’s clear that the bald eagle has come a long ways in 30 years, and there are other species out there more worthy of our attention,” he said.
Atkinson said peregrine falcon sightings typically are in the single digits during the annual counts in north Snohomish county.
“I’m more conservative on that one because of the overall numbers of that bird,” he said.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife periodically reviews the status of endangered, threatened or sensitive species. For now, the list numbers 45 species, from the bald eagle and peregrine falcon to the northern leopard frog and Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly.
Written comments on the reviews and recommendations can be submitted by Oct. 10 via email to TandEpubliccom@dfw.wa.gov or by mail to Hannah Anderson, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 600 Capitol Way N, Olympia, WA 98501-1091.
For more information, go to wdfw.wa.gov.
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