The
Bald Eagle Protection Act, signed into law 75 years ago on June 8, 1940, was
well-intended. A multi-pronged assault on the raptors was taking its toll —
habitat loss, lead-shot poisoning, and bounty-hunting by ranchers and fishermen
all contributed to a growing threat. (Click here to see how this played out in Alaska.)
Congress
passed, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed, the act to outlaw the
“taking” of eagles and their eggs, disruption of their nests, or sale or
possession of eagle feathers or parts.
It
didn’t work. Bald eagle populations accelerated their decline, for reasons that
Congress, wildlife officials, and FDR couldn’t possibly anticipate.
Throughout the late 1930’s Swiss chemist Paul Müller labored to find the right mix of synthetic chemicals to control moths. Not only did dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane do the trick, but Müller’s lab work found it was effective against lice, houseflies, beetles, and the dreaded mosquito. Müller’s employers, J.R. Geigy AG, applied for the first DDT permit about two months before the Eagle Act passed.
The
rest is natural and human history. Cheap to produce and an effective defense
against lice-borne typhus and mosquito-borne malaria, DDT quickly became a
fixture in farm fields, living rooms, and World War II battle theaters. Müller
became a science rock star, garnering a Nobel in 1948 and — wait for it —
membership in the Pest Management
Professional Hall of Fame in 2004.
But
bald eagles continued to decline. So did hummingbirds, robins, ospreys,
pelicans and peregrine falcons. Years of science, met with serious blowback
from the chemical industry, eventually proved that DDT was thinning birds’
eggshells, not to mention causing impacts in fish, humans, and other mammals.
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring drew international attention to the threat, and
in the U.S., DDT was outlawed
on the last day of 1972. Bald eagles, ospreys, brown pelicans and
peregrine falcons have all since staged remarkable comebacks from the
Endangered Species list.
Which
brings us to today’s threat to other ecologically priceless wildlife —
pollinators. Honeybee populations have been in freefall for more than a decade.
Like the threats to eagles, the potential causes are multiple: loss of habitat
and native plants, parasites, and a mix of insecticides and fungicides. Newest,
and most notable among the suspects, are neonicotinoid pesticides.
Like DDT,
neonics were developed in the 1980’s and 1990’s and welcomed as a step forward,
since they were thought to be effective on insect pests but relatively benign
on non-target wildlife and ecosystems. Today they are a billion-dollar
agricultural product, ubiquitous on common crops like corn and soybeans.
But
mounting evidence shows that neonicotinoids may be part of the frontal assault
on bees and other pollinators. In 2013, the European Union banned
the use of three of the most contentious types of neonicotinoids, citing a
clear and immediate risk.
In
2014, President Obama ordered the creation of a federal pollinator strategy.
Its first draft came out last month, calling for everything from creating
bee-friendly habitat to further study on neonics and other agricultural
chemicals. The first edition of
the strategy, issued in May, outlines a multi-year process for
re-examining use of neonics.
If
the EPA and other federal agencies concur with other studies on the potential
harm of neonicotinoids, the U.S. will issue assessments for neonics in 2016 and
2017, and may or may not take action until 2018 to 2020. All of this will take
place under a new president who may or may not take interest in protecting
bees.
That
timetable may work. Or not. Or, with a president with little more than a year
left in office and a hostile Congress, it may be a moot point.
But
perhaps a more important point is that in 1940, the President and Congress took
action on the known threats to eagles. They didn’t know about the chemical risk
from DDT. If neonics are as big a threat as the science suggests, the current
president and Congress won’t have ignorance as an excuse for waiting.
For
questions or feedback about this piece, contact Brian Bienkowski at bbienkowski@ehn.org.