Celebrate "American Eagle Day" on June 20, 2008

A resolution proclaiming June 20 as American Eagle Day has been approved by both houses of the U.S. Congress and, so far, 26 Governors have signed Proclamations giving our national bird its own Official Day in their state!

After nearly disappearing from most of the United States decades ago, the bald eagle is now flourishing across the nation. The removal of the bald eagle from the list of threatened and endangered species was announced by Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne on June 28, 2007.

"It's fitting that our national symbol has also become a symbol of the great things that happen through cooperative conservation," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall. "Eagles could not have recovered without a support network of strong partnerships among government at all levels, tribes, conservation organizations, the business community and individual citizens."

However, much work still needs to be done. The American Eagle Foundation wants to inform concerned citizens and conservationists that their national symbol still needs help. Al Cecere, founder and President of the American Eagle Foundation, is confident the bald eagle still faces daunting post-delisting challenges - from loss of crucial nesting and foraging habitat to the threat of various contaminants, viruses and diseases. "The bald eagle has been taken off the ESA's threatened species list, but that doesn't mean it has fully recovered and won't continue an up-hill fight for survival,” Cecere explains. “In an era of government budget cutting, it will cost millions of dollars to monitor and protect eagle nests and adjacent ecosystems on private lands nationally for the remainder of this decade and beyond."

Some suggested activities are listed below:

• Teachers grades 7 and up: Create an Endangered Species Unit focusing on the bald eagle. The American Eagle Foundation website has a complete unit developed by Vanderbilt University's Learning Technology Center. Click Here for link.
• Elementary School Teachers : Create an Endangered Species Unit for elementary school children focusing on the bald eagle. The American Eagle Foundation website has a complete unit developed by Sally Moorer, co-author of "Fly Eagle Fly". Click Here for link.
• Children's Eagle Crafts for pre-schoolers.
• Eagle Coloring book pages for young children to print out and enjoy!
• American Eagle Day Stickers! Use these to decorate displays, flyers, or posters about the Bald Eagle. (Download in PDF format designed to be printed on Avery Labels #5294. If the labels are not available at your local office supply store, they can be ordered at 1-800-462-8379, or online at http://store.averylabelsonline.com/52larohivila.html.
• Learn all about the Bald Eagle from this resource page. Choose a topic, do the research, and present a paper or PowerPoint on the topic you chose to your class, school, or club.
• Take a field trip to view eagles in the wild or attend an eagle event or festival.
• Contact your local paper or TV station and ask them to feature a program dedicated to what people can do to help the Bald Eagle in its long-lasting recovery. This would be especially appropriate on American Eagle Day, June 20!
• Have a fact sheet or brochure ready to give to people who ask you for information. Place the fact sheet or brochure in libraries or other public places where people congregate. Download a brochure (PDF format) from the American Eagle Foundation. Print and distribute!
• Make American Eagle Day posters to display during the week of June 20th.
• Work with your local Wildlife Protection Agency to protect the habitat of eagles. Print out and review National Bald Eagle Management Guidelines, a 2007 document prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services.
• Write your goverment representatives and ask them to encourage private land owners to protect the eagle.
• If your Governor has not yet signed a proclamation celebrating American Eagle Day, write a letter asking him to do so. Instructions for writing the letter are provided here: http://www.eagles.org/eagleday.html
• Work to keep the environment clean so that eagles and other wildlife can live without fear of poisons in their food chain.
• Recycle at home and properly dispose of articles which may be harmful to the environment.
• Boy and Girl Scout Patch Activities are available which are centered around American Eagle Day.