Congress passes bill making bald eagles America’s national bird : NPR

The bald eagle has been a symbol of the United States for centuries, with its iconography appearing on currency, documents, the national flag, stamps, government buildings, military uniforms, and more.

It’s no wonder it’s America’s national bird. But that’s not officially what the fine print says – at least not yet.

in the House of Representatives on Monday passed the bill Amending the U.S. Code to officially designate the bald eagle (also known as the bald eagle) Haliaetus leucocephalus) as the country’s national bird.

The Senate already passed the bill with bipartisan support in July. It now only needs President Biden’s signature to become the law of the land.

“Today, we rightly recognize the bald eagle as our official national bird and bestow a long-overdue honor on it.” said Congressman Brad Finstad.a Minnesota Republican who introduced the House version of the bill earlier this year.

So why did recognition take so long and how did it finally become a reality? Americans have die-hard eagle enthusiasts to thank.

How the bald eagle became America’s unofficial bird

The presidential seal features a bald eagle, as do the logos of many federal agencies.

Mandel Gunn/AFP via Getty Images

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Mandel Gunn/AFP via Getty Images

The eagle has been used as a symbol of strength since the days of ancient Rome, so it’s no wonder it found its way into American iconography.

After the founding of the United States in 1776, three different commissions were established. failed The challenge is to come up with an official seal that satisfies Congress.

Ultimately, Parliamentary Secretary Charles Thomson combined elements of all three proposals to create what we know today. great sealfeatures an eagle clutching an olive branch and arrow in its talons, front and center.

The original proposal featured a small white eagle. Thomson recommended replacing it with a species called the bald eagle. Native to North America.

Congress adopted this design in 1782, establishing the bald eagle’s status as a symbol of America.

Since then, the popularity of this species has continued to grow. In addition to its official appearance, the bald eagle can today be seen adorning all kinds of patriotic merchandise and serving as the country’s mascot. hundreds of schools And even if I fly over the sky major sporting events.

Eagle enthusiasts in Minnesota lobbied for recognition.

That’s why Preston Cook was shocked to learn that the bald eagle isn’t technically America’s national bird.

Mr. Cook, 78, has dedicated much of his life to this kind of research and respect.

“In 1966, I saw a movie called “ thousand clownsThere was a line in it that said, “You can’t have too many eagles,” Cook said. MPR News In November. “And that inspired me. So I walked out of the theater thinking, ‘I want to collect eagles.'”

Over the decades he has accumulated more than 40,000 Bald Eagle itemshis collection, which ranges from pins to paintings to playing cards, is now housed at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, Minn. (Although he’s not a favorite, his favorite is the eagle button issued to military uniforms in 1966.) It has meaning (counted as one of the important things). )

Around 2010, Cook told NPR that while researching a book about the bird, he noticed that he couldn’t find “anything about the bald eagle being legally designated as our national bird or any presidential proclamation.” . all things considered this week.

Sensing a crisis, Cook wrote a letter to the late California senator Dianne Feinstein. She sent staff to the National Archives to investigate further and ultimately confirmed his hunch.

The United States recognizes the rose as its national flower, the oak as its national tree, and the bison as its national mammal. However, there is no legal definition of a national bird anywhere.

Mr. Cook took it upon himself to change that. After years of lobbying lawmakers, he worked with the National Eagle Center last year to craft what he called “a very simple bill.” But getting lawmakers on board wasn’t easy. One reason for this is that many bald eagles already held the position.

“It was a little difficult at first because they didn’t believe me,” Cook said, adding that Feinstein’s letter helped. “So they did their research and came to the same conclusion as I did. It’s not our national bird, and we don’t have a national bird.”

The bald eagle is a symbol of resilience in many ways.

Bald eagles were endangered for decades until federal protections brought them back. They were removed from the endangered species list in 2007.

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Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith are among the bipartisan co-sponsors of the Senate bill, and Minnesota Reps. Brad Finstad and Angie Craig introduced the bill in the House.

Minnesota has the second largest population of bald eagles after Alaska, so it’s no surprise that the proposed bill was popular there. MPR News coverage. As Klobuchar said in a statement, “We know a thing or two about eagles.”

As of 2020, there were an estimated 316,700 bald eagles in the bottom 48 states. US Fish and Wildlife ServiceThat number has quadrupled since the last dataset 10 years ago.

Bald eagles lived peacefully among Native American tribes (those who consider them sacred) have been around for generations and were abundant in the United States when they were named star seals in 1782. dangerously reduced Sometimes since then.

According to the report, they have been suffering for decades due to “human ignorance and persecution from pesticides, careless shootings, collisions with cars and power lines, and loss of nesting and foraging habitat.” It was considered an endangered species. National Audubon Society.

Congress passed the Bald Eagle Protection Act in 1940, making it illegal to possess, kill, or sell the bird. But during that decade, new threats emerged. Insecticide DDTAs a result, the egg shells became thinner and more likely to break.

By 1963, the number of nesting pairs in the bottom 48 countries was at an all-time low of 417.

However, federal protections saved the species from the brink of extinction.

After the United States banned DDT in 1972 (and Canada the following year), bald eagle populations rapidly increased. By 2007, they were removed from the endangered species list and officially considered “recovered.”

Ed Hahn, director of public affairs for the National Eagle Center, hopes the bird’s legacy will hold lessons for the management of other species, whether they are recognized nationally or not.

“When we look at some of the issues facing other natural resources today, we can once again look at our living national symbol, and now our official national bird,” Hahn told MPR told the news. “It shows how capable and willing we are to act when we really care about something, when it matters to us.”