Sacramento Bee: An analysis of Endangered Species Act politics and science, as seen via bald eagles.

The federal government seems on the brink of, finally, taking the resurgent bald eagle off the endangered species list. The Bee’s Matt Weiser uses its example to show how politics, science, special interests, and other factors influence the whole murky process. Weiser reviews the determination, years ago, that the big birds are doing so well they no longer need special protected status and the feds’ subsequent inability to get it done.

The catalyst, no surprise really, is a lawsuit brought by a conservative legal group. It took on the case of a property owner who felt hamstrung by irrational regulations just because a few eagles nested on his land in Minnesota. With polar bears going on the list, and wolves and perhaps Yellowstone’s grizzly bears due off it, this is a timely, deeper look.

Read it;